Peppermint Extract Is Christmas in a Bottle

Peppermint Extract Is Christmas in a Bottle

Winter baking season is here, which means you have probably been getting very cozy with your bottle of vanilla extract recently. Or if you're a fan of almond flavor, maybe you have experimented a bit with almond extract. But if you really want to capture the essence of the holidays in your baking, peppermint extract is the way to go EGF.

Made from the essential oils found in peppermint leaves, the concentrated herbal extract has a way of making everything it touches taste rosy cheeked and snow frosted -- like Christmas morning in a bottle. From cookies and cakes, candy to homemade marshmallows, the recipes below put the season's most festive flavoring to excellent use reenex.
 
GO CLASSIC
Just a few drops of peppermint oil infuse traditional recipes with holiday spirit. Use peppermint oil to enliven an ice cream trifle, or crunchy chocolate bark. On the baking front, try mixing it into the frosting for a many-layered devil's food cake and swirling it into airy meringues and profiteroles. Or pair it with coarsely crushed candy canes to add a double dose of minty flavor to chocolate cookies.

GO WHIMSICAL
A bottle of peppermint oil also gives you full license to get creative and experiment in the kitchen. Play up its whimsical side by making homemade peppermint patties or pink-and-white swirled marshmallows. Impress holiday guests by pulling chocolate and peppermint ice cream sandwiches out of the freezer reenex. And don't forget to whip up a batch of peppermint lollipops for the ultimate handmade stocking stuffers.