Binny - I made these this weekend, kind of to test out the recipe, as I needed something for my DD's cast party and a church bake sale. They were absolutely delicious. And, the bonus - they were incredibly easy.
I happen to have a pastry bag and the right tips, but if you don't I would think a little "dallop" of frosting would suffice - and only you would know that it called for a star tip dallop of frosting.
Mint Petites
¼ cup sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
About a dozen foil wrapped rectangular chocolate mints (such as Andes)
¼ to ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups bleached or unbleached flour
½ cup Pillsbury milk chocolate frosting supreme
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter with mixer until light and fluffy.
Add peppermint extract and vanilla; blend well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add to dough and stir in, mixing well, using hands if necessary.
Shape dough into ½- to ¾-inch balls.
Place on ungreased cookie sheets; flatten slightly.
Bake in preheated oven 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute, then remove from cookie sheets onto brown paper. Cool completely.
Unwrap chocolate mints; cut mint in half crosswise, then diagonally in half to form small triangles.
Frost cookies using a pastry bag with star tip. Top each with chocolate mint triangle so it stands up. Makes 3½ dozen.
(Just a couple of notes - I made a double batch, and would have needed just over a can of frosting, except, we just had the remaining 8 at home without the frosting/mints. It was harder than I thought it would be to cut the mints, and we only used 1/2 mint on each cookie instead of 1/4 of a mint. And my last comment - if you need to make a bunch (i.e. many dozens) make and bake the cookies now, and they will easily freeze. Take them out the night before you actually need to decorate them. The frosting and the mint part takes hardly any time at all.)
Have fun at your exchange!
