Festive Candy Cane Cookies Recipes

CANDY CANE COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and line two large baking trays with non-stick baking parchment. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl using a wooden spoon or in a stand mixer until soft, pale and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.
• Tip in the flour, milk, vanilla bean paste and a pinch of salt, and mix everything together using a wooden spoon until you have a dough. Divide the dough into two pieces, and set one half aside. Divide that piece in half again. Colour one half with red food colouring gel and the other with green. They must be a dark, intense shade because they will lighten slightly as they bake.
• Roll golf-ball-sized pieces of the plain dough into 15 x 1cm sausages between your palms, then repeat with the red and green doughs. On a work surface, lay a plain dough sausage parallel to a red or green one. Join the bottoms together, then lightly twist along the length. Do this gently - don't be tempted to press them together or the colours may meld. One by one, carefully lift each twist of dough, place on one of the prepared trays and curl at the top to form a hooked candy cane. Repeat until all the dough is used (you should have about 12 canes), spacing them apart by about 5cm.
• Bake for 12-14 mins until set and slightly golden. Leave to cool slightly on the trays before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Will keep in an airtight container for up to three days.

FESTIVE CANDY CANE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Grease cookie sheets.
• Beat the first two ingredients on medium speed for 30 seconds.
• Add sugar & baking powder, then egg, milk and vanilla.
• Beat well in mixer.
• Beat in cocoa powder and as much flour as you can with the mixer.
• Stir in remaining flour.
• Divide dough in half.
• Cover, chill at least one hour.
• Working with piece of the dough at a time, roll into slightly less than 1/4 inch thickness on a floured surface.
• Using a candy cane cookie cutter cut dough.
• Place one inch apart on greased cookie sheet.
• Bake 7 - 9 minutes until firm and lightly browned.
• Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wired rack.
• Heat white chocolate and 2 tsp of shortening in small saucepan over low heat until melted, stirring often (although I microwave on low heat for 30 second intervals until melted, stirring in between).
• Pour melted chocolate into freezer quart sized ziploc bag (I used freezer kind because it was thicker). Clip a small bit off one corner to create a hole in the bag. Then gently squeeze the bag drizzling the chocolate through the hole on to the cookies.
• Sprinkle on crushed candy-canes (quickly before chocolate hardens!).
• Let stand until set.

CANDY CANE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extract. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Divide dough in half; add 6-7 drops of food coloring to one half. Shape tablespoonfuls of each color of dough into 4-in. ropes. Place ropes side by side; lightly press ends together and twist. Place on ungreased baking sheets; curve to form canes. , Bake at 375° for 9-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Combine crushed candy canes and sugar; immediately sprinkle over cookies. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.