You have 0 items in your cart
Candy Cane Cookies
This post may contain affiliate links. View my privacy policy and disclosure policy for more details.
If you’re planning your Christmas baking lineup or juggling a couple of cookie exchanges, these Candy Cane Cookies belong at the top of your list. They bake up soft, minty, and downright adorable, and people go wild for the powdered-sugar sparkle. Plus, the dough is easy, the peppermint flavor hits just right, and they stand out on any cookie tray. They are one of our favorites!
Looking for more holiday baking ideas? Browse these Christmas Desserts or Old Fashioned Christmas Cookie Recipes for more festive favorites.
Why You’ll Love These Candy Cane Cookies
Candy Cane Cookies are a fun twist on classic Christmas cookies. Crushed candy canes add a sweet peppermint flavor, festive red-and-white bits, and a little crunch to every bite. The cookies stay soft and chewy inside, with a light powdered sugar coating that creates their signature crinkled tops.
Unlike regular sugar cookies, these have a refreshing minty flavor and extra texture from the crushed candy canes. They’re easy to make and look right at home on any Christmas cookie tray.
Ingredient Notes
A handful of pantry staples come together to make a soft cookie base with a festive peppermint twist. The dough stays light and tender, thanks to a simple mix of butter, sugar, and just enough crushed candy canes for crunch and color. Here are a few ingredients to note:
- Powdered sugar coats the dough, creating a soft, crackly exterior.
- Crushed candy canes add color, texture, and that classic holiday flavor. Crush them yourself using a rolling pin or mallet, or buy a bag of pre-crushed candy canes.
- Butter: Use softened butter so it blends easily into the dough.
- Granulated sugar: Sweetens the cookies and helps create a tender texture.
- Vanilla extract: Balances the peppermint with a hint of vanilla.
- Egg: Binds the dough and keeps the cookies tender.
- Baking powder and baking soda: Help the cookies rise and spread as they bake.
- All-purpose flour: Gives the dough structure. Measure carefully to keep the cookies soft.
How to Make Candy Cane Cookies
These cookies come together easily. Mix the dough, roll it in powdered sugar, bake until set, and let cool. For full recipe details, including ingredients and measurements, see the printable recipe card below.
Step 1: Preheat Oven + Prep Pan
Get your oven to 350° F and line baking sheets with parchment or a silicone mat.
Step 2: Crush the Candy Canes
Place them in a bag and tap them a few times with a rolling pin.
Step 3: Make the Dough
Cream the butter and sugar, add the vanilla extract and egg, then blend in the dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in the crushed candy canes.
Step 4: Roll in Powdered Sugar
Shape the dough into balls, coat in powdered sugar, and place on a prepared baking sheet.
Step 5: Bake
Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the bottoms barely turn golden brown. This is the key to their chewiness. For best results, the outside of the cookie should look matte (not shiny) when you pull it out. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Pro Tip: I use lighter colored baking sheets, so the bake time is based on that. If you use a darker nonstick baking sheet, reduce the baking time by about 2 minutes.
Tips for Success
- Crush the candy canes carefully. Place them in a zip-top bag and gently crush with a rolling pin. Aim for small pieces rather than fine powder so you get little bits of peppermint in every bite.
- Don’t overbake. The tops should look matte and set, but the centers should still be soft.
- Use light-colored baking sheets. They help prevent the bottoms of your cookies from browning too quickly.
- Keep dough balls the same size. This helps your cookies bake evenly and finish at the same time.
- Let the cookies cool slightly. Leave them on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack so they don’t fall apart.
What to Serve With Candy Cane Cookies
Serve these candy cane cookies with hot chocolate or add them to a Christmas cookie platter with a few holiday favorites.
- Crockpot Hot Chocolate – A warm, creamy drink that pairs well with peppermint.
- Gingerbread Cookies – Warm ginger and molasses bring a classic holiday flavor.
- Christmas Truffles – Sweet, bite-sized truffles add a fun touch to your Christmas dessert tray.
- Gingerdoodles – Ginger and cinnamon bring a warm, spiced contrast to the minty cookies.
- Christmas Sugar Cookies – Decorated with festive colors, they’re a fun addition to the cookie tray.
Or try this Christmas Dessert Board for an easy way to serve all your favorite holiday treats.
I LOVED how these Christmas Candy Cane Cookies turned out and hope they make it to your mouth soon. These are great for Christmas cookie platters, cookie exchanges, or leaving out on Christmas Eve for Santa! Whatever your holiday tradition, I hope you make these this season! The printable recipe card is below! Have a great day, friends!
