Candy Cane Cookies
Ingredients:
| 1/2 cup | softened butter |
| 1/2 cup | shortening |
| 1 cup | confectioners' sugar |
| 1 | egg |
| 1-1/2 tsp | almond extract |
| 1 tsp | vanilla |
| 1 tsp | peppermint extract or 3 drops of peppermint essential oil |
| 2-1/2 cups | flour |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| 6-8 drops | red food coloring |
| 1/2 cup | crushed peppermint candy or candy canes |
| 1/2 cup | granulated sugar |
Instructions:
- Mix butter, shortening -- like Crisco -- confectioners' sugar, egg, almond extract, vanilla, and peppermint extract together
- In a separate bowl, sift flour and salt together, then combine with batter and mix thoroughly
- Split dough in half and remove one half from the bowl, and mix red food coloring into the remaining half
- Roll 1 heaping teaspoon of each color dough into a 4 inch “rope,” then twist the two ropes together and curve the top to make it look like a candy cane. Repeat this step until you get the amount of cookies you want. I recommend smashing the hole where the candy cane curves together a bit so the topping doesn’t fall through
- Place the rolled candy canes on a cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, or until the white part of the dough turns a light brown
- Crush the candy -- using a blender or a mallet -- and mix with the granulated sugar
- As soon as the cookies are done, sprinkle the topping on every cookie. You should do this quickly before the cookies cool. The candy topping should melt to the hot cookie.
- Let it cool a bit and you’re done! You can eat them with some milk and they taste super good. I hope you enjoy them!
Recipe submitted by Skylar Shim