classic christmas cookie

This Candy Cane Cookies recipe is a family-favorite cookie that creates sweet holiday memories. Always a favorite at Christmas parties and cookie exchanges.

Christmas Candy Cane Cookies Recipe

butter

sugar

vanilla extract

peppermint extract

all-purpose flour

baking powder

salt

Red food coloring gel

peppermint candies

In a large bowl, beat together butter, both sugars, both extracts, and egg on low, just until combined. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt.

Divide dough in half, making sure you have 2 equal portions. Add red food coloring gel to half of the dough until the desired color is reached. Wrap each portion of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerated for 3-4 hours.

In a small bowl, combine peppermint candy and 2 tablespoons sugar. Set aside.

To make a candy cane cookie, take 1 level teaspoon of each dough. Roll each teaspoon into a 5&#8243; rope (use a ruler, if necessary). Place one red and one white rope next to each other and begin twisting the two colors together, while pressing ends together so that they won&#8217;t unravel.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet, curving the top to one side to form the look of a candy cane. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately sprinkle cookies with the sugar/peppermint mixture. Movie cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.

I use to make these with my mom as a kid, some of the best childhood Christmas memory..on of my favorite Christmas cookies.  Thanks for posting. I'll be making these this  Christmas season especially for my mom, she can see to bake any more....Thank you! !!♡

Hi,  these cookies are so good but mine came out flat and not round like yours look. what did I do wrong or how do you make them round?

This was a tradition  in our family,my mom made these  every year.Still make them for my family every yr.I have passed this on to my daughters,it's not Christmas without them.

Thank you for this awesome Christmas Cookie Recipe. Pinned - I've included it in a roundup of 20 Amazing Christmas Cookie Recipes at Family Fun Friday. I'd love it if you could PIN and share this awesome cookie round-up featuring your recipe. Together we can spread some Christmas Cheer! Happy Holidays! 

This looks great - haven’t made them yet... can you make the dough then refrigerate until the following day, before shaping and baking?

I’m planning on doing some Christmas baking with my toddler but the 3-4 hours in the fridge would make it a bit tight to get it done all in one day.

TIA

Meant to say "peppermint extract" instead of "almond extract."  Sorry.

These were made by my grandmother &amp; mother. I started when I was in middle school and every Christmas since then I have made them. My little ones love them! It’s a memory I will always treasure.

Congratulations!
Your post is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. We have pinned it to our features board and thanks so much for sharing this great post with us!
Miz Helen

I can't wait to make these for my first Christmas gift baskets this year! I am curious if I can make the dough ahead of time and store in the freezer? Or should I prep and cook the same day?

I did it! I have tried for years to recreate my Grandmother's Candy Cane cookies, and failed with dry, chalky cookies that puffed up too much. These are perfect! Delicious and beautiful. Thank you so much.

In the fridge now. I’m sure they’ll be great!

I used egg wash to add red sparkling/sanding sugar before baking and it worked well.

The cookies have a wonderful taste and mine turned out rather crispy.   

However, I had a hard time working with the dough.   When I tried to roll individual red and white tubes/stripes, they cracked and broke during the twisting and shaping.   So I made two slabs of dough, equal in size, one of each color.  I stacked them on top of each other and refrigerated them. Then I cut them into strips.  So I had strips of white and red.   (I powdered my hands with powdered sugar while working with the dough to make it easier to manage.)  These red/white strips I rolled into ropes.  The colors stayed separate.  Then I gently twisted the rope and shaped them into canes on a parchment paper on a cookie sheet.   After shaping all my cookies I put the sheet into the freezer for 20 minutes to help them firm up.  After that,  I brushed with egg white wash and sprinkled some sanding sugar / sparkling sugar on top and baked.   They still spread out a little but they ended up looking like beautiful candy canes. 

Like I said, these cookies have a wonderful taste and my family loves them.  They are not as soft as I hoped.  I think substituting vegetable shortening for half of the butter would help them soften up and be easier to handle.

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Christmas Candy Cane Cookies Recipe

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The most viewed classic christmas cookie recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Christmas Candy Cane Cookies Recipe

The most viewed classic christmas cookie recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine