Description
These festive Candy Cane Cookies are a delightful holiday treat, featuring a peppermint-flavored soft cookie dough divided into red and white halves, twisted to resemble classic candy canes. Perfectly tender and lightly sweet, they are great for holiday gatherings or gifting.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups (358g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup (224g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (207g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp peppermint extract
- Red gel icing color
- Sprinkles or peppermint crunch, optional
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set this mixture aside for later use.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: Using a large mixer bowl and medium speed, cream the unsalted butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is light in color and fluffy, indicating that air has been incorporated for a tender cookie texture.
- Add Egg and Extracts: Mix in the egg, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract until everything is well combined and the dough is smooth.
- Incorporate Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix just until the dough forms and there are no streaks of flour—avoid over mixing to maintain a tender crumb.
- Color the Dough: Divide the dough into two equal parts. Add red gel icing color to one half and knead gently to distribute the color evenly.
- Chill the Dough: Refrigerate both dough portions for 2 to 3 hours. This step firms up the dough and makes it easier to shape later. It’s helpful to pre-portion the dough into 1 teaspoon-sized balls now if preferred.
- Preheat the Oven and Prepare Baking Sheets: When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats to prevent sticking.
- Shape the Candy Canes: Roll each teaspoon-sized ball into a 5-inch-long rope using a ruler for accuracy. Place one white rope and one red rope side by side and gently twist them together by twisting each half separately. Form the twisted strand into a candy cane shape by curving one end.
- Add Toppings and Arrange: Place each shaped candy cane cookie onto the prepared baking sheet. Press sprinkles or peppermint crunch onto the fronts if desired for extra festive decoration and texture.
- Bake: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 5 to 7 minutes. The cookies should be set but still soft to the touch.
- Cool: Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes to firm up before transferring them carefully to a wire rack to cool completely, ensuring they don’t break.
- Store: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container. They taste best within 4 to 5 days but can be frozen for about a month for longer storage.
Notes
- This Candy Cane Cookies recipe is a classic Christmas treat made with simple peppermint-flavored dough colored red and white and twisted to create the iconic candy cane shape.
- Chilling the dough before shaping helps with managing the sticky dough and achieving clean shapes.
- Using red gel icing color instead of liquid food coloring preserves the dough consistency better.
- Pre-measuring dough balls before chilling speeds up the shaping process after refrigeration.
- The cookies bake quickly, so watch closely to avoid overbaking and maintain softness.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 63
- Sugar: 3.4 g
- Sodium: 42.2 mg
- Fat: 3.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 8 g
- Fiber: 0.2 g
- Protein: 0.7 g
- Cholesterol: 11.2 mg
