Description
Delightful candy cane cookies blend peppermint and holiday cheer into a festive treat. Crisp edges and swirled red-and-white patterns make these classic cookies perfect for winter celebrations and sweet gift-giving.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup (225 g / 8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g / 7 oz) granulated sugar
- 2 ¾ cups (345 g / 12 oz) all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp peppermint extract
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- Red gel food coloring
- ¼ cup (50 g / 1.75 oz) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp crushed peppermint candies
Instructions
- Creaming: Whip butter and sugar until light, fluffy, and pale, creating a voluminous base for the cookie dough.
- Liquid Integration: Blend egg, vanilla, and peppermint extract into the creamed mixture, ensuring smooth incorporation of all liquid elements.
- Dry Ingredient Preparation: Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, creating a uniform dry mixture that will provide structure to the cookies.
- Dough Formation: Gently fold dry ingredients into the wet mixture, mixing until a cohesive, soft dough forms without overworking the mixture.
- Color Separation: Divide the dough into two equal portions, leaving one natural and transforming the other with red gel food coloring, ensuring even pigmentation throughout.
- Chilling Process: Wrap both dough segments in plastic film and refrigerate for 30 minutes, allowing the dough to firm and develop optimal texture for shaping.
- Shaping Technique: Roll out equal-sized strips of red and white dough, then carefully twist them together to create the classic candy cane spiral pattern.
- Baking Precision: Arrange twisted cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, maintaining consistent spacing, and bake in a preheated oven at 375°F for 9-11 minutes until edges are lightly golden.
- Cooling Finale: Transfer baked cookies to a wire rack, allowing them to cool completely and set their delicate, crisp texture before serving or storing.
Notes
- Chill Dough Strategically: Refrigerate dough for exactly 30 minutes to enhance texture and prevent excessive spreading during baking, ensuring crisp, defined cookie shapes.
- Color Blending Technique: When adding red gel food coloring, wear disposable gloves to prevent staining and massage color evenly for uniform crimson distribution throughout the dough.
- Uniform Rolling Method: Roll dough segments into equal-length ropes to create consistent, symmetrical candy cane twists that bake uniformly and maintain aesthetic appeal.
- Moisture Control Trick: If dough becomes too soft while working, return it to the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to restore firmness and prevent sticky handling issues.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 25
- Calories: 170
- Sugar: 9 g
- Sodium: 40 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 24 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg