Description
Delightfully festive Candy Cane Cookies featuring peppermint-flavored sugar cookie dough twisted with vibrant red dough to create charming candy cane shapes. Perfectly buttery, fluffy, and crisp with a festive peppermint aroma, these cookies are ideal for holiday celebrations and gifting.
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 the Butter: Using a stand mixer or handheld mixer with a large bowl on medium-high speed, cream the softened unsalted butter for 1½ to 2 minutes until smooth.
- Add Sugar Mixture: Reduce mixer speed to low and 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 and light.
- Add Egg: Lower mixer speed to low and add the egg. Mix until fully incorporated and smooth.
- Flavor the Dough: Add the peppermint extract and clear vanilla flavoring, mixing briefly to combine.
- Add Dry Ingredients: On low speed, slowly add baking powder and all-purpose flour in ½ cup increments, mixing until the flour disappears and dough forms with no visible streaks.
- Divide Dough: Split the dough into two equal balls. Return one ball to the mixing bowl to color red. Cover the other ball (white dough) with plastic wrap and refrigerate both for 1 hour.
- Color Red Dough: Add ½ teaspoon red gel color to the dough in the mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until the color is uniform with no white streaks. Cover and refrigerate the red dough for 1 hour.
- Preheat Oven: Just before dough is ready, preheat oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop Dough Balls: Split both red and white dough in half. Cover your counter or cutting board with parchment paper to avoid staining. Using a ½ tablespoon scoop, take equal-sized portions of red and white dough and roll each into a tight round ball. Chill balls again for 10-15 minutes for best shape retention.
- Roll Ropes: Using cool hands, roll each red and white dough ball into 5-inch-long ropes, ensuring they stay rounded and do not flatten.
- Twist Ropes: Lightly press the bottoms of the two ropes together. Gently twist them, maintaining rounded shape without flattening.
- Shape Candy Canes: Place twisted ropes on prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies 2 inches apart. Curve the top of each twisted rope into a candy cane shape.
- Bake Cookies: Bake in preheated oven for 7 minutes until edges are set and bottoms lightly golden.
- Cool Cookies: Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling racks to cool completely.
- Repeat Process: Take remaining red and white dough from refrigerator and repeat steps 9 through 13.
- Store Cookies: Once completely cooled, store cookies in an airtight container to maintain freshness.
Notes
- Chilling the dough is essential to minimize cookie spreading and helps maintain the candy cane shape during baking.
- Oven temperatures may vary, so monitor cookies closely towards the end of baking to avoid over- or under-baking.
- Peppermint extract is key for the signature flavor; omit for a classic sugar cookie taste.
- Use parchment paper on the work surface to prevent red dye from staining counters or boards.
- Keep hands cool while rolling dough ropes to preserve structure and prevent dough from becoming too soft.
- When twisting, keep ropes rounded rather than flattened for authentic candy cane appearance.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 120 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 60 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg
