Candy Cane Cookies are festive, buttery, and perfectly peppermint-flavored cookies that bring pure holiday magic to your cookie tray! With their classic red and white swirl and sweet sparkling sugar coating, these adorable treats are easier to make than they look and taste absolutely divine
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
They’re buttery, tender, and packed with refreshing peppermint flavor. What I love most is that they’re surprisingly simple to make—no fancy equipment needed, just your hands and a little patience. They look absolutely stunning on a cookie platter, make wonderful gifts.
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Candy Cane Cookies
- Total Time: 4 hours (including chilling)
- Yield: 3 dozen cookies
Description
Learn how to make beautiful Candy Cane Cookies with this easy recipe! These festive peppermint sugar cookies feature classic red and white twisted stripes, sparkling sugar coating, and buttery flavor. Perfect for holiday cookie exchanges, Christmas baking, and gift-giving. Includes make-ahead options and step-by-step shaping instructions.
Ingredients
For the Cookie Dough (Yields ~36 cookies):
- 2 sticks (227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 2¾ cups (≈ 385 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon red food coloring (liquid)
For the Finish:
- 1 egg white (for wash)
- 2 tablespoons sparkling sugar
Instructions
Throw butter sugar both extracts baking powder and salt in your mixer. Turn it on medium let it run for a couple minutes until it looks creamy. Pause halfway through and scrape the sides because butter always hides up there like it’s playing hide and seek.
Crack the egg in there mix until it disappears takes maybe thirty seconds.
Pour all your flour in at once mix on low speed. Stop the SECOND you don’t see white streaks anymore. My mom mixes hers for like five minutes then complains her cookies are tough like yeah no kidding.
Scoop half out into a different bowl. Add red coloring to one half mix until no white streaks. Using gel? Start with a tiny dot that stuff is nuclear you can always add more but you can’t take it back.
Squash each piece flat wrap tight in plastic wrap stick in fridge minimum three hours. I make dough at night watch Netflix and deal with it tomorrow because standing around waiting for cold dough sounds like torture.
Turn oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment. You can skip parchment if you enjoy scraping burnt cookie bits off metal with a butter knife for twenty minutes cursing past you.
Here’s where people freak out but relax. Grab some white dough about walnut size grab same amount of red. Roll each into skinny ropes maybe five inches long same thickness. Put them side by side twist gently don’t squeeze hard or they mush into ugly brown. Curve the top make the hook. Space them out on the pan they spread some.
Beat egg white in a bowl until foamy. Too thick add water. Brush each cookie light coat don’t go crazy you’re not waterproofing a deck.
Pour sparkly sugar over them while wet. Use more than seems right this is what makes them pretty.
Bake eight to ten minutes until edges barely start going tan. Look underdone when you pull them out they’re not don’t panic they firm up. Leave on hot pan ten minutes or they break in half and you’ll want to cry.
Notes
- Work in batches: Only take out as much dough as you can shape in about 10 minutes. Keep the rest refrigerated so it stays firm.
- Make your ropes the same size: This is key to getting that pretty, even twist. I eyeball it, but you can use a kitchen scale if you want to be precise.
- Don’t overwork the dough: The more you handle it, the warmer (and stickier) it gets. Be efficient!
- Use gel food coloring for vibrant color: Liquid works fine, but gel gives you a much more saturated, true red color.
- If cookies spread too much: Your dough might be too warm. Try chilling the shaped cookies on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes before baking.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes (plus 3 hours chilling time)
- Cook Time: 8-10 minutes per batch
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredient List
For the Cookie Dough (Yields ~36 cookies):
- 2 sticks (227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 2¾ cups (≈ 385 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon red food coloring (liquid)
For the Finish:
- 1 egg white (for wash)
- 2 tablespoons sparkling sugar
Why These Ingredients Work
Soft butter not melted butter because melted turns your cookies into crepes. Cold butter makes your mixer sound like it’s having a seizure.
Peppermint extract carries the whole operation. I use the full 1½ teaspoons my sister thinks I’m crazy and uses 1 teaspoon her cookies taste like sadness.
Little bit of baking powder stops them from being flat as cardboard but doesn’t puff them into blobs. We want candy cane shapes not biscuits.
Red food coloring works from the squeeze bottle but gel is better and costs like three bucks at Walmart. Bottle coloring makes them pink gel makes them RED.
Egg white and sparkly sugar is the difference between someone going “nice cookies” versus “holy crap did you make these??” My neighbor Karen still thinks I’m lying about making them myself.
Essential Tools and Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Large mixing bowls (at least 2)
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Plastic wrap
- Baking sheets (2-3)
- Parchment paper
- Small bowl for egg wash
- Pastry brush
- Wire cooling rack
How To Make Candy Cane Cookies
Step 1: Make the Dough
Throw butter sugar both extracts baking powder and salt in your mixer. Turn it on medium let it run for a couple minutes until it looks creamy. Pause halfway through and scrape the sides because butter always hides up there like it’s playing hide and seek.
Step 2: Add the Egg
Crack the egg in there mix until it disappears takes maybe thirty seconds.
Step 3: Incorporate the Flour
Pour all your flour in at once mix on low speed. Stop the SECOND you don’t see white streaks anymore. My mom mixes hers for like five minutes then complains her cookies are tough like yeah no kidding.
Step 4: Color Half the Dough
Scoop half out into a different bowl. Add red coloring to one half mix until no white streaks. Using gel? Start with a tiny dot that stuff is nuclear you can always add more but you can’t take it back.
Step 5: Chill the Dough
Squash each piece flat wrap tight in plastic wrap stick in fridge minimum three hours. I make dough at night watch Netflix and deal with it tomorrow because standing around waiting for cold dough sounds like torture.
Step 6: Preheat and Prep
Turn oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment. You can skip parchment if you enjoy scraping burnt cookie bits off metal with a butter knife for twenty minutes cursing past you.
Step 7: Shape the Candy Canes
Here’s where people freak out but relax. Grab some white dough about walnut size grab same amount of red. Roll each into skinny ropes maybe five inches long same thickness. Put them side by side twist gently don’t squeeze hard or they mush into ugly brown. Curve the top make the hook. Space them out on the pan they spread some.
Step 8: Apply the Egg Wash
Beat egg white in a bowl until foamy. Too thick add water. Brush each cookie light coat don’t go crazy you’re not waterproofing a deck.
Step 9: Add the Sparkle
Pour sparkly sugar over them while wet. Use more than seems right this is what makes them pretty.
Step 10: Bake to Perfection
Bake eight to ten minutes until edges barely start going tan. Look underdone when you pull them out they’re not don’t panic they firm up. Leave on hot pan ten minutes or they break in half and you’ll want to cry.
You Must Know
Dough HAS to be cold or you’re screwed. Not being dramatic warm dough sticks to everything and falls apart and you’ll hate your life. I pull out enough dough for maybe five minutes work leave rest in fridge. Hands getting warm dough getting sticky everything goes back in fridge for ten minutes.
Personal Secret: Bowl of ice water next to my workspace game changer. Dough sticking to hands dip fingers in water shake off keep going. Learned this from grandma thirty years ago still use it every time.
Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks
- Counter needs to be dry. Wet counter dough slides around you get frustrated.
- Both ropes same size or stripes look wonky. I eyeball it my friend Amanda weighs every piece on a scale because she’s psychotic.
- Cookies going flat dough wasn’t cold enough period. Stick shaped cookies in fridge fifteen minutes before baking.
- Gel food coloring costs more worth every penny. Liquid = pink gel = actual red.
- Gentle twists look better than tight twists. Don’t strangle them.
Flavor Variations / Suggestions
Chocolate peppermint: Stir quarter cup cocoa into one half skip red coloring. Brown white looks awesome tastes like Andes mints.
Almond cookies: Add half teaspoon almond extract with the other stuff. Tastes fancy like bakery cookies.
Any color ever: Pink Valentine’s green St Patrick’s orange Halloween purple because why not. Kids lose their minds over this.
Chocolate dipped: Let cookies cool completely melt chocolate dip the ends roll in crushed candy canes. My sister does this every year they vanish instantly.
Lemon twist: Swap peppermint for lemon extract use yellow coloring. Makes cute spring cookies.
Make-Ahead Options
Dough keeps fridge three days freezer three months. Frozen dough thaw overnight in fridge before using.
What I actually do shape all cookies freeze on sheet pan until solid throw in freezer bag. Need cookies bake frozen add two minutes. Saves my sanity December when I’m already losing it.
Baked cookies freeze fine. Parchment between layers good for two months.
Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips
- Dough rock hard from fridge leave out ten minutes.
- Crumbly dough add water teaspoon at a time until it behaves.
- Don’t overbake. Barely golden edges perfect they firm up cooling.
- No sparkly sugar regular works just less pretty.
- Used salted butter once ran out just skipped the extra salt turned out fine.
Serving Suggestions
Put them on plate with chocolate cookies and snickerdoodles gives people choices. Candy canes disappear first though always.
Good with coffee or hot chocolate. Tried hanging on mug rims for Instagram kept falling in stupid idea don’t do it.
Gifts cheap cellophane bags from Target tie with ribbon. Fifty cents per bag people act like you’re professional baker.
My friend Sarah writes names on tags sticks them in curve for place cards Christmas dinner. Looks adorable nobody wants to eat them too pretty.
Just make them. Stop overthinking. My kids fight over who rolls dough now it’s our whole Christmas thing. Totally worth the mess.
How to Store Your Candy Cane Cookies
Container with lid on counter good for week maybe longer if you hide them good.
Fridge three weeks but room temp tastes better to me.
Freezer two months easy. Take out thirty minutes before eating.
Don’t heat them up just eat room temperature like normal cookies.
Allergy Information
Has: Dairy eggs wheat
No dairy: Try vegan butter might taste weird might not.
No eggs: Mix tablespoon ground flaxseed three tablespoons water wait five minutes use that. Wash use milk before sugar.
No gluten: Get one-to-one gluten free flour from baking aisle. Cookies more delicate be gentle.
Questions I Get Asked A Lot
My dough is too sticky to roll. What should I do?
Fridge thirty more minutes. Still sticky dust hands tiny bit flour not too much.
Do I have to use peppermint extract?
Nope use whatever almond vanilla orange lemon whatever same amount.
Why did my cookies lose their shape in the oven?
Warm dough always warm dough. Chill properly hot kitchen chill shaped cookies fifteen minutes first. Don’t use melted butter beginning causes this every time.
💬 Tried this recipe? Leave a comment and rating below! Did you make these tell me everything.
