Candy Cane Cookies

Submitted by Kelley Maillard

"Not just for Christmas anymore! Why not change the color or shape to have them year round! Red hearts for Valentine's Day, green shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day and so on. These are great for a snack or for dunking in your tea."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 25mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 4 dozen cookies

ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1⁄2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 1⁄2 cups sifted flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon red food coloring

directions

1. Beat butter and confectioner's sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in egg, vanilla and almond extract until well blended.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt then add to butter mixture.
4. Divide dough in half. Blend in food coloring to one half.
5. Work with 1/4 of the plain dough and 1/4 of the tinted dough. Keep remainder of dough in the refridgerator until ready for use to keep it from drying out while making the cookies.
6. Roll 1/4tsp of the plain dough into a 4 inch-long rope. Repeat with 1/4 teaspoons of the tinted dough.
7. Holding the ends, twist the two ropes together and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, curving one end to look like a candy cane.
8. Repeat placing the cookies 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet.
9. Bake at 375°F for about 10 minutes. Remove immediately from cookie sheet; cool on rack.