Candy Cane Cookies I

This turned out great, and here are some tips for making this an easier process. Like other reviewers, I grew up with my Mom making these every Christmas. I finally got the recipe from her (she just turned 90!) but also glad I found the exact recipe here. I prefer the almond flavor so no dusting of sugar or crushed peppermint for me. However, if one swaps the almond extract for peppermint extract, adding a dusting on top would be perfect. So… I made the recipe exactly as stated (butter, shortening, large egg, powder sugar). After separating dough into 2 balls and coloring 1 red, I refrigerated for about 15 min. I took both out and cut each dough ball in 4 pieces (8 total); took 1 white and 1 red and popped the rest back in the fridge. I rolled the white out then the red and when equal lengths (maybe around 16-20 inches?) I put them side by side and cut into about four 4-inch logs – give or take. Rolled directly on my granite countertop, no flour needed. I then took each pair (1 white rope, 1 red) and rolled these so that stripes were joined. Gave them a little bit of a twist and put them on the baking sheet and curved the top into the cane shape (I used a baking mat). It went super-fast. Because I was multi-tasking, I popped the first tray back in the fridge while I continued to roll out each pair and filled a second baking sheet. I did put that back in the fridge to do something unrelated but popped both baking sheets in the oven. Took longer to bake since they were cold and I had 2 pans going (maybe closer to 11-12min). But they turned out exactly as I hoped with the almond/vanilla flavor and shortbread texture. I have become my mom – ha ha.

don’t make this unless you want biscuits for your food haha this should be in the food category NOT sweets lol dont use powdered sugar …. use regular. dont use shortening… use a little bit of oil and butter. This is oily and hard to roll out. your cookies will fry instead of bake. NOT A DECENT RECIPE

I have been making these cookies for decades. They are time-consuming to make but they are so worth it. I refrigerate the dough for about 15 minutes before trying to work with it. These are my favorite Christmas cookies and they look so festive. Everyone has different tastes but I absolutely love the almond flavor and the shortbread-like cookie.

I take a pinch of white and a pinch of red dough. Roll both colors in my hand into a ball and then roll into a log and curve the top to make the candy cane. It makes a pretty swirl of both colors and saves lots of time. Kind of a marbled color effect.

This is the recipe I remember using as a kid! Very nostalgic. I made some tweaks to change the texture of the cookies. The original recipe makes dry and crumbly cookies that are hard to roll out and crumble after baking. After modifications you get a soft and very chewy cookie. I used 1/2 powdered sugar and 1/2 regular granulated sugar. I also added 50% more egg (so add a small or medium egg if using the full recipe, or use one large egg if making a half batch). The dough comes out very soft and oily. Work with it on a shiny surface like a finished wood table or marble countertop so the dough does not stick. (Do NOT flour it. The oil will prevent sticking. Your countertop will be very oily after you’re done!) After making the candy cane shapes, I refrigerated the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes. This helps the cookie stay a little taller instead of flattening out. Go straight from the fridge to the oven. After baking, the cookies are thick, soft, and very chewy!

I’ve made these for years. I do an alternative with mint instead of almond and green food coloring so they are color-coded. I let everyone decide if they want to add the crushed peppermint sticks or powdered sugar.

Hi Dolores, I got this recipe from my 100 year old aunt who was a baker. She’s gone now, so I can’t ask for help. I’ve been making these cookies successfully for 40 years. Not without patience and more patience. Today, my cookies flattened out and become just lava lamp looking forms. I do not know what I did wrong. In 40 years, I’ve never used shortening. Only butter. I’ve read all the reviews and no one mentioned this outcome. These cookies have been a family tradition and I’ve had to hide them from my kids, so that on Christmas I would have some to serve. Please help! Thank you!

Gorgeous recipe! The shaping was addictively fun, after the initial struggle with the canes, I just made the shapes into coils (See pic). This recipe reminds me a lot of the holiday snowball cookies. The red dyed dough was a lot softer than the undyed dough, which made shaping harder. WATCH HOW HARD CANDIES ARE ROLLED BEFORE SHAPING THIS RECIPE. After 5 botched canes, I took a a tip from hard candy rollers and used their technique. That is when the shaping got fun. Tip: CHILL THE DOUGH FIRST. I had some tearing due to soft dough. Will make every year from now on! Soooo much fun!

I used to make these all the time when I was younger. I was so excited when I found the recipe here. They are just as good as I remember.

I’ve been using this recipe for years now. Part of my Christmas cookie marathon. Only thing I do different is make them red and green.

as easy as it appears. very good

The cookie dough was too soft to form easily! I remember being able to form these as a small child with my mom, but the dough was waaay too soft! Perhaps if it were refrigerated between the dough making and the forming? We will try again and re-review.

Maybe add some sugar on the top

With enough food colouring gel you can get these to look pretty enough, but they are really bland in flavour and a pain to make. The dough is FAR too sticky to be rolled. I even chilled the dough and still it required more flour and a very floured surface. Then they didn’t roll together nicely (depending on the amount of extra four needed to roll them into ‘snakes’ to begin with. If they’d been beautiful and delicious, I’d say it is worth it, but they weren’t. Not worth my time next year.

Our family loves these delicious cookies!!! Especially around Christmas!

Can’t believe these had a low rating. I love the flavor of these, slightest crunch with soft melty inside. Made exactly as stated. It does take time to roll the pieces but unless you want them picture perfect it still isn’t too bad. I rolled back and forth on wax paper with no extra flour and they didn’t stick or really fall apart at all. Try them!

Have been making candy cane cookies since my grown sons were little. My grandchildren love making these. We make them for Christmas, my youngest grandson and I make them throughout the year. At Easter we call them our Easter candy canes, also Halloween candy canes etc. We have used all different colors and have rainbow candy canes. Lots of fun; and despite the fact that the cookies are not a super sweet cookie, the kids have always loved them

Very nice easy recipe! I replaced the shortening with just more butter, salted, and simply didn’t add the teaspoon of salt. I ended up adding a little more flour and powdered sugar as I rolled the dough to keep it from sticking to my hands. To those who are saying there’s too much flour in this recipe, make sure you measure it AFTER you sift it, as it’ll add air and effect the measurement. The only thing I had trouble with was rolling and twisting them, but I managed to figure it out a third into the dough. It’s just trial and error. Would bake this again!

i found it to be a great recipe. It was fun to make and tasted like what i remember. I would certainly make these again!!

Only made about 1 1/2 Doz. Taste was ok but not as good as we thought. Won’t make these again. Looks can be deceiving.

We love this recipe so much – we just make drop cookies at other times of year. I love the look of them for Christmas in the Candy Cane shape, but hate the taste of peppermint, so these are a much better cookie in my opinion than the peppermint flavored ones. Also – for rolling, once I get in the groove, there is no problem… I do rolls of white and rolls of red about 4-5″ long, then put them together and slightly roll together to blend, then just roll one end only to start the swirl and bend the top at the end. My notes on the recipe is to make a double batch minimum at Christmas because my husband will eat most of one batch in a day.