Description
Delight in festive Candy Cane Cookies with a perfect balance of peppermint flavor and classic sugar cookie texture. These charming red and white twisted treats are ideal for the holiday season and are made with a soft, buttery dough enhanced with peppermint and vanilla extracts. Chilling the dough ensures minimal spreading, keeping their iconic candy cane shape intact.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons pure peppermint extract
- 1¼ teaspoons clear vanilla flavoring
- ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
Coloring
- ½ teaspoon red squeeze gel color
Instructions
- Cream Butter: Using a stand mixer or handheld mixer with a large bowl, beat the softened unsalted butter on medium-high speed for 1½ to 2 minutes until creamy.
- Add Sugar and Cream: Lower the mixer speed to low, add granulated sugar, cream of tartar, and heavy cream. Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is fluffy.
- Incorporate Egg: Reduce speed to low and add the large egg, mixing until fully combined.
- Add Flavorings: Mix in peppermint extract and clear vanilla flavoring thoroughly.
- Add Dry Ingredients: On low speed, gradually add baking powder and flour ½ cup at a time, mixing just until no flour streaks remain.
- Divide Dough: Split the dough into two equal balls. Return one ball to the mixing bowl for coloring and refrigerate the other ball covered for 1 hour.
- Color Dough: Add red gel color to the dough in the bowl, mix on low until fully uniform in color, then transfer to a medium bowl, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat Oven: Just before removing dough from fridge, preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Prepare Dough Balls: Split both red and white dough balls in half, leaving the halves in the refrigerator.
- Scoop and Roll: On a parchment-covered surface, scoop ½ tablespoon portions of white and red dough and roll into tight round balls. Chill for 10-15 minutes to keep dough firm.
- Roll Ropes: Roll each dough ball into 5-inch long ropes. Keep hands cool to maintain dough shape and prevent softening.
- Twist Ropes: Lightly press one end of the red and white ropes together, then carefully twist them into a rounded candy cane shape without flattening.
- Shape Candy Canes: Place twisted ropes on the prepared baking sheet, curve one end to form the candy cane hook. Maintain 2 inches of spacing between cookies.
- Bake Cookies: Bake in preheated oven for 7 minutes until edges are set but not browned.
- Cool On Pan: Let cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet to firm up before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Repeat: Take the remaining halves of red and white dough and repeat the scooping, rolling, twisting, baking, and cooling steps.
- Store: Once completely cooled, store the cookies in an airtight container to maintain freshness.
Notes
- Chilling the dough is essential to prevent spreading and to preserve the candy cane shape during baking.
- Oven temperatures can vary, so keep a close eye on the cookies as they near the 7-minute baking time to avoid overbaking.
- Peppermint extract is key to achieving the peppermint flavor; omit it if you want a plain sugar cookie version.
- Use parchment paper on your work surface to avoid red dye staining counters or cutting boards.
- Ensure hands stay cool when rolling ropes to help maintain the dough’s shape.
- Keep dough ropes rounded and avoid flattening them to preserve the iconic candy cane look.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 120 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 70 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg
