These Candy Cane Cookies are adapted from my Lemon Crinkle Cookie recipe. They are absolutely divine and we can thank my ex’s mom for that!
Let me tell you the story of these Candy Cane Cookies. Buckle up because it’s a semi-long one.
Once upon a time when I was 16, I dated a boy. He was cute, sweet and semi-popular. He came from a big family that was friends with my big family. We dated a while. My Dad joked with his Dad about his son marrying his daughter. *awkward* My sisters and I were friends with his sisters and his Mom was THE.BEST.COOK. Forreals.
So, this relationship progresses like any high school first love relationship would progress…and then I dump him. Then I realize I was an idiot and try to get him back for the next few months…we get back together.
And then I dump him again….through his sister! I was a meanie…what can I say? I believe my exact words were “tell your brother to consider himself dumped!” {Totally mean, right?} I was never one to be dumped. I always did the dumping.
So, time goes on as it usually does and I stay in touch with his sisters. WELL, just the other day, one of these sisters sent me a message saying that her Mom adapted my Lemon Crinkle Cookie recipe, except she replaced the lemon with candy canes. Umm….what? I’m sorry….umm…WHAT? My jaw hit the floor because:
1. YOUR Mom made MY recipe?
2. Your Mom maybe reads my blog?! Really? Am I being punked? {Hi Lorna! :)}
3. Candy canes in place of lemon? Brilliant!
So, I had to try it out for myself and of course, these candy cane cookies were just amazing. The Lemon Crinkles won me a contest a few months back, so I was happy to tweak this pretty simple recipe into something extra special for the holidays.
And just FYI, this boy and I are happily married {to other people} and this is all water under the bridge now. No hard feelings! 🙂
Candy Cane Cookie Ingredients
How to Make Candy Cane Cookies
I like to start by crushing my candy canes. Throw them into a plastic ziploc bag and bang them up with a rolling pin. I don’t even unwrap the candy canes either. Once they’re crushed, you can pick out the plastic wrappers. Because I’m lazy. Oh yeah.
Hello, my pretties! I had a few bigger chunks of candy cane, but for the most part, these were pretty small.
Ok, now let’s get started with the cookie dough. Cream some buttuh and shugah togethah.
Add in an egg…
…and some vanilla.
Let the mixer whip this up so it’s super light and fluffy. My KitchenAid does an amazazazing job at this.
Measure out your baking powder, baking soda, and salt–
and stir it into your flour.
Dump all your dry ingredients {except the powdered sugar} into the bowl and stir it around until it’s just incorporated.
The last thing to do is add in your crushed candy canes.
I don’t know about you but I could eat this whole bowl of dough. Come to momma.
Once I dismounted the bowl from the mixer, a little girl showed up in my kitchen with her “green” {OXO spatula} and requested a taste test. She was so cute that I agreed and then kept her for free child labor.
To form these sweet lil things, start with a tablespoon of dough.
Roll it into a ball…
…and roll that ball in powdered sugar. It’s not rocket science, people! Super simple stuff.
A great job for little hands.
P.S.–> Expect a mess.
Once you have a tray full, pop those babies into a 350-degree oven and let ’em bake. NOT TOO LONG! The key to these is their chewiness. You want the outside of the cookie to look matte {not shiny} when you pull them out. Mine were done in 8 minutes on the nose.
See? Not shiny and barely golden {if that} around the edges.
Cool them off and serve them up!
I LOVED these and hope they make it to your mouth soon. 🙂 Printable recipe card below!
Products I used:
Beanilla – vanilla
Chicago Metallics – cookie sheets and cooling racks
KitchenAid – 7-Qt. Stand Mixer
OXO – pop top storage containers, measuring cups, measuring spoons, spatulas
Le Creuset – spatulas
Candy Cane Cookies
These Candy Cane Cookies are adapted from my Lemon Crinkle Cookie recipe. They are absolutely divine and we can thank my ex's mom for that!
Ingredients
- 3 candy canes crushed (1/4 cup)
- ½ cups butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoons baking soda
- 1-½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray, line with parchment paper or use silicone baking mat and set aside.
-
Place candy canes into a plastic food storage bag and crush using a rolling pin. Set aside.
