Christmas Baking: Butter Mint Cookies

I'm enjoying my second foray into Christmas baking this season, the first being the cut-out cookies for our Girl Scout meeting. So here's what's in the oven at my house this afternoon:

Butter Mint Cookies
1 cup butter mints
1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 T water
1 t vanilla
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour

Finely crush the butter mints. (I used my small food processor, and it made such a racket that both dogs started barking hysterically.) Pour crushed mints into a medium bowl. In another bowl, beat butter at high speed for 30 seconds. add 1/4 cup crushed mint and the powdered sugar. Beat until combined, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the water and vanilla. Beat in as much flour as you can, and then stir in the rest with a wooden spoon. (I was able to beat in all the flour.) Cover and chill dough for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake about 15 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Cool for one minute on a wire rack. Pour remaining crushed butter mints into a bag. Shake warm cookies, two at a time, in the bag of crushed mints to coat them. Cool completely on wire racks.

These turned out to be quite tasty, like a minty shortbread. The girls did not care for them, but Jasper and I did (one fell on the floor, to Jasper's delight). Later today, I'll brew a cup of tea and enjoy one or two of these alongside.