Candy Cane Cookies

"What could be more festive than cookies at Christmas shaped like candy canes and sprinkled with crushed peppermint candy?! Another holiday tradition...(Prep time includes time to roll and shape cookies)"
 
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photo by a food.com user photo by a food.com user
Ready In:
1hr 9mins
Ingredients:
11
Yields:
48 cookies
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ingredients

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directions

  • Heat oven to 375°.
  • Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, powdered sugar, egg and flavorings.
  • Blend in flour and salt.
  • Divide dough in half; blend in red food coloring into one half.
  • Shape one teaspoon dough from each half into 4 inch rope.
  • For smooth, even ropes, roll them back and forth on lightly floured board.
  • Place ropes side-by-side.
  • Press together lightly and twist.
  • Complete cookies one at a time.
  • Place on ungreased baking sheet.
  • Curve top down to from handle of cane.
  • Bake about 9 minutes or until set and very light brown.
  • Mix crushed candy and granulated sugar.
  • Immediately sprinkle warm cookies with candy mixture; remove from baking sheet.

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Reviews

  1. Far more trouble than they were worth! I'm an experienced baker, in fact I just made a wedding cake last weekend, but these cookies were LABOR-INTENSIVE. Each one had to be meticulously shaped, the dough kept breaking -- I tried to do "starlight mints" like one reviewer suggested -- a disaster. And then, they had such a bland flavor. I would also recommend crushing the candy canes to a powder or they won't adhere. All in all, too much trouble for this busy mom, sorry. (And if you love the recipe, I don't mean to offend! It just didn't work for ME)
     
  2. We love these cookies which always bring back happy Christmas memories. We have never had anything but fun while forming the candy cane shapes. The cookies are somewhat fragile once baked so would not be a good choice for holiday shipping. My recipe differs a little bit from this one in that it calls for 1 teaspoon vanilla and 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extracts (no almond extract) along with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Also there is only 1/4 cup sugar in the topping which easily adheres to the cookies while they are still warm on their baking trays. Just brush an egg white whisked with a little water onto them before sprinkling on the topping mixture.
     
  3. I found that the taste of these was good, however, there was no way that I was going to be able to roll them into ropes to make the canes. The dough was very dry and crumbly. I followed the recipe exactly substituting peppermint extract for the almond extract, so I'm not sure what went wrong.
     
  4. My aunt and grandmother used to make these when I was little and they were always my favorite holiday cookie. I've asked each of them for the recipe but no one could find it, we tried a few other candy cane cookie recipes but they just somehow weren't the ones we remembered. So I tried this one and this was it! The cookies are melt in your mouth soft, a lot of fun to make and lovely when done. The smell of the dough brought back dozens of happy holiday memories! I'm pregnant with my first child and this recipe will now be family tradition once again, I can't wait to share it with another generation.
     
  5. The dough was difficult to work with, the flavor was lacking and they were really crunchy.
     
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Tweaks

  1. I'm currently living in Germany, and wanted to make some traditional german cookies. Since they aren't really familiar with candy canes here, i decided these would o the job. I was forced to use butter instead of shortening, which resulted in a really sticky batter. I just kept adding more and more flour, and eventually the consitencey was perfect. And, they still tasted good. i also had to use all vanilla sugar instead of almond extract and vanilla, but like i said it all worked out. Thanks for the recipe, the host family likes them a lot!
     
  2. I found that the taste of these was good, however, there was no way that I was going to be able to roll them into ropes to make the canes. The dough was very dry and crumbly. I followed the recipe exactly substituting peppermint extract for the almond extract, so I'm not sure what went wrong.
     
  3. I substituted peppermint extract for the almond extract, and refrigerated the dough for a couple of hours. They didn't last a day. Thanks for sharing this keeper.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

(As many of you know Silent Cricket passed away on Feb. 29. Since she loved Recipezaar so much and so many on Recipezaar have shown their love for her, and have enjoyed her recipes, her personal information will remain here indefinitely just as she wrote it. Her lines at the end of this section sound somewhat prophetic as the last chapter of her earthly existence has been written.) Well, the time has come for me to change my users' name. After being, "OzCoMartha" because of having lived for three years in Australia and then moving to Colorado, I have decided to "turn over a new leaf." I chose this name because many moons ago I used to be able to "chirp" like a cricket and the "silent" refers to the present time when I'm taking a break...But, perhaps after a season, however long I decide that needs to be, I may be back and then I will fill in more details about myself...
 
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