Candy Cane Cookies
This sweet and chewy Christmas Candy Cane Cookie recipe is adapted from my award winning Lemon Crinkle Cookies recipe and are absolutely divine and so festive!
Ingredients
- 3 candy canes crushed (1/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. 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 the 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 a cooling rack.
Video
Notes
If using a nonstick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes
Storage + Make Ahead
- Room temperature: Store airtight up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Chill dough up to 48 hours, then let soften for 10 minutes before rolling.
- Freezer: Freeze baked cookies up to 2 months.
- Freeze the dough: Scoop into balls, freeze, then store up to 2 months. Roll in powdered sugar just before baking.
Nutrition
Calories: 113kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 1gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 66mgPotassium: 15mgSugar: 12gVitamin A: 130IUCalcium: 5mgIron: 0.4mg
Rate This RecipePlease consider Leaving a 5-Star Review!
Variations
- Swap peppermint candy for chocolate mints.
- Add a bit of peppermint extract for stronger mint flavor.
- Tint half the dough red and swirl them for a marbled look.
More of the Best Christmas Cookies to Bake!
- Triple Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
- Chocolate Mint Cookies
- Perfect Shortbread Cookies
- Christmas Shortbread Jam Cookies
- Gingerbread Man Cookies with Royal Icing
How to Store Candy Cane Cookies
Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Place parchment paper between layers to prevent sticking, and keep them in a cool, dry spot to keep the crushed candy canes from getting sticky.
To freeze, place the baked cookies in a freezer-safe container, with parchment paper between layers, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving. You can also freeze the uncoated dough balls for up to 2 months, then thaw slightly, roll in powdered sugar, and bake.
If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tag me @laurens_latest.
Easy and really good! I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out great. It took 12 minutes in my oven but I didn’t adjust for my high elevation.
“Why aren’t my cookies spreading?
A lot of you have mentioned to me that these cookies don’t spread. This problem happens because there is too much flour in your cookie dough! “
It would probably help if the conversion to metric was correct-currently it is doubled.
IMO, I think the dough should be chilled first. I followed the directions to a T and my cookies spread too much. They also require much more candy cane than a 1/4 cup again IMO.
I weighed my flour for 180 grams to be 1 1/2 cups but I think another 1/8 to a 1/4 cup more would have helped. My husband liked it but thought it was a simple cracked sugar cookie that his grandma used to make. Oh well, good not great for a first try.
The metric amount for flour for 24 cookies is doubled. 1.5 cups of flour is only about 180-200 grams of flour.
Sadly I realized this too late but I had enough ingredients to double the batch.
I wish I saw this comment- I made the same mistake. Bummed that the author hasn’t corrected this since you posted last year.
I put a bag of toffee bits into my shortbread dough.
It’s FANTASTIC!!! People are crazy for these cookies.
I tripled this recipe because they’re going to be part of some Christmas cookie packages for my husband’s coworkers. Because of the larger quantity and the high cost of butter right now, I did use Blue Bonnet sticks (not usually part of my baking process—butter is better), and the cookies required extra baking time as a result. I added peppermint extract and white chocolate chips, and these cookies are chewy, minty perfection! Thanks so much for a simply sweet recipe!
It is a great way to use up all the extra candy canes I have each year from my classroom gingerbread house making. The tips at the top were great. I always wondered why my cookies spread out too much. Never thought I would like a peppermint tasting cookie but these are awesome.
Trying to post a picture but can’t see where to do that.
[…] Candy Cane Cookies […]
The cookies were really fun to make, plus crushing the peppermints is kinda theatric, this recipe was very fun, plus my family said it taxed amazing, but question it. I didn’t excitedly have baking powder. So I decided to use a mix of cream of tartar, baking soda, and cornstarch, but their cookies ended up flat.
Not sure if it was something I did or what! Cooked for 9 minutes, really raw. At 11 minutes still uncooked. Baked for 13 barely cooked, 14 cooked but once cooled they were really really hard!!
Most easy but very yummy Christmas cookie recipe! A great new Christmas treat to add to our lead up to Christmas ?
I absolutely loved the Candy Cane cookies!!! They are delicious!!!!
They are going to be one of my Christmas baking all the time!!!
The only change I did was omitted the baking soda – don’t like the taste instead I did 1 tsp baking powder
SOOOO good! Just the right amount of candy cane. Delicious!