Have you ever gone shopping for 4+ hours and came home with nothing? Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this. Today was my day off, so I went downtown to do a little Christmas shopping thinking it was still far enough away from Christmas before the holiday shopping madness in San Francisco begun-wrong! It was a zoo at Union Square today! Much more than usual. I can’t stand shopping in crowded stores. I was so spoiled where I grew up because I always had the entire store to myself if I timed it right. This luxury is pretty much non-existent in San Francisco! It was fun to see the ice skating rink set up, and the Christmas decorations and to listen to Christmas music in the stores while I tried to do my shopping. I don’t know if I just wasn’t in the mood or if it was the hundreds of holiday shoppers crowding the stores, but I came home without spending a penny! Ughh what an unproductive day. Hopefully I can get everything done in time…my final exams are already next week, yikes!
On Sunday I made these candy cane Christmas cookies. I made them with my mom every season. They came out just how I remembered. My favorite thing about these cookies is the almond extract – if you don’t have it, please get it! It’s a must. It is sort of like a … secret ingredient =) These candy cane cookies are a great addition to your holiday baking ensemble, and also make a nice addition to your Christmas dessert table!
Hopefully you are doing better with your holiday shopping than me!
XoXo
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup shortening
- 1¼ cups powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ tsp salt
- Red food coloring
- Cream butter, shortening and powdered sugar together in a standalone mixer with paddle attachment or with an electric hand mixer.
- Add egg, almond and vanilla extract and mix until just combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and salt.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients while mixing on low speed.
- Once everything is well mixed, take ½ of the dough out and place onto a floured surface.
- Add red food coloring a little at a time while mixing the dough until desired red color is achieved.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Roll 4 inch ropes on a floured surface until all of the dough is used up.
- Place two different colored ropes side-by-side and press together gently.
- Carefully twist and transfer to an ungreased baking sheet.
- Shape each twisted rope into a candy cane by curving the tops.
- Bake for 7-10 minutes until they become a light golden brown color.
- Let cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
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I’m like you, I have shopped and come home with nothing. I went out on Black Friday and basically came home with boos for myself and a night gown for my step-daughter, but that is it for an 8 hour day!
Your cookies are darling! I am going to make this weekend!!!
I’m so glad I’m not the only one!
What a gorgeous idea my friend I would definitely buy this as a cute Xmas edible decoration 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you so much 🙂
Omigosh these candy canes are SO cute!
Thanks Kayle!
cute. really cute.
Thanks Katie!!
Do you know if there is a way to make half of the dough chocolate? What would you use to add that flavor, and in what proportions? Any advice you might have is appreciated!!
Hi Maria,
I haven’t tried that but that sounds really delicious! I would suggest making two separate dough, just half the ingredients and make the first dough as usual and for the second batch add unsweetened cocoa powder…now the question is how much, and you have to probably add more sugar to balance out the bitter cocoa. Start with 1 to 2 tbsp cocoa powder and match with granulated sugar. This will be a fun tasting experiment to find out the right portions!! Let me know!!
Good luck with your exams! What are you studying? I also dislike shopping so maybe instead you can give away your adorable cookie candy canes as I know that anyone would prefer these for the holidays than any store bought gift. Take Care, BAM
Thanks, Bam! Pharmacy – ugh – almost done with the program, sort of… haha. That is a great idea!
Hi Bam! Thanks for your comment! I am studying pharmacy 🙂
Oh, my mom used to make these! Not every year, but pretty often. I had forgotten all about them – they’re a terrific cookie. Definitely saving this recipe! And I do virtually all my shopping online these days just to avoid the crowds. I don’t much like shopping anyway, and if I have to fight crowds? It’s not going to happen.
I know, shopping online is so much easier!! I think this was my last attempt at going out Christmas shopping 🙂
That happens to me far too often, coming home empty handed. Oh well. I’ll just eat cookies like this!! 🙂
Too cute! I have these bookmarked for later baking!
Oh my! You bring back childhood memories. We used to make these at Christmas, back home in Cleveland.
Bake on greased or ungreased cookie sheet?
I baked mine on an ungreased cookie sheet and did not have a problem!
I just made these tonight for the first time and your recipe was perfect. Thank you so much for posting this!! The only thing I changed was that I sprinkled some crushed candy canes on them as I pulled them out of the oven.
Merry Christmas!
Hi Dana! I am so glad you enjoyed them! Merry Christmas