Candy Cane Cookies
18 cookies
A simple sugar cookie dough is molded into these festive red and white candy cane cookies with coarse sugar sprinkles. These are the perfect Christmas cookies!
Ingredients
- 3 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (230g, 1 cup) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract or almond extract
- Red gel food coloring
- Coarse sugar for garnishing
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well and set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric mixer. Mix until smooth. Add in the egg, vanilla, and peppermint and mix for an additional minute until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Remove half of the dough mixture and place in a separate, clean bowl. Add the red gel food color to one of the mixtures, creating a red dough. Add about 1 teaspoon of food coloring followed by an additional ½ teaspoon until you have reached your desired shade of Christmas red.
- Form each bowl of dough into a ball using your hands and flatten gently into a disc about 1 inch thick. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and place them inside the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. When both discs of dough have properly chilled and you’re ready to make your cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut each disc into small cubes, measuring about 1 inch, be careful not to get them too big.
- Roll each cube into a ball and roll the ball out on a flat surface into a 5-6 inch rope. Do this for both your original dough and red dough. Be sure your ropes are all the same length and size.
- Place an original dough rope and a red rope side by side and begin to twist them together until one rope forms. Place the twisted rope on the parchment paper and bend the top of the rope downward, forming a candy cane shape.
- Repeat this process for the entire batch of dough, placing no more than 12 candy cane cookies on a baking sheet at a time.
- Bake the cookies for 5-7 minutes. When cookies have finished baking, immediately top with coarse sugar or crystal sprinkles. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- You can garnish with coarse sugar, crystal sprinkles, or crushed candy cane pieces.
- Be sure to not over roll your dough. Otherwise, it will become too soft and break.
- Chilling is very important in this recipe. The dough must be cold to be easy to work with. If your dough has warmed up too much, place the formed candy canes in the fridge for a few minutes before baking.
- Be careful with these cookies, since they are shaped so long, they may break if not handled with care upon transfer.
- Be sure to use gel food coloring and not liquid drops. If you use liquid, your dough will become too hard to work with and the food coloring will not distribute properly.
- The colors will bake together and should not come apart. However, be sure that your ropes are intertwined well and do not leave gaps in the middle.
- You should get between 18-24 candy cane cookies from this recipe. It depends on the size that you make them.
- TWIST TIP: After your rope is twisted, pinch the top and bottom together gently and twist slowly from both the top and bottom once you’ve placed it on the parchment paper. This will give you a couple of added twists!
- PRO TIP: be careful not to get your balls too big. The trick to this recipe is small balls.
- Storage: To store baked cookies, pack them in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. To freeze baked cookies, wrap them well and store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Freeze the unbaked cookies. The best way to make candy cane cookies ahead of time is to make the entire recipe, all the way up to shaping the cookies and putting them on a sheet pan. Freeze the unbaked candy canes on the pan, then remove them and place them in a zip-top bag for up to two months. When you're ready to bake these Christmas cookies, bake per the recipe instructions. You don't even need to thaw them out
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 194kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 142mg | Potassium: 47mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 16IU | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 2mg