Pepperminty Swirl Cookies

YUMMY! We made these fun cookies for a very late "after Christmas" teen youth group party. They were a hit. They are from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookie Classics cookbook.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (we used margarine)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract (we used 4 drops of peppermint oil)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Red food coloring paste

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, then add sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined. Beat in the egg, vanilla and peppermint. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour.

Divide dough in half. Tint one portion with food coloring paste. Knead in coloring until well mixed. If necessary, wrap dough in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator 1 hour or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each color of dough into a 12x8 inch rectangle 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick. Using a large spatula and your hands, place one rectangle on top of the other. Press gently to seal. Tightly roll up, jelly roll style, starting from one of the long sides. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 2-4 hours.

Using a sharp knife, cut log into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place slices about 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake cookies at 375* for 8-10 minutes. Take them out when you're sure they still need a minute or two. The ones I waited to see brown were fine when they came out of the oven, but later were hard and not chewy at all. The others I was sure were undercooked were perfect. Makes 48 cookies (or in our case, 36). We never get the right number of cookies out of a batch.