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Candy Cane Cookies
December 15, 2021
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These sweet and chewy Candy Cane Cookies are adapted from my Lemon Crinkle Cookies recipe. It’s the ever popular holiday version that is chewy, minty and just divine! My favorite way to enjoy a candy cane!
Candy Cane Cookies-Tips and Tricks
I love a soft, chewy and pepperminty cookie, especially at Christmas. So, if you have made a few of my Christmas cookie recipes before, odds are you will like this recipe as written. Here are some tips and tricks to get you cookies that look just like mine!
Baking Time. If using a nonstick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.
Peppermint. Want even more minty flavor? Try adding a few drops of peppermint extract to the dough. Start with 1/2 teaspoon and work up from there.
Spreading. If your cookies are spreading too much, it’s because there isn’t enough flour. (The butter to flour ratio is off…happens a lot with cookies because everyone measures their flour a little differently.) Try adding in 1 tablespoon of flour and baking one cookie to see if you get that signature cookie dough texture.
How to Make Candy Cane Cookies
This Candy Cane Cookie Recipe uses everyday ingredients to make soft, chewy and delicious cookies. Perfect for the Christmas season because this recipe uses candy canes! YUM! For full recipe details, including ingredient measurements and baking time see the printable recipe card down below.
Prep
Preheat your oven. Grease light colored baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray, line with parchment paper or use silicone baking mat and set aside.
Crush Candy Canes
Throw the candy canes into a plastic Ziploc bag and bang them up with a rolling pin. I didn’t even unwrap the candy canes either. Once they’re crushed, you can pick out the plastic wrappers. I had a few bigger chunks of candy cane, but for the most part, these were pretty small.
Make Candy Cane Cookie Dough
Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This is a super important step for soft cookies. Whip in vanilla and egg. Scrape sides and mix again. Measure out your baking powder, baking soda, and salt and stir it into your flour. Excluding the powdered sugar, dump all your dry ingredients into the bowl and mix until it’s just incorporated. Scrape sides of the bowl and mix again briefly.
Add in Crushed Candy Canes
Add in the crushed candy canes. I don’t know about you but I could eat this whole bowl of dough. Come to momma.
Form Into Balls + Roll in Powdered Sugar
Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on a baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
Bake
Pop those babies into the oven and let them bake. NOT TOO LONG! The key to this is their chewiness. You want the outside of the cookie to look matte {not shiny} when you pull them out. Mine were done in 8 minutes on the nose.
Storing
Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for about a week. Obviously, the longer they sit, the less fresh they will be! Nothing a quick zap in the microwave can’t handle though.
To Freeze: Place baked and cooled cookies into a freezer safe, airtight container with parchment paper separating the layers. Cookies will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Christmas Cookies to Bake!
- Triple Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
- Chewy Chocolate Fudge Cookies with Peppermint Glaze
- Chocolate Mint Cookies
- Jumbo Double Chocolate Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
I LOVED these Candy Cane Cookies and hope they make it to your mouth soon. 🙂 Printable recipe card below!
Candy Cane Cookies
These Candy Cane Cookies are adapted from my Lemon Crinkle Cookie recipe. They are absolutely divine and we can thank my ex’s mom for that!
Ingredients
- 3 candy canes crushed (1/4 cup)
- ½ cups butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoons baking soda
- 1-½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 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.
Notes
If using a nonstick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.
Nutrition
Calories: 113kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 66mg | Potassium: 15mg | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 130IU | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Great recipe. I used crushed cinnamon hard candies. Did not roll in powdered sugar. I refrigerated dough. Cookies spread a great deal. Great flavor and crispy
[…] Original Recipe […]
A little disappointed! I tried these three times in preparation for Christmas baking and they never turned out right. They were super greasy and chewy but tough, and the crinkle effect was not consistent. 🙁
it sounds like there wasn’t enough butter in your batter if they came out too greasy. And perhaps you mixed the batter too much to have tough cookies? Over-mixing the flour creates gluten and would give you a tough cookie.
Thanks Lauren! I did end up serving them to my sisters at christmas and they did enjoy them so maybe i am the odd one out! I also froze the batter, so that likely impacted the texture. I will try them again. Sorry I was so harsh initially! Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Hi! Delicious cookies but a bit dry and not like your photograph. For clarification -in your instructions “1-½ cup all purpose flour” – does this mean 1 AND a half cups or 1 cup plus more (up to 1/1 a cup) if needed? Thanks! Merry Christmas!
yes, 1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour.
