Here is a little treat my wife loves to bake during the holidays. She’s an amazing baker not just at home, but at one of the local bakeries, Feedwell in Cedar Rapids, as well as doing some at home wedding and special day cakes. If you’ve never tried treats from Feedwell and you’re in the area, make sure to stop by and try their cinnamon rolls or, one of my personal favorites, a Paris-Brest.

These Candy Cane Cookies are also one of my favorite treats, and I’m lucky enough to get a couple cookies every holiday break. This is the best way to realize that the holidays are here. This is what she has to say about them and adds her own twist on Betty Crocker’s recipe:

“These candy cane cookies are my all-time favorite Christmas treat! I remember making them every year with my mom and sisters and we always had so much fun rolling the cookies into shape. Sometimes I’ll use green food coloring instead of red which is a great twist!  I also suggest dipping the tops of the baked cookies in the sugar/crushed peppermint candy mixture to get a nice coating rather than sprinkling it over the tops.  Just be careful because the hot cookies are fragile!”

Here are the ingredients and steps from both the recipe and her twist on them –

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1 egg

3 ½ cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon green food color (a little goes a long way!)

2 tablespoons finely crushed peppermint candies or candy canes

2 tablespoons sugar

Steps

1 | Stir together 1 cup sugar, the butter, milk, vanilla, peppermint extract and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Divide dough in half. Stir food color into 1 half. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

2 | Heat oven to 375°F.

3 | Stir together peppermint candy and 2 tablespoon sugar; set aside.

4 | For each candy cane, shape 1 rounded teaspoon dough from each half into 4-inch rope by rolling back and forth on floured surface. Place 1 red and white rope side by side; press together lightly and twist. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; curve top of cookie down to form handle of cane.

5 | Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until set and very light brown. Immediately sprinkle candy mixture over cookies. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

You can also find the original recipe here: Recipe

Try your hand at making my favorite cookies and share a photo! Make sure to share the recipe and send the Iowa ACAC Instagram account a picture of your cookies! Follow Iowa ACAC on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/iowaacac/