Day 38 Christmas Treats: Candy Cane Cookie Recipe

Day 38 of my 50 DIY Days: Candy Cane Cookie Recipe

When I was little one of our family traditions was making cookies during the holidays to share with family and Santa. What were my favorite cookies to make for Santa (and for me to eat) as a kid? Candy Cane Cookies. They are so festive and delicious and I remember having so much fun making them with my mom. This year we decided that my kiddo was probably old enough to continue this cookie making tradition with my mom. It was a fun day! My mom taught my daughter how to measure the flour and mix it with other dry ingredients. Then she helped add the flour mixture to the wet mixture, and then add the food coloring, all while my pregnant belly sat and watched. Her favorite part was probably crushing the candy cane (and sneaking bites of it when we weren’t watching).

The recipe we used for these cookies came from one of my mom’s old cookbooks (it’s from the 50’s), and it’s the same recipe we used when I was little. We did make a couple of tiny adjustments, but mostly the recipe is the same.

Candy Cane Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 3 cups of flour (I used Organic Unbleached All Purpose White Flour from a local Oregon company, Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• about 1/2 teaspoon of red food coloring
• 1/2 cup crushed candy cane

Directions:

• Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Thoroughly mix the butter, powdered sugar, egg and extracts. Blend in the flour and salt.
• Divide the dough in half and blend the red food coloring into one. Wrap the dough into plastic and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Note: some people like to refrigerate their dough for longer.
• Pull the dough out of the fridge and shape about a 1/2 teaspoon of each dough color into 4 – 5 inch ropes. Place the ropes side by side, press together the ends, and lightly twist. Curve one end into the hook shape to make the candy cane. Continue this step for each cookie.

• Crush up the candy canes in a plastic bag (I used the back of a spoon to crush). Note: don’t crush up the candy cane too early, it will stick together if you crush it too soon.
• Bake the cookies for about 9 minutes, or until the dough is light brown. When the cookies are ready, pull them out of the oven. Let them cool for about a minute, then remove from the cookie sheet and place on a plate. Sprinkle the crushed candy cane onto the cookies. They should stick to the warm cookies on their own.

For this recipe we used Bob’s Red Mill Organic Unbleached All Purpose White Flour, and we loved it. This is the same high protein flour used by professional bakers and produces high, well-textured loaves of bread equally as well as it produces light, airy baked goods. This kitchen staple is incredibly versatile and perfect for all of your baking needs. Bob’s Red Mill wanted you to save a bit of money during this holiday baking season and provided a coupon for you to use when you head to the grocery store!

The kiddo loved baking so much that my mom is surprising her with another cookie baking day in a couple of weeks. She gets to decorate some cookies to give away to her friends before school is out.

Do you have any holiday baking traditions?

– Chelsey

You can check out this link to explore my past 50 DIY Days of Christmas. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.