Candy Cane Cookies are fun and festive Christmas cookies, perfect for gifts or sharing at holiday parties!
Have you started your holiday baking? Have you finished already? If you have room on your list for one more Christmas cookie recipe, these candy cane cookies are both delicious and festive.
I bake these candy cane sugar cookies every year, along with my family’s other favorites: Christmas sugar cookies, snowball cookies, biscotti, chocolate crinkle cookies, cherry cream cheese cookies, and gingerbread cookies.
These Christmas candy cane cookies are a family favorite. These cookies are easy to make, but it does take a little time to shape the candy canes. I enjoy making these, and my kids love to help, too. Rolling and twisting the candy canes is a fun project for them. The finished candy cane twist cookies are so pretty with their sprinkling of peppermint and sugar.
I prefer to make my candy cane cookies with almond extract but you can use peppermint extract if you want even more peppermint flavor. If you are baking plates of cookies to share with friends or neighbors, these candy cane cookies are a fun and festive addition!
How to make Candy Cane Cookies
Make the Cookie Dough:
To make these peppermint candy cane cookies, you’ll start by beating together butter and powdered sugar using an electric mixer. Once the butter and sugar are well combined and creamy, mix in an egg, almond extract and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Mix these dry ingredients into the cookie dough until everything is just combined.
To color the cookie dough, first divide the dough in half. Mix red food coloring into half of the dough and leave the other half white.
Chill the Dough:
To make the dough easy to handle, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.
Make the Candy Cane Topping:
While the dough chills, mix together crushed candy canes and granulated sugar. This will be the topping that you will sprinkle on the warm cookies after baking.
Shape the Cookies:
To make each candy cane cookie, take one heaping teaspoon of each color of cookie dough. Roll each teaspoon of dough into a ball. Then roll the balls into 5-inch ropes. Lay the two ropes (one of each color) next to each other and gently twist them together. Then bend over the top to form the candy cane shape.
Bake the Cookies:
Bake the cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment paper for 8-10 minutes, or until set and barley golden on the bottom. Be careful not to overbake the cookies.
As soon as the candy cane cookies come out of the oven, sprinkle them with the peppermint sugar. You want to sprinkle the topping on when the cookies are warm because it sticks to the cookies better that way.
Baking Tips for Candy Cane Cookies
- This recipe calls for almond extract. If you prefer more peppermint flavor you can replace the almond extract with peppermint extract.
- You can use green food coloring to make part of the dough green if you want to make red and green or green and white candy canes.
- You can make the dough up to one day ahead. Store it wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator until you are ready to shape and bake the cookies.
Candy Cane Cookies
Ingredients
For cookies:
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (300g) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- red food coloring, or red and green
For topping:
- ⅓ cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candies
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and powdered sugar on medium speed until creamy. Add the egg, almond extract and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the flour mixture until just combined.
- Divide the dough in half (leaving one half of the dough in the mixing bowl). Mix red food coloring into the half of the dough in the mixing bowl; leave the other half of the dough white. (If you want half of your cookies to be red and white, and half to be green and white, tint ¼ of the dough red and ¼ green, and leave ½ white.)
- Shape each half of the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- While the dough chills, make the peppermint sugar topping: In a small bowl, mix the crushed peppermints and granulated sugar together. Set aside.
- Heat oven to 350° F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- To make each cookie, on a very lightly floured work surface, shape 1 heaping teaspoon of white dough and 1 heaping teaspoon of red dough into smooth balls and then roll each ball into a 5-inch rope. Lay the red and white ropes side by side and gently twist them together. Shape the twisted ropes into candy canes and place on parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, until just set and barely golden on the bottom.
- As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, sprinkle them with the peppermint-sugar mixture. Let cookies cool for a few minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- You can substitute peppermint extract for the almond extract if you want more peppermint flavor in your cookies.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
Your candy cane cookies look so pretty!!