Candy Cane Cookie Variations

Cookie Dough

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• pinch salt
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon red food coloring
• crushed peppermint or sprinkles for garnish

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and powdered sugar util the mixture comes together. Scrape down the bowl. Add the egg, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and salt. (The mixture may start to look curdled, don’t worry). Add in the flour slowly and beat until just combined. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times to form a ball. Cut the ball in half. Wrap one half in plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Return the other half to the stand mixture and add the red food coloring. Mix until the color is evenly distributed into the dough, then wrap the red dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge.

Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Follow the directions below depending on what variation you are going for.

Pinwheels

Cut out four pieces of parchment paper or use pre-cut sheets. Place red dough on top of one sheet of parchment and top with another piece of parchment. Use rolling pin to roll down dough into a rectangle-ish shape 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with white dough (try to make the same sort of general shape as the red slab). Stack the slabs on a sheet pan and place them in the fridge for just a few minutes to make them easier to handle. Once they have chilled briefly, take them out and peel the parchment off of the top of red slab. Do the same with the white slab and then lay the bare sided white slab right on top of the red. Peel the top of the parchment off of the white slab. Start rolling up the dough up in a spiral along the long side of the dough, taking care to keep the roll as tight as possible.

Transfer roll to a piece of plastic wrap and wrap the ends tightly like you’re wrapping a big piece of candy. If you plan to bake right away, placing the log in the freezer for 20 minutes or so will help you get neat slices. Alternatively you can freeze the log completely if you plan to use another time, but leave it on the counter for 20-30 minutes to soften slightly before slicing or the log will crumble.

Use a sharp knife to slice 1/4 inch slices from the log. Roll the edges in the sprinkles and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 8-10 minutes, rotating the pans top-to-bottom and front-to-back halfway through.

Twisted Candy Canes

Use a 1″ cookie scoop or tablespoon to portion out balls of each color dough (start with the white dough). On a well floured surface, roll out a ball of the white dough into a length of rope by rocking back and forth with your palm. Repeat with a red ball of dough. The lengths should be about 5″ long. Place a white and red rope together so that they are touching, starting in the middle, twist the ropes together by moving your hands up and down in opposite directions. When you’ve achieved the twist that you want, bend over one end to form the candy cane hook.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven, sprinkle a dusting of crushed candy cane over the top.