Like most everyone my Mother used to make these cookies but do to time she stoped. The recipe was lost for a period of time. I thought this was it and made it and it well... was bad but the ggod news was that when I gave my Mother a cookie she spit it out and said I remember where I put the right recipe. here are the improvements..1 tsp of vanilla and pepermint extract (omit almond) 3 1/2 c flour 1/4 tsp of salt! now everything else is the same. I hope you find this correction for these cookies are a Christams staple at our house now I have the right recipe.
Here's a tip for getting the crushed peppermint/sugar to stick to the cookies. Pour a little Karo light corn syrup into a microwave safe bowl and put it in the microwave just long enough for it to become very runny almost like water (maybe 20 seconds). Brush this onto the cookies (the silicone pastry brushes are great) and immediately sprinkle the topping on. I put the cookies on a wire rack with a sheet of waxed paper underneath. Let them dry completely before storing. You can do the sprinkling after the cookies cool so that they're a little sturdier. BE CAREFUL with the hot Karo it gets extremely hot very fast and could cause a very nasty burn. I adore these cookies and think they are well worth the trouble! I've made them for many years my old recipe used half Crisco/half butter but is otherwise identical.
The only thing I do different is 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup Butter Flavor Crisco. I LOVE these cookies because there really are no rules. In this Green Bay Packers loving house I tint the dough green and gold and make either cane shaped cookies or "G" shaped cookies. (Oh yeah: I never use the crushed candy canes / sugar topping because it's such a pain in the butt messy and it melts all over the cookie sheets and is impossible to get off...)
I've made Candy Cane Cookies since I learned the recipe in school and I've never had a problem. this recipe is the one I use though. makes 3-4 dozen Pre-heat 375 F 1/2 c marg/butter 1/2 c shortening 1 c icing sugar 1 egg 1/2 tsp red food colouring 1 1/2 tsp almond extract 1 tsp vanilla 2 1/2 c flour 1 tsp salt (optional) I never use salt cream fats and sugar add flavouring beat in egg. add flour & salt. Divide dough in 2 add red food colour to one half. Shape 1 tsp dough from each ball into a 4" rope by rolling on counter with palm of hand. Place ropes of each colour side by side and roll together slowly until they appear to blend then twist slightly until they look like candy canes. Curve top of cane and gently put on a greased baking sheet. Bake Approx. 9 minutes or until set.
I suggest to refrigerate the dough and roll only small portion of it at the time, this will help in handling the dough and avoid the "melting". I find also usefull refrigerate the cookies 5/10 minutes before baking them, this help in keeping cookies shape
I also omitted the almond and replaced it with peppermint extract... much better flavor. They are very time consuming and I was getting tired so I just made mine into 3" "peppermint sticks". They look very cute this way much less fragile. I took white chocolate melted it and just drizzled a bit across the candy canes and then sprinkled them with the crushed candy canes - very delicious but too time consuming at the last minute!
These cookies were tasty. I changed the way the repipe said to form them though. Ours were slightly larger (not on purpose) and instead of making 1 strip in the shape of a candy cane our candy canes were composed of 2 different color strips twisted together. To do this we simply left half of the dough in the bowl and used red food dye to color it red while leaving the other half of the dough white. We also ended up adding about a tablespoon or so more milk to the dough. Don't eat these cookies warm from the oven on the first day because we tried them and they weren't all that great. Instead wait a day and they taste much less doughy.
Made some of the recommendations (i.e. 3 1/2 cups flour ommitted almond extract). I pulverized the candy canes and mixed them in the dough. The canes need to be short - approx. 2 1/2 inches and a bit thicker. Put