-
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla and egg. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir all dry ingredients together in a small bowl and then in pour into the mixer and slowly mix until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of the bowl and mix again briefly. Stir in crushed candy canes. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
-
Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begins to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
Recipe Notes
If using a nonstick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.
Sara says
December 15, 2011 at 12:05 pmOh! How perfect. I have a cookie exchange TONIGHT and I was still debating over what to make. This will be it. Yay!! Thanks for solving my DEEE-lema!
Sara says
December 15, 2011 at 10:54 pmOk – so I made these and I’m ready for my cookie swap tonight, I just have to say,
HOLY-NEW-FAVORITE-COOKIE-BATMAN!!! These are DEE-lish!!! They will be a part of every Christmas from here on out! Thanks to you and your x-boyfriend’s mom 😉 !
Julie @ Table for Two says
December 15, 2011 at 12:55 pmok, i’m bookmarking this because i’m SO making this on sunday when i make my holiday cookies for work — this is awesome!! thank you 🙂 🙂 your daughter is the cutest thing ever! i really hope i have a daughter so i can cook with her 🙂
Laurie {Simply Scratch} says
December 15, 2011 at 1:42 pmAWW~ Love this post! Your daughter is adorable! {and so are those cookies!!} 🙂
Rachel @ Not Rachael Ray says
December 15, 2011 at 2:21 pmHa, your story cracked me up! Your daughter is beautiful, and these cookies look AMAZING! Pinning–might have to squeeze these in this year.
Kathryn says
December 15, 2011 at 9:22 amOh those pictures of your daughter helping are just the cutest thing ever!
Megan Pence says
December 15, 2011 at 5:40 pmOhhhh, awkward first loves. Gotta love ’em.
I love how she adapted your recipe, talk about a great twist on a classic!
Natalie says
December 15, 2011 at 6:30 pmThat is hilarious. You were quite the little heartbreaker it seems! I love her idea of swapping lemon for candy canes! Maybe you can get that roll recipe afterall…
Briana says
December 15, 2011 at 8:14 pmRemind me to tell you sometime about how I dumped your brother-in-law on Christmas Eve. at age 12. We love this story. 😉
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says
December 15, 2011 at 1:00 pmthese look so great!! I love that someone’s mom is reading your blog and adapting your recipes…before you even 🙂 That’s pretty cool…I dont think my mom reads my blog and would probably laugh at it. haha!
I saw your donuts on the front page of FG and on Tasty Kitchen..congrats. Now I want these cookies and donuts!
Michelle says
December 15, 2011 at 9:11 pmI LOVE chewy cookies. I’m pretty sure I’m making these tonight. Yummy.
Tara @ Chip Chip Hooray says
December 15, 2011 at 9:25 pmCrinkle cookies make me smile. And these are holiday-happy too! 🙂
Lauren @ What Lauren Likes says
December 15, 2011 at 1:38 pmHahah great story and recipe! To cute 😀
Jessica @ How Sweet says
December 15, 2011 at 9:42 pmthese look seriously perfect. love.
Blog is the New Black says
December 15, 2011 at 9:54 pmLauren, or Lauren’s ex’s mom: GENIUS! I am making these! 🙂
Magen says
December 15, 2011 at 10:19 pmThat story cracked me up! And I can’t wait to make these.
Amber, RD says
December 15, 2011 at 10:42 pmOh my! These sound wonderful. Unfortunately, my baking list is set for the rest of the Christmas season, but these will be on my list for next year. How brilliant is a candy cane cookies?
P.S. What a beautiful little girl!!
Melissa // thefauxmartha says
December 16, 2011 at 1:52 amI’ll take three! Peppermint anything is my weakness.
Beth - Slice of Southern says
December 16, 2011 at 3:07 amLove peppermint! These look so good, and your daughter is a doll!
Priya says
December 16, 2011 at 4:26 amInteresting read…I couldn’t stop reading to know how it ends :). YUMMY cookies…you have a cute little helper!!
Moontaj says
December 16, 2011 at 6:16 amI am TOTALLY making these!
Do have 1 question what is the purpose of Baking Soda in the cookies?
Totally n000b question but I’ve wondered cause I’ve made cookies without the baking soda before and they turned out fine.
