Soft Christmas Candy Cane Cookies
soft Christmas Candy Cane cookies are a fun addition to your holiday baking! Sugar, flour, vanilla, peppermint (optional), almond extract, butter, egg, baking powder.
Equipment
- 1 Mixer
- measuring utensils & spoons
- Cookie Sheets
- plastic wrap
- pastry brush optional-for decorative sugar
- 1 spatula
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 sticks butter softened
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3-1/4 cups flour
- 1/2-1 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp red food coloring
- 1/2-1 tsp peppermint extract optional
Decorative Sugar Topping (optional)
- egg wash 1 egg + 1 tbsp water, whisked
- 2-3 tbsp decorative sugar red, green, etc.
Instructions
- Add the softened butter and sugar to a mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy (3 minutes). Then, add the egg, vanilla, almond extract, salt, baking powder.
- Once combined, slowly add the flour and milk- adding half the flour, then a little milk, then remaining flour and rest of milk. Stir on low for this.
- Remove half of the dough from the mixer & set aside. Then, add the red food coloring to the half that is still in the mixer. Mix slowly until the dough is your desired red. If you are adding peppermint, add it now. You can add more red coloring if you wish to get the tint desired. Wrap the red & white dough into separate plastic wraps, let sit in the fridge for 3 hours. (another idea is red & green candy canes)
- Once dough is cooled, preheat oven to 350 F. Scoop about 1/2-1 tbsp size of both the red and the white dough. On a clean surface, roll each ball into a 5-6 inch rope. Continue with the remaining dough. This step takes a while so many hands make light work ( perfect for small children!).The size and thickness is up to you. A rope about the thickness of a pencil or a little thicker will result in a dainty candy cane. Something a little thicker (1 Tablespoon worth of dough each) will give you a more plush candy cane-but also a little softer in my opinion.
- Once all dough is in a 'rope'. Pinch the end of a white and red rope together tightly. Start twisting the ropes together to form a candy cane. Form into a candy cane shape, then set on a greased cookie sheet. 1.5 inch spacing between each candy cane.
- If you are decorating with sugar, make the egg wash (1 medium sized egg + 1 tbsp water whisked together) and brush with egg wash over the cookies. Then, sprinkle the sugar on the assembled candy canes.
- Now, put pan of un-baked cookies in freezer for a brief few minutes to cool them again if needed. This helps prevent the cookies from spreading in the oven- 2-3 minutes in the freezer helps! It also helps to cool the pan between batches.
- Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the white dough starts to turn slightly golden. If opted for a thinner candy cane-make sure to check at 10 minute mark.
Notes
Add peppermint extract to the red dough if you wish, or all dough if you prefer peppermint over almond flavoring.Another option is half green dough and half red dough. It is important to match 'ropes' of same length and size so you don't 'run out' of half the rope. You can make the ropes with 1 tbsp of dough each and have a 'thicker' candy cane or use 1/2 tbsp for a daintier cookie. 5-6 inches long. Note: depending on the size of cookie you decide to make will determine how many cookies this will actually make. A daintier cookie will make more cookie sin the batch than a thicker cookie. Make sure you cool the dough AND cool it right before putting in oven to prevent spreading in the oven. Store in freezer in air tight, freezer safe, container. Set out at room temp to thaw. Nutrition info is an estimate and will vary on the size you decide to make the cookies.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookieCalories: 250kcalCarbohydrates: 32.2gProtein: 3.3gFat: 12.7gSaturated Fat: 0.2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 42.9mgSodium: 142.8mgFiber: 0.7gSugar: 12.8g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!