Peppermint Pinwheels & Giveaway!

This year I decided to participate in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap hosted by Lindsay of Love & Olive Oil and Julie of The Little Kitchen. The idea is simple—make three dozen homemade cookies and mail them to three lucky bloggers, Secret Santa style. A few days later, I would find my own mailbox filled with boxes of homemade cookies. And the best part? I could enjoy them knowing someone out there made them especially for me.

When I first heard about this exchange back in October, I was immediately sold. How fun was this idea? Not only do I love sharing my baked goods with others, but I love getting packages in the mail. It was absolutely a win-win situation for me.

But, as the days ticked by, I struggled to come up with an idea for a cookie. I went to the library and picked up half a dozen cookbooks just on the subject of cookies. I flipped through each and every one, feeling more and more uninspired as I turned the pages. Even Martha Stewart, the goddess of all things sweet, couldn't spark my creative interest. As the weeks flew by and I found myself swallowed in work, original cookie ideas were simply lost to the wind.

When the date of the cookie swap finally loomed overhead, the month and a half I had to come up with a fun cookie idea was reduced to all of 10 minutes and restricted to the ingredients already in my kitchen. Out of this exigence, the idea for these Peppermint Pinwheels was born. While the idea may not be original, it doesn't make the pinwheel sandwiches any less fun (or delicious).

After baking and individually packaging each cookie for a safe journey across the country, I wished my cookies well on their journey, hoping the mouths to receive them would enjoy them as much as I did.

Inspired by the idea of a cookie exchange, I thought it would be fun to send out a dozen cookies to you. Yes, you! And so three of you lucky readers will find a box of handmade cookies sitting in your mailbox in the next week. I love getting mail and, when it just so happens to be edible mail, it just makes it that much more fun. I want to share in the season of giving with you!

To find a box of cookies on your doorstep...
1. Leave a comment below and tell me about your favorite holiday cookies. Make sure to include your email address when filling out the comment form so I can get ahold of you!
2. You must live in the United States or Canada. I unfortunately cannot afford to send cookies further away (and I fear they may arrive shattered after such a long journey).
3. The contest will end on Wednesday, December 14th at 10 pm (cst) and the winners will be chosen randomly and announced on Facebook and Twitter immediately thereafter (and on here Thursday morning).

Good luck!

Peppermint Pinwheels are bold and colorful holiday cookies. Featuring vanilla sugar cookies and peppermint buttercream frosting, the cookies have no shortage of flavor. The cookie sandwiches are surprisingly soft, making it difficult to eat just one. While pinwheel cookies may appear intimidating, just note that, if you can roll out dough for cut-out cookies, there is no reason you couldn't whip up a batch of these since the same concepts apply. Do not skimp on refrigerator time and these cookies should turn out just as beautiful for you!

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Malted Chocolate Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Filling

The final stretch of summer is before us—the dog days, if you will. Schools will soon be ringing their bells, our jobs will beckon us back indoors, and the weather will slowly begin turning away from this humid heat into a brisk fall. And, I ask you, is there a more depressing thought?

I don't know about you, but I'm wondering where my summer went. It simply disappeared. Packed up and left. I like to imagine it escaped to a tropical paradise and left me behind, without even sending a postcard to drop a hello. I've been outside most of the summer (it is one of the perks of being a camp counselor), but somewhere along the way I forgot to appreciate it. I have a deep tan from working in the sun. I've been eaten alive by mosquitos on a near daily basis. I spent a week on the beach doing nothing but watching the tides flow in and out. Yet, I still feel as if summer has skipped me by, even though it isn't over just yet.

One of my favorite summer pastimes is to lounge in the sun on a beach chair in the backyard and read a good book while eating fruit roll-ups (yes, sometimes store-bought sugar hits the spot. Don't judge me and I won't judge the giant bag of gummi bears sitting in your cupboard. Oh, wait. That's me, too). I feel a bit ashamed to admit to this, but my beach chair is still packed away and the book left unopened. I feel like I haven't eaten enough ice cream. I haven't spent enough time riding my bike around the city. There is too much on my to-do list that I simply haven't done.

When I was younger, summer seemed to last forever. When August finally hit, I would be overheated, bored, and yearning for something new to do. I looked forward to school so I would finally have something to fill up the long hours in my day. Maybe that's the truth in growing older. Your responsibilities change and those long hours get swallowed up in working and obligations so that by the time you finally have the moment to do as you please, the sun has set and the television beckons.

Perhaps the real way to enjoy summer, to fully appreciate summer, is to slow down. It's about taking a minute to ignore the daily responsibilities—the dirty dishes and piles of laundry—to just go outside and play. Take a moment to visit a park, picnic in the backyard, or simply read that book out in the sun with a box of fruit roll-ups by your side.

I hope you find a way to enjoy the last few weeks of the sun, sun, sun before the carefree summer fades into the hustle and bustle of fall. Don't let it pass you by, not when there is ice cream to be eaten and smoothies to be slurped.

I can only hope these Malted Chocolate Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Filling find a place on your summer playlist. A moist dark chocolate cupcake is filled with an ooey gooey toasted marshmallow filling and frosted with a rich, malted chocolate buttercream. These cupcakes feel as light as air, but one will be enough to sate your sweet cravings. The malted chocolate buttercream really ties the flavors in the cupcake together, so I do recommend you use this particular buttercream recipe instead of another. This cupcake is perfect for special occasions and lazy summer afternoons.

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