Candy Cane Cookies

So you like candy canes, and you love cookies, what then, is better than candy cane cookies. If you are anything like me then candy canes are good to eat sparingly, better appreciated for their festive appearance, and mostly cute as an accent on the top of a present. Cookies on the other hand, are the best snacks of all time that are always good to eat, especially when they have that festive appearance. Candy cane cookies then, give you the best of both worlds. And thanks to good old Betty Crocker, they have been the best part of my winter wonderland since I was a little baker in training, well, mom obviously did the majority of the baking, but I was always a good taste tester.

Candy cane cookies have always been a nostalgic element in my life. As I sifted through my mother's Betty Crocker recipe card library, in search of this very recipe, I could not help but be reminded of so many childhood visuals: me sifting through the recipe cards as a little girl, the image on the candy cane cookie recipe card, my mom's yellow tub of flour, the kitchen...all covered in flour, her rolling pin, my rolling pin, and me sneaking into the freezer to grab just one cookie several times throughout the night.
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Every Christmas holiday my mother and I put some days aside for baking Christmas cookies, in fact the discussion about making candy cane cookies this year has already come up. These memories cannot even be displaced by the ones of me opening presents on Christmas morning (especially not of the year I balled my little eyes out because Santa brought me ice skates instead of the toy TV and remote control I wanted...that did not exist). Christmas has always been far more about the moments shared with family, and not so much about what was under the tree. I hope I have a little girl one day who I can make candy cane cookies with, and I hope you can enjoy the experience as well.

The Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 teaspoon red food colour

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Mix your butter, shortening, sugar, eggs, and flavourings (almond extract and vanilla). Blend in flour and salt. Once blended well, divide the dough in half, and add your food colouring to one half.

One cookie at a time: Shape about "1 teaspoon dough from each half into 4-inch rope". I recommend rolling your pieces back and forth on a floured board, for smooth ropes. Place your ropes (one white, one red...for us, the other usually turns out pink, you could try green food colour or any other as well) side by side, press together lightly, and twist. Curve the top of the cookie to form the handle, and you should have a candy cane cookie! Continue with the rest of your dough and it should make about "4 dozen cookies".

Place on a baking sheet, and bake for about "9 minutes", or until very light brown. The Betty Crocker recipe mentions sprinkling crushed peppermint over your cookies if you wish, however I recommend having them without.

I could not help but notice this recipe is Copyright 1971, well before I was born, but to this day beats any Christmas cookie around. For a time saving twist, try Betty Crocker's new Christmas Candy Cane Cookies (Cookie Mix) recipe, made with her cookie mix found in stores and just 3 other ingredients. But, I do recommend opting for traditional holiday baking!

Freeze your cookies (dividing each layer with wax paper), so you don't eat them all up at once before your guests arrive. Although, that might not stop you since they are just as good frozen ;)

Haley