CouponClippingCook says
December 16, 2011 at 8:17 amo.m.g. these look soooo good. seriously, love how they look chewy…and the color of the cookie looks so delish. Also, your little one is just adorable. So love your pics too. great post.
brandi says
December 16, 2011 at 1:47 pmouch – what a way to be dumped 🙂 although, i have some stories that are probably worse.
these cookies look great!
Jill Lombardo says
December 16, 2011 at 3:41 pmWow, will have to make these this weekend. But now that you know she reads your blog, you can definitely work on getting the roll recipe…and ….share it with us=) Thanks for a great story and wonderful recipe!
Michelle says
December 16, 2011 at 6:51 pmLove this idea and the quick cooking time so much I linked to you on my blog for my holiday madness round up! Would love it if you checked it out!
http://www.fromthefirstbite.com/2011/12/last-minute-holiday-madness.html
xo
Jolene (www.everydayfoodie.ca) says
December 16, 2011 at 11:18 pmThose look amazing!!!!!! I love that the recipe is really easy and includes things that I always have on hand! Mmmmmm! I am going to make this one!
Jessi says
December 17, 2011 at 3:03 pmThese are sooo good! and easy too. A permanent addition to my Christmas cookie list! Thanks 🙂
natalie (the sweets life) says
December 19, 2011 at 8:57 pmahh i’m regretting using up all of my candy canes this weekend! great story and great recipe 🙂
channing @channingosity says
December 21, 2011 at 5:38 pmyum, yum, yum, these look like minty pillows of sweet heaven! cannot wait to try!! thank you! channing
Heather Walker says
December 22, 2011 at 4:33 pmI make a cookie very similar to this, but along with the peppermint I add WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS! It is really, really good!
Erin P. says
January 20, 2012 at 4:16 pmOkay…these were great! BUT, I have to share this. I was low on butter. So…I used shortening. I know people think I am a crappy baker for this. However, in my defense…I always have shortening and with all the great mint flavor dominating this cookie it was still delicious.
Dara says
December 21, 2012 at 12:46 pmHi Lauren, I made these cookies for the first time today, and they are divine. So easy to make, beautiful to look at, and absolutely delicious. I quadrupled the recipe to bring to a cookie swap tonight. Thank you!
Brie says
December 24, 2012 at 11:27 amDelicious! I made these today and they were really easy to make and tasted great. I gave some to my mom and she said that they were the best cookie she had ever eaten.
Lilia Beltran says
December 29, 2012 at 12:25 pmSo excited to try these!! 🙂
Heather says
November 9, 2013 at 7:23 amWow these cookies are awesome! My leftover candy canes were green and red so they came out super festive! Not everyone in my family likes peppermint though so I also did a batch with crushed up Werthers in them….Double WOW! I have to freeze them so I don’t gain ten pounds before Christmas time 🙂 thanks for the recipe! Will add this to the annual mix!
Katerina Klimes says
December 14, 2013 at 9:54 amI popped my candy Canes in the food processor. The cookies were lovely, soft, chewy. We also did a thumb print in the middle and sprinkled the candy cane dust in the middle…..so cute and nice
Monica Epstein says
December 15, 2013 at 1:57 pmYum, Lauren. These cookies are delicious. And I never thought of using the rolling pin to pound the candy canes. Duh. I used to roll the pin over the ziploc bag and it took forever, not to mention the shards of candy would cut the bag and start leaking out. Thanks for a great recipe.
Lisa Gonzalez says
December 23, 2013 at 9:13 amThese sound so good and easy. I can that!! Lol
But I dont have a mixer could I mix it by hand?
Julia Bee says
December 26, 2013 at 5:42 amDefinitely, you can mix by hand. I’ve never had a mixer but once borrowed from a friend for a year and I know that I can even mix things for 3-5 minutes. Younger people to take turns mixing is great when it’s longer! 🙂 Cookies are the easiest thing to mix by hand.
Kay says
December 23, 2013 at 11:17 amCandy cane crinkles, yum yum!!!!
Alexis AKA MOM says
January 28, 2014 at 10:12 pmThank you so much for the recipe. It was a huge hit, I can’t wait to try the lemon version. I’m post a link to you 🙂