Recipes and Memories: Candy Cane Cookies from Sara Daniel

Candy Cane Cookies

By Sara Daniel, author of Construction Beauty Queen, Entangled Bliss

My favorite holiday recipe is for Candy Cane Cookies. I love these festive cookies for their hint of almond flavor and the crushed candy canes on the top. I only make them once a year, and I double the recipe below.

I will warn you to make sure that you only use peppermint candy canes (or peppermint candies). A couple years ago, I went around our family Christmas tree, plucking off all the red and white candy canes. I crushed them into the topping, which I then sprinkled onto the cookies. Well, you can imagine my dismay when I took a bite and discovered mixed in with the refreshing mint flavor was also the not-so-refreshing taste of watermelon candy. Yes, unbeknownst to me, one (or more) of the candy canes I crushed was watermelon flavored, not mint, and I can NOT in good conscience recommend it to anyone! This year I used round peppermint candies to ensure there was no mix-up!

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup shortening

1 cup powdered sugar

1 egg

1½ t. almond extract

1 t. vanilla

2 ½ cups flour

1 t. salt

½ – 1 t. red food coloring

1 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candy

Mix butter, shortening and powdered sugar. Mix in egg, almond extract and vanilla. Continue mixing as you add in flour and salt.

Divide dough in half. Place in separate bowls. Blend food coloring into one bowl of dough.

Shape one tablespoon of dough from each color into a rope. Place ropes side by side on a cookie sheet. Press together lightly and twist. Curve down the top third to form a candy cane.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minute.

Immediately after removing from oven, sprinkle cookies with crushed peppermint candy. Wait until cookies are cool to prevent breakage when removing them from the pan.

Enjoy the tastes and smells of the season. Happy holidays!

–Sara Daniel

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