Candy Cane Cookies
This festive recipe for Candy Cane Cookies is everything you love about holiday baking. The bright red and white twists, the buttery dough, and the hint of peppermint bring these cookies to life at your cookie exchange or on your dessert table.
This cookie brings back memories of childhood baking at Christmas time. Even as an adult, there is something fun about shaping and twisting each cookie by hand. If you want festive cookies that look impressive and taste amazing, these Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies are the ones.
For more holiday desserts, be sure to check out my White Chocolate and Peppermint Cookies and my Pecan Pralines Candy.
Peppermint always shows up during the holiday season. For another easy peppermint treat, try my White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge. It’s fast, easy, and so delish.
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💗 Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Fun and Festive: The red-and-white swirl makes these holiday cookies stand out on any dessert table.
- Perfect Peppermint Flavor: These candy cane cookies have the perfect balance of vanilla and peppermint.
- Kid-Friendly: Little hands love rolling and twisting the dough into “snakes,” then baking them to eat.
- Great for Cookie Swaps: These peppermint cookies are perfect for a dessert tray or cookie swap. They taste great and stay fresh for days.
🛒 Ingredients Needed
A simple cookie dough with ingredients that result in delicious Candy Cane Sugar Cookies. See the printable recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients and amounts.
- Crushed Peppermint and Sugar: This is optional, but delicious sprinkled on top of warm cookies.
- Butter: Softened to room temperature so it creams smoothly with the sugar.
- Powdered Sugar: Also known as confectioners’ or icing sugar. This gives the dough sweetness and makes a delicate texture.
- Egg: Used as a binder. I prefer to use room-temperature eggs when I bake.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds warm holiday flavor.
- Peppermint Extract: Gives these peppermint cookies their signature minty taste.
- All-Purpose Flour: Forms the structure of the dough.
- Red Food Coloring: Used to give the signature red-striped appearance. Use as much as you need to achieve the desired color you like. Use a little at a time and add more as needed.
🔪 How to Make Christmas Cookies
This easy candy cane cookie recipe is perfect for beginner bakers, makes festive cookies, and is a great recipe overall. For complete step-by-step instructions, see the printable recipe card below.
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar. Place softened butter and sugar in a large bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed and beat until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
Step 2: Add the wet ingredients. Add the egg, vanilla, and peppermint extract, and mix well.
Step 3: Add the flour. Turn the mixer to low and add flour slowly, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
Step 4: Divide and chill. Remove half of the dough from the bowl. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
Step 5: Color the remaining dough. Place the red food coloring or food gel in the bowl with the remaining dough. Mix on low and incorporate into the dough fully. Add food coloring or gel until you get the desired red dough, and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
Step 6: Prep and Preheat. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Step 7: Shape the cookies. Pinch off about 1 tablespoon of each color. Roll each into a 5-inch “snake.” Place a red and white rope side by side, twist them together, gently roll them, and form them into a candy cane shape.
Step 8: Bake. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the white begins to turn light brown.
Step 9: Add the topping. While warm, sprinkle with the crushed peppermint and sugar mixture for extra sparkle and crunch.
Step 10: Cool and Store. Cool completely on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack. Store in an airtight container in a single layer (use parchment between layers) for up to a week.
💭 Pro Tips
- Chill the Dough: Chill the dough after preparing it. Chill for at least an hour or overnight. This will make the dough easier to handle and help the cookies hold their shape. This is an important step and should not be skipped.
- Food Coloring: Use enough food coloring or food gel to achieve a vibrant color. Use until you are satisfied with the desired color and red dough. A little food gel goes a long way.
- Rolling the Dough: Roll out each color into about 5-inch ropes, then twist the ropes together, gently rolling the two colors as one, and bend the top to make a candy cane shape. Pinch the ends together to keep them from unraveling.
- Avoid Overbaking: Remove the cookies from the oven when they turn light brown. Cool the pan for a few minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
❔ Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can make this dough ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to 2 days.
Chilling the dough is necessary to prevent the excessive spreading of your cookies. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour or longer before rolling and shaping it into cookies.
If you have too many leftover cookies, you can use them as crumbs over ice cream or sprinkle them on yogurt. Leftover cookies are great with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate any time of the day.
More Favorite Christmas Cookies
If you tried this Candy Cane Cookies recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please consider leaving a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
👩🏻🍳 Recipe
Candy Canes Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks salted butter (1 cup), softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon red food coloring or small amount of red food gel
- 3 candy canes crushed, optional
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar optional
Instructions
- Place softened butter and sugar in a large bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed and beat until light and fluffy 2-3 minutes.
- Add egg, vanilla, peppermint extract and mix well to combine.
- Turn the mixer to low and add flour slowly, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
- Remove half of the dough from the bowl. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
- Place the red food coloring or food gel in the bowl with the remaining dough. Mix on low and incorporate into the dough fully. Add food coloring or gel until you get the desired red dough.
- Remove the dough from the bowl, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
- In a small bowl, combine crushed peppermint and sugar. Set aside.
- Line 2 cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap it, and pinch off about 1 tablespoon of each color. Keep the colors separate. Roll each color into a dough ball in the palm of your hand. Roll each dough ball on a clean surface, making a long snake about 5 inches long. Then, place a white piece and a red piece side by side and twist, gently rolling the two colors as one, pinching the tops, and forming into a candy cane.
- Continue to roll and gently twist to use all of the dough and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the white begins to turn light brown.
- Remove from the oven, and if using crushed candy canes and sugar, sprinkle over the top immediately as they come out of the oven.
- Cool completely on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack.Store in an airtight container or zip top bag in a single layer. Separate the layers with parchment paper if desired.Store at room temperature for up to a week.
An old childhood favorite! This candy canes cookie recipe brings back so many wonderful childhood memories.