My Candy Cane Cookies

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 9

Total Time: 19

Servings: cookies

Calories: 91kcal

Author: Jazzmine Woodard

Easy to make and lightly sweet, these cookies are Christmas classics with delicious vanilla, peppermint, and almond flavors.

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Equipment

1 mixing bowl
1 silicone spatula
1 stand mixer or hand mixer
1 cookie sheet
parchment paper
1 cookie scoop or dinner spoon

Ingredients

2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
¾ cup peppermint crunch crushed peppermints or candy canes
1 cup butter softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In one bowl, mix together flour, crushed peppermint, and sea salt.
In another bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, and extracts.
Combine wet and dry mixtures and mix until a dough forms. This can be done by hand or with a mixer. Do not over-mix dough.
Scoop out dough using a cookie scoop or tablespoon and roll each into a ball before placing onto prepared baking sheet. Leave at least one inch between each ball of dough as cookies should not spread much while baking.
Bake for about 9 minutes. Tops will not brown. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

Preparation

You can make these cookies up to three days ahead of time with good results.

Adding the peppermint bits to flour before mixing the batter helps them to float throughout the cookies instead of clustering or sinking and burning. Don't skip this step!

The tops of these cookies will not brown so be sure not to over bake them.

Modifications

Crushed peppermints, candy canes or peppermint crunch sprinkles add minty fresh flavor. Just don't use the soft, puffy mints as the texture won't be the same. Crush up the candy canes or peppermint candies by hand if you have the time to spare. This is also a great stress reliever.

Make these classic peppermint Christmas cookies vegan by using a plant based butter and egg substitute.

Adapted from the original candy cane cookie recipe, found in Betty Crocker's Cooky Book. To keep these cookies simple and cut out artificial food coloring, I make them into peppermint drops. But the original recipe calls for separating and dyeing half the dough red then making twists using bits from each half to form truly candy cane shaped cookies. I always had leftover uncolored dough for some reason and would make simple little round cookies out of it so you're welcome to try both methods!

Storage

Store candy cane cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to two weeks. I don't recommend refrigerating because they will become hard. Beyond that time, you can freeze.

To freeze, scoop the dough into balls then place on a parchment lined sheet pan and flash freeze for about three hours. Transfer for the frozen dough into an airtight, freezer-safe container. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 355 degrees instead of 375 degrees and add about five minutes to the baking time.

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