Bake: Candy Cane Cookies

Before I was old enough to go to camp, my mom deported me, during balmy summer days, to our neighbor up the block's house. Our neighbor had this kind of "camp" situation...like a craft camp for kids and maybe like 15 or so would take over her house Monday through Friday July-August. I also happened to be friends with her daughter so for me in was good fun, now in hindsight it's kinda weird. But whatever.


Anyway, what I remember from those days was...quite obviously food (major shocker). I remember grape-flavored Kool-Aid poured from a frosty plastic pitcher into those wax Dixie cups. I think that's where I developed an affinity for grape-flavored foods which carries out to this very day (hello...that yummy muddled grape cocktail at Fraiche, and grape kombucha).


As part of the "camp" we would do all sorts of crafty Martha Stewart-y things, some of which included cooking (my fave). Once we made gummy bear cookies which seriously, if I had that recipe I would make them all the time. I LOVE gummy bears (but they have to be Haribo) and in the oven the bears would melt into a colorful rainbow upon their sugar cookie base. Those were rad.


[Tip: Add used vanilla beans to jars of sugar to impart extra vanilla flavor.]

We also would make these candy cane cookies, yeah it totally was not even close to the holidays, but for whatever reason candy cane cookies it was! Imagine a pretty simple sugar cookie dough but instead of granulated sugar it called for powdered sugar and some almond extract for a nutty flavor. We would make the dough, divide it into two batches, add red food coloring to one batch (we always added too much color, just a few drops goes a looooong way) which would also inevitable stain our hands from the next two days.


Next we would roll out the dough, twist the red and white ropes together and form a candy cane. On to a baking sheet and into the oven. Nine minutes later, perfectly finished cookies which we would then cover in more powdered sugar for "snow."

I don't necessarily consider myself a baker since I cook just as much savory as sweet, but when it comes to baking, long recipes annoy me. Like, when dough needs to chill for 30 minutes or an hour, when it needs to rise for four hours, ugh really? I cut corners in situations like these. SO, when cookies need just nine minutes to bake, aha perfect, just my speed.


Because the holidays are like, now, I thought it high time to recreate those lovely candy cane cookies which I haven't made in quite some time. In typical me form I accidentally bought whole wheat pastry flour today in place of regular pastry flour, so I guess that means my cookies are just extra healthy, enjoy!


Candy Cane Cookies

2.5 cups a.p. flour (or pastry flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1.5 teaspoons almond extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

red food coloring
powdered sugar (garnish)

Preheat the oven to 375° and grease two cookie sheets. Whisk the flour and salt together.

Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and beat until combined. Add the egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Slowly stir in the flour mixture. Once mixed, divide your dough in two and add the food coloring (about 4 drops) to one batch until well-combined and uniformly red.

At this point you should have one batch of red dough and one of white. Roll about 1 tablespoon of each dough into roll about 5 inches long. Twist the two colors together and form a candy cane.

Place each candy cane on your cookie sheet. Continue forming cookies until you use up all the dough. Bake for 9 minutes. Remove from oven. While the cookies are still warm, sprinkle all over with powdered sugar.