What do you mean by “your ex’s mom?”
Turned flat. Threw them away.
So do i add vanilla extract with peppermint extract and how much do you recommend to use. Oh and btw i love this recipe 10/10 my son is 22 and just makes batches after batches and wants to become a pastry chef also😀
[…] See original recipe here: http://www.laurenslatest.com/candy-cane-crinkles/ […]
These cookies are wonderful ❣️
YUM 10/10 merry merry good.
I’ve made these three times so far this holiday season. They seem hard to screw up and GREAT to make with kids – a winning combination. One time I mixed the crushed candy canes with my dry ingredients and the other two times I didn’t — good results no matter what. My almost 3-year-old loves to stand on a chair and dump in ingredients and then “supervise” the mixer. The powdered sugar rolling is by far his favorite. The results is a cookie that isn’t overly sweet and is surprisingly addictive. I’ve also tried using m&m’s as a mix-in (instead of candy canes) with good results. Looking forward to trying the original lemon version as well!
Edit to add: I see some comments from other bakers about hard cookies – I bake mine for 9 minutes – 10 at most and then take them out to cool. Even though they may seem like they’re not done at that point, after cooling they will be and they stay soft. Mine are also not as flat as the photos on the website but maybe they would be if I mushed the balls of dough before baking?
My cookies did not come out with the top as flat as yours. Did you use something to make them like that? Also how long can I store them?
I actually tried this recipe and it didn’t work out the best for me. Mine turned out kinda hard and doughy. Not sure what went wroy. Maybe I should have used 3/4 cup of sugar instead of 1 cup, or maybe a little less flour. I also shouldn’t have used peppermint extract, tasted like toothpaste. When the crushed candy canes cool the cookies get very hard. I probably won’t make this again.
The dough tastes spectacular and I probably should have just served that up. After 10 minutes baking the first batch, my cookies had not flattened, so I’m guessing I had too much flour – though I measured carefully. I let the cookies bake between 10 – 13 minutes because they didn’t look baked through – but it was hard to tell. They ended up a little dryer than I like – but I’m sure it’s because my flour/butter ratio was off. The cookies ended up being quite round – which meant a longer baking time. They still taste good however, and next time I’d try less flour.
Making these for the second time this week! The first time, I brought them in to work for Christmas Cookie Contest. I won second place! So delicious! The second time I used green and red candy canes and it added a greater festive touch! Great recipe and so simple and easy on the budget!
Im a young baker who isn’t that experienced, but these cookies were easy to make and SUPER delicious! Definitely making these again for my family!!😋😍🤤
I made these and the dough turned out super crumbly and dry. I double and triple checked the ingredients to see if I’d missed something or done something wrong. All the ingredients were correct.
Is my flour particularly dry or is it supposed to be this way?
If I compact them into balls, they’ll stay formed, but I skipped rolling them in powdered sugar because I don’t want to add to the dryness. We’ll see what happens when I bake them.
They turned out okay despite the dry dough. They just didn’t flatten out much…kind of lump cookies instead of crinkle cookies 😄 I’ll try another batch.
sounds like you added too much flour! How do you measure your flour?
Mine were super dry too. It seems like less sugar and flour are needed in this recipe.
Just made these, and wowza they are GOOD! I left the first batch in a little too long, so they were really crispy but still delicious. Got the timing perfect on the second batch and I can’t stop eating them, which may become problematic… Thanks Lauren for a great recipe. I’m not even crazy about candy canes but these are an instant favorite!
Curious if you think this dough would work as a slice and bake?
You’d have to refrigerate the dough in a log to slice it, but I think it should be fine!
[…] I made these cookies since we have that box of candy cane I bought to make peppermint hot chocolate last December but I […]
I love these Candy Cane Cookies! So soft and so so perfect for the holidays!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. My kiddo is going to ❤️ these cookies for Christmas!
I’ve made these for a couple of years now for a Christmas Eve party we always go to! They’re on my list again!!
[…] few days: Vanilla Bean Christmas Sugar Cookies, Gingerdoodles, Red Velvet Coconut Doughnuts and Candy Cane Crinkles. Make sure to check them […]
[…] am baker} Charlie Brown Christmas Cookies {Bake at 350} Christmas Dove Cookies {Baked Bree} Candy Cane Crinkles {Lauren’s […]
[…] of our 12 Days of Holiday Treats. Are you in a sugar coma yet? I think I hit my breaking point with these bad boys…and then these. Baking is sometimes a serious downfall! I can’t stop! Send help […]
Hi – My mom received a lovely floral arrangement from my aunt for Christmas. There were six candy canes included. I found your recipe but I’m not sure how much candy cane to add. Since candy canes and the round hard peppermint candies come in different sizes I’m not sure the amount of candy to add. Can you please share approximately how much crushed candy I should use? Should I add a tablespoon plus or minus? Thanks
Omgosh, these cookies are THE BEST!!! I did add a little peppermint extract too. These are super easy and delicious! Thank you for sharing!
I have a bag of crushed candy canes I bought from target. How much should I measure out that would be equivalent to 3 candy canes?
Try 1/4 cup or so. Not too much 🙂
Hi!
Are these freeable?
[…] are the Lemon Crinkles. Those won a little contest and put me on the map. Then I did some Christmas Candy Cane Crinkles. Then more recently I made these Orange Cranberry Crinkles last year. And now, some Red Hots […]
These wonderful cookies have become a Christmas tradition in my home. They’re my go-to gift cookie and I bake them every year. I’m even doing a Whole30 this month and can’t have them, but I’m still baking several batches. Thanks so much for this easy and awesome recipe!
So excited to make/try these this year!
Making these with my kids tonight!
Hello! Fast forward to 2016…if i am using already crushed candy canes, how much should I put into the recipe?
Thanks!
You should probably start the dry ingredients sentence with “excluding the powdered sugar” – not tag it on after “pour into mixer and mix slowly” – otherwise someone (!) will waste a lot of ingredients following the recipe step by step…
[…] Adapted from: Lauren’s Latest […]
Oh my gosh those look so good, I hope me and my mom can make them together, by the way your daughter is soooo cute! Okay, thank’s
I purchased crushed peppermint candy (yes it comes in a bag much like chocolate chips). How much would you guess 3 crushed candy canes measures–1/3 cup?
I have purchased crushed peppermint candy (yes, it comes in a bag much like chocolate chips). Can you tell me approximately how much (in a measurement) 3 candy canes crushed equals? Guessing 1/3 cup roughly?
I think the butter is why they spread. It seems like all the cookies I make with butter have been spreading alot. Perhaps more flour is the answer. Good luck!
These are very good cookies. I made them today and the neighbor kids liked them. They did spread however. I suppose its cause of the butter? All in all they were good.
Very good and favorable. Mine seem to spread a little too much. Maybe cause of the butter. Any suggestions?
How do you measure your flour? That seems to be the one thing that is different when making these cookies. I think you would need 1-2 tablespoons more flour to keep them from spreading as much.
This is by far the best way to use up old candy canes, I made these for my wife and they were great. But recipe is overly complex. I just threw everything into a bowl in alphabetical order and scooped it out onto a tray and it worked fine.
I just made these cookies. I’m not a baker at all and they came out wonderfully! I’m bringing them to a friend’s house tonight. haha, I love your story too!
Loved these cookies! Brought them to our Christmas Bazaar today and was asked for the recipe four times!
Awesome!!
Lauren,
Loved the story
I made these today – well tonight at 11pm cuz if I didn’t now well the last three candy canes I had were gonna go bye-bye into my mouth :p
THE only two differences in the recipe that I didn’t do/use is a. I didn’t have the vanilla extract sadly :c but I have made cookies without it & they’ve tasted good anyways.. The OTHER thing is.. I should have done like you bang a candy-cane with the rolling pin in a bag.. erm I was like I can do these easy.. HAHA no I ended up putting them into a bowl & using the bottom of a glass coffee cup i ended up powdering more then crushing. :c
I wish there was more peppermint flavor throughout the cookie but cuz mine was more powdered then crushed I suspect that’s why. :3 THOUGH did make my batter a nice shade of pinky red :3
My daughter and I made these tonight – super duper yummy!! Great recipe! These will be added to our family favorites. Thanks so much!