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