12 Desserts of Christmas: Day 1—Candy Cane Cookies
By: Jennifer Frost
These light and delicious cookies with a hint a peppermint are a great way to start off the Christmas baking season. The seasonal shape and colors are a nice start to December and the peppermint flavor is not overpowering. Additionally, the cookies are a nice compliment to an afternoon cup of tea or coffee.
Servings: 24 Cookies
Ingredients
2 sticks salted butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1.5 tsp. peppermint extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
.5-1 tsp. red food coloring
3 candy canes, crushed, optional
Directions:
Place the softened butter and sugar in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stnad mixer). With a hand mixer (or stand mixer with a paddle attachment) on medium speed, beat until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and peppermint extract and mix well to combine. Add the flour 1 cup at a time, mixing on low to combine completely in between each addition. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
Remove half of the dough form the bowl and form into a disc shape, about 1-inch thick. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour (or overnight).
Place the red food coloring in the bowl with the remaining dough. Mix on low to incorporate the coloring into the dough fully (add more food coloring until you reach your desired share of red). Remove the red dough form the bowl, knead it a few times on a clean surface to incorporate all of the coloring completely, and form into a disc shape, about 1-inch thick. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Unwrap both pieces of dough and pinch off half a tablespoonful piece of each color. With the palm of your hand roll each dough into a rope shape. Then place ropes side by side and then twist, pinching tops and bottoms to stick together. Transfer to cookie sheet and shape into a candy cane shape.
Repeat until cookie sheet is full. Bake cookies for 12 minutes or until white portion is just lightly golden. If decorating with crush candy canes, sprinkle as soon as the cookies come out of the oven. Let cool completely.