Description
These festive Candy Cane Cookies are a delightful peppermint-flavored treat perfect for the holiday season. With a tender, buttery base and a striking red-and-white swirl, they’re shaped into charming candy cane forms and finished with sparkling sugar for a festive sparkle. The recipe includes chilling the dough for the best texture and preventing excessive spreading, making it easy to shape and bake beautifully.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 2 sticks (227g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 3/4 cups (385g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon liquid red food coloring
To Finish
- 1 egg white
- 2 tablespoons sparkling sugar
Instructions
- Make the dough: Place the butter, sugar, peppermint extract, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat these ingredients together until a paste forms and clings to the sides of the bowl.
- Add the egg: Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat in the egg until fully absorbed into the mixture.
- Add the flour: Gradually add the all-purpose flour and beat on low until just combined with no dry streaks of flour visible. Avoid overmixing the dough.
- Color half the dough: Divide the dough into two equal parts. Add the liquid red food coloring carefully to one half and mix on low speed until the red color is evenly distributed.
- Chill the dough: Shape each dough portion into a disk, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight to firm up and develop flavor.
- Preheat the oven: When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Shape the cookies: The chilled dough should be firm but pliable. Pinch off a 1-inch round piece of the white dough and roll it into a 5-inch long rope. Repeat with a red dough piece of equal length. Place the two ropes side-by-side and twist them together gently. Transfer the twisted rope to the baking sheet and curve the top end to form a candy cane shape. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart.
- Prepare egg white wash and sugar topping: Beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water until foamy. Brush the tops of each shaped cookie with the egg white wash, then sprinkle evenly with sparkling sugar.
- Bake the cookies: Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are just barely brown. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cool and store: Let cookie sheets cool completely before baking subsequent batches to prevent dough from spreading too much. Store the cooled cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to two weeks.
Notes
- If your dough is too dry, sprinkle some cool water over it and work it in until the dough comes together smoothly.
- To prevent cookies from spreading too much, chill the shaped, unbaked cookies in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes before baking.
- Allow cookie sheets to cool completely between batches to avoid melting the butter and misshapen cookies.
- These cookies keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
