These Peppermint Dream Bars are awesome. If you’re a peppermint lover you will love these blondie-type bars. The shortbread-type bar has triple peppermint flavor. First, there’s peppermint extract in the dough, then there’s Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips in the dough and on the top of the bar. Finally, there’s peppermint extract in the icing too. The heavenly aroma of peppermint penetrated my house for hours. It was wonderful.
I was trying to find a way to use up a lot of extra baking ingredients leftover from Christmas baking and that’s when I came up with this delightful recipes. I decided to recycle the Paradise Bakery and Cafe recipe for sugar cookies with a few additions. I added a bag of Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips, and a luscious peppermint icing on top. The result was simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! As a result of making this recipe I was able to finish off one of my tins of Crisco, a box of cake flour, and another package of the peppermint baking chips. I have a long way to go to get rid of all my excess baking ingredients, though, so I will be making lots of cookies over the next few months trying to use up all my excess stuff. Hopefully, you, my readers, will enjoy each and every one of them!
If you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day cookie, or a beautiful one just for special occasions, consider this elegant Peppermint Dream Bar. It’s so pretty and tastes divine! It’s also a great goody to take to friends who need a meal–not to mention your co-workers would love to get dibs on some of these fabulous Peppermint Dream Bars. Go ahead, indulge!
Aren’t these beautiful?
These tasty treats are like a peppermint-flavored sugar cookie–shortbread style–with peppermint baking chips and peppermint icing on top.
These beautiful bars are a great Valentine’s Day option. Such beautiful Valentine colors, too!
This dense, decadent dessert bar is full of peppermint flavor. So yummy!
If you enjoy peppermint flavor you ought to consider giving these great bars a try.
Here’s what I did.
Place Crisco shortening in a large mixing bowl.
Add sugar.
Add powdered sugar.
Add peppermint flavoring.
Add eggs.
Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Mix all the ingredients together with an electric mixer.
I was glad to finally finish off this box of cake flour.
Add cake flour.
Add Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips. The only time of the year I’ve seen stores carry this product is around November and December. I bought about 10 bags of it and I still have about 4 more bags to use up. They are an especially festive and colorful chip to use for Valentine’s Day baking. I was glad I bought extra while I could get them.
Add 1 bag of the Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips.
Stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Mixing with an electric mixer overmixes the dough and toughens the batter.
Spray a 10×15″ jelly-roll pan with cooking spray.
Place dough on cookie sheet and press down to fit pan.
Here I’ve pressed the cookie dough into the jelly-roll pan.
Add an additional half bag of Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips and sprinkle over top of the dough. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
While bars are baking, make icing: Place powdered sugar in a mixing bowl.
Add peppermint extract.
Add water – a tablespoon at a time until you get to spreading consistency. Start with 2 tablespoons and mix with a whisk as well as you can. Then add an additional tablespoon or two. Do NOT add too much water or your icing will be too thin.
I keep mixing the icing.
This is the texture you’re looking for. I used between 5-7 tablespoons of water.
Bake the bars at 350 for about 35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool about 10 minutes before adding icing.
Spoon icing into a plastic bag. Cut off one of the corners and pipe icing in diagonal or swirling patterns on top of the bars.
Here’s what the bars looked like after I’d iced them with the peppermint icing.
Here we’ve cut into them!
These exquisite dessert bars are great for office parties, baby showers, brunches, or other special occasions. They’re lovely for holiday baking too.
My house was saturated with a delicious peppermint fragrance for quite some time especially after I cut into the bars. Wow! It was marvelous.
These mouthwatering goodies are a grand treat for Valentine’s Day and other special occasions.
Don’t these Peppermint Dream Bars just make you drool?
Peppermint Dream Bars are really not very difficult to make. They’re easier than cookies because you can just press all the dough into a pan instead of having to roll the dough into balls.
Each bar is filled with the lovely taste of peppermint.
These bars are so impressive. If you want an over-the-top peppermint treat, consider making these spectacular bars.
Here’s the recipe.
PEPPERMINT DREAM BARS
(Recipe inspired from World Famous Paradise Café Sugar Cookies published in the Arizona Republic, July 31, 2001, via Food.com)
1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups Crisco shortening
1 ½ tsp. mint and peppermint extract
2 large eggs, beaten
4 1/3 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 10-oz. pkg. Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips
½ of a 10-oz. pkg. Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips
Preheat oven to 350°. In large mixing bowl mix sugars, shortening, vanilla, egg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix with electric mixer until well mixed. Add cake flour and 10-oz. bag Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips. Stir together with a wooden spoon. Using an electric mixer at this point toughens cookies. Spread mixture in greased 10×15” jelly roll pan. Top with remaining half bag of Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips. Bake at 350° for about 35 minutes. Remove from oven, cool. Add icing. Serves 48.
PEPPERMINT ICING:
(My own concoction)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. mint and peppermint extract
5-7 tbsp. water, or more as needed
Whisk sugar, peppermint extract and water to a good spreading consistency. Drizzle over bars or transfer icing mixture to a sandwich bag. Cut off tip and pipe onto bars in whatever design you desire. Allow to cool completely. Makes 48 bars.
The peppermint essence in these delicious Peppermint Dream Bars simply rocks!
Here’s a close up so you can see the texture. I’ve saved this one for you!
This batch of blondies was whipped up in about 10 minutes. It baked for 35 then I allowed it to cool 10 more minutes before icing. So these were ready to serve in an hour total.
Here’s another close up picture to tantalize you! These bars are first-rate. You ought to consider making these for one of your Valentine’s Day parties!
Better eat this one quickly before they are all gone!
You may also like these recipes:
Double Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies
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They are quite pretty- and I don’t even have to guess that they are VERY TASTY as well!
Thank you – yes they are a dream!
Those look MARVELOUS, Teresa. I think my guys would love these–and, of course, so would I
They are spectacular. Hope you try them sometime. Enjoy!