Description
These Candy Cane Cookies are festive, peppermint-flavored sugar cookies perfect for the holiday season. Featuring soft, buttery dough twisted into classic red and white candy cane shapes, these cookies deliver a delightful peppermint aroma and flavor with every bite. Chilling the dough ensures the cookies bake to perfection, holding their iconic shape and providing a soft yet crisp texture.
Ingredients
Scale
Basic 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 smooth and creamy.
- Add Sugar Mixture: Reduce speed to low; add granulated sugar, cream of tartar, and heavy cream. Increase to medium speed and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is fluffy.
- Incorporate Egg: Lower mixer speed to low and add the egg. Mix until fully combined.
- Add Flavors: Mix in peppermint extract and clear vanilla flavoring thoroughly.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Keeping the mixer on low, gradually add baking powder and flour in ½ cup increments, mixing until the flour is just incorporated with no visible streaks.
- Divide Dough: Split the dough into two equal balls. Cover one ball and refrigerate for 1 hour (this will be the white dough).
- Color Red Dough: Add red gel color to the other dough ball in the mixer bowl. Mix on low until uniformly red with no streaks. Place in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat Oven: When ready, preheat the oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Halve Dough Balls: Remove dough from refrigerator and split each color ball into halves, keeping half refrigerated.
- Prepare Dough Balls: On a parchment-covered surface, scoop ½ tablespoon of each dough color and roll into tight round balls. Chill for 10-15 minutes if possible for better shaping.
- Roll Ropes: Roll white and red dough balls into 5 inch long ropes, keeping hands cool to maintain shape.
- Twist Ropes: Press the bottoms of a red and white rope lightly together, then twist gently while keeping ropes rounded, not flattened.
- Shape Candy Canes: Place twisted ropes on baking sheet spaced 2 inches apart and curve the ends into candy cane hooks.
- Bake: Bake the cookies for 7 minutes at 350°F.
- Cool: Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Repeat: Use remaining dough halves to repeat shaping and baking process.
- Store: Once fully cooled, store cookies in an airtight container to maintain freshness.
Notes
- Chilling the dough is essential to minimize spreading and maintain the candy cane shape during baking.
- Oven temperatures vary, so watch cookies closely near the end of baking time to prevent overbaking.
- Peppermint extract is crucial for the classic flavor; omit it for plain sugar cookies.
- Cover your work surface with parchment paper when rolling colored dough to prevent staining.
- Keep your hands cool while rolling ropes to avoid dough becoming sticky and losing shape.
- Do not flatten the ropes when twisting to preserve the rounded candy cane look.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 110 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 45 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 13 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg
