Peppermint Delights

My mom has one of those recipe boxes, notecard sized, stuffed with handwritten family recipes and clippings from old Chicago Tribune newspapers. She has an inordinate number of Apple Cake recipes that she cut out of the paper which I can say I have never seen her bake.

These cookies came from that recipe box and as good as they taste, the memories I have of helping bake them are even better. The candy canes that go into these cookies need to be crushed and so my mom would arm me with a hammer and a sealed baggie filled with candy canes. I would hunker down on the ground and crush away. It felt very official and like serious work--I loved it.

These cookies are unique not only because of the crushed candies but also because of the large amount of oats in them that bake up crisp and crumbly. I love the minty flavor and can't imagine a Christmas without them.

For 3 dozen cookies:

• 1½ cups flour
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup regular rolled oats
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/3 cup crushed candy canes
• ½ cup granulated sugar, for flattening cookies

Combine butter and sugar and beat until creamy. Add the vanilla and peppermint extracts. Gradually beat in the flour. Stir in the oats and candy. Wrap the dough in wax paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them, 3 inches apart, on an ungreased baking sheet. Place the granulated sugar into a bowl. Butter the bottom of a glass, dip it into the sugar and flatten the cookies, redipping into the sugar for each ball of dough.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes until the edges are barely golden. Let cool on the baking sheet for a couple minutes then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep for about a week or so.