White Chocolate Peppermint Gingerbread Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature

½ cup brown sugar, packed

1 tsp GF vanilla

2 tbsp molasses

2 cups flour or 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF flour or 2 cups of your favorite GF flour blend + ½ tsp xanthan gum (omit if your flour already contains)

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

2-3 tbsp crushed peppermint candy canes (about 12 small candy canes) (See Notes)

1½ cups white chocolate chips (10-12 oz bag)

Whisk together flour, xanthan gum (if using), ginger, cinnamon, & salt. Set aside. 

In large bowl, cream butter & sugar together on medium-high speed until soft & fluffy, about 2 minutes. 

Add vanilla & molasses. Beat until fully incorporated. 

Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing until dough forms.

Place dough on piece of plastic wrap & flatten into disc shape. Wrap with plastic wrap & chill for at least 30 minutes & up to overnight. If the dough is too firm when you remove it from the refrigerator, let it sit on the counter for a few minutes on the counter until it is soft enough to handle.

Place dough on lightly floured surface & roll out to ¼ inch thickness. Cut with a 2.5 – 3 inch round (with smooth or fluted edges) cookie cutter. Or you can choose any shape cookie cutter you like!

Place cookies on baking sheet lined with parchment paper at least 1 inch apart. Chill in refrigerator for 10 minutes.

Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are set (the center should be slightly soft).

Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutest. Remove to wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

Melt the white chocolate until smooth. This can be done in a double boiler, a heavy saucepan, or in the microwave. White chocolate tends to burn fairly easily, so be careful! If you are melting in the microwave, use increments of 15-30 seconds & stir in between each increment.

Dip half of each cookie in the melted white chocolate. Return to baking sheet. Top immediately with crushed candy canes. Chill in refrigerator about 10 minutes or so until white chocolate is set.

 Notes:

This recipe is based on one from aheadofthyme.com/white-chocolate-peppermint-gingerbread-cookies. Thanks Sam & Dan!

To crush candy canes, I put them in a small sealed bag & just smash them with the flat side of a kitchen mallet. But you can use a rolling pin, or even the back side of a spoon. You can buy a bag of crushed candy canes, but I can’t always find them & it’s so easy to make your own, I just do that.

If you have extra melted white chocolate, you can make little candies with it. I mix in any extra crushed candy canes, but you can also use chocolate chips, M&M’s, chopped nuts, or whatever you like! Then just drop into mini muffin cups. I have a mini muffin tin that I use because I think they hold their shape a little better, but you can also just leave them on a flat pan or plate.