Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies

These peppermint candy cane cookies are light, buttery, and have such a fun twisted candy cane shape. Candy cane cookies look so fun for Christmas parties, gifts, and for cookie trays to share with family and friends, plus they are fun for kids to help twist together.

 

Why We Love Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies

• Great Cookie For Kids To Help– Kids love rolling the dough and twisting together the cookies. It’s a fun holiday activity to spend time together, and they go great with a cup of candy cane hot cocoa.
• Fun For Christmas– These cookies are so fun for Christmas, and their seasonal peppermint flavor is perfect for the holidays.
• Great On Cookie Party Trays– These cookies look so cute on a cookie tray. Their colorful dough and shape stand out and look so festive for any party or make great gifts.

Ingredients For Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies

Ingredients For The Cookie Dough

• butter – softened Using unsalted butter allows you to control how much salt is in the final cookies. If you use salted butter, remove the salt from this recipe.
• granulated sugar – white sugar
• powdered sugar
• vanilla extract
• peppermint extract
• egg – large
• all purpose flour
• baking powder
• salt

Ingredients For Decorating The Cookies

• Red gel food coloring – It is much harder to get a holiday red color with a liquid red food coloring. Often liquid food coloring produced a pink colored dough. Gel food coloring is much more concentrated for vibrant colors.
• granulated sugar
• crushed candy canes (optional) – About 2 candy canes crushed. You can crush the candy canes in a zip-top bag with your hands or a rolling pin. This is to sprinkle on top of the cookies. This isn’t necessary but can be fun to add.

How To Make Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies

Making The Cookies Dough

1. In a large bowl cream together softened butter, 1 cup granulated sugar and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until fully mixed. Add the egg, vanilla, and peppermint to the butter and sugar. Mix until these wet ingredients are fully mixed.

2. In a separate mixing bowl mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Mix well until a dough forms and all the dry ingredients are well mixed into the dough.

3. Remove the dough with your hands onto a clean counter and roll the dough into a log shape. Cut the dough into two equal halves.

4. In the middle of one half of the dough, add red gel food coloring. Gently knead it to mix the color in (see notes below.) Add more red gel food coloring as needed to make it a red color.
5. Wrap each dough color in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.

Twisting And Baking The Cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking oil.
2. Scoop out two teaspoons from the red dough and two teaspoons of the uncolored dough. Roll the red dough together into a ball. Roll the uncolored dough together into a ball.
3. Roll each color of dough into long ropes with your hands until they are about six inches long. Twist the dough ropes together. Shape the twisted dough into a hook shape and place it onto a cookie sheet, about 9 per cookie sheet leaving space between the cookies. Repeat for each cookie.

4. Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes.

5. Sprinkle the warm cookies with granulated sugar while warm, then allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for about two to three minutes. You can also optionally sprinkle the cookies with the crushed candy cane if desired. Place cookies on a wire rack or clean towel to finish cooling. Then eat and enjoy!

Variations For Candy Cane Twist Cookies

Make The Dough Green– Green candy canes are found pretty often at the holidays too. Making green candy canes would be just as much festive fun.

Make Rainbow Colored Candy Canes– You can really make the dough any color you want! Simply split half the dough into to multiple pieces and mix different colors into the dough. Make orange, purple, pink or blue candy canes by then twisitng them with plain dough.

Swap Peppermint For Spearmint– Spearmint has a slightly different minty flavor, but you can swap

Don’t Use Mint At All- Just because these candy canes are mint shaped doesn’t mean they have to taste like peppermint. Swap in more vanilla or almond extract in place of the peppermint for a cookie that is still tasty.

Drizzle With Chocolate- Chocolate peppermint is one of my favorite combinations! Once the cookies cool completely, melt some chocolate on half power in the microwave. Then drizzle cookies with chocolate and top with bits of candy cane to make this treat even more delicious!

How Do I Store These Candy Cane Cookies?

Store these candy cane cookies in an airtight container for 4-5 days on the counter.

Can I Make This Cookie Dough Ahead Of Time?

Yes, you can make this cookie dough ahead of time. I recommend coloring the dough with food coloring before placing it in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic. The dough can also be left refrigerated for up to 2 days before baking.

Can I Freeze The Cookie Dough?

You can freeze the cookie dough for these cookies ahead of time with no issues. Color the dough with food coloring first as it will be easier, then wrap the dough in plastic wrap and/or freezer paper.

Place in a freezer zip-top bag. When you’re ready to make the cookies, let the dough defrost on the counter for a few hours so you can form the cookies.

You can also freeze the cookie dough already made into the candy cane shapes before baking, and this is honestly my favorite way to freeze the dough. I recommend freezing the twisted candy cane cookie dough pieces on a cookie sheet first, then place in a freezer zip-top bag. This helps to keep the dough in it’s candy cane shape without breaking during the freezing process.

Once the dough is frozen in the candy cane shape, you can bake the cookie dough straight from the freezer to the pan. The cookies may need an extra minute or two in the oven to bake.

Can I Freeze These Candy Cane Cookies After Baking?

While the cookies can be frozen after they are baked, it’s not my favorite. The flavor and texture of the cookies will taste a little better if they are not refrozen after they’ve been baked.

How Long Will Candy Cane Cookies Last?

Expect these cookies will taste best if enjoyed within 4-5 days after baking. Cookies can be stored in an covered airtight container on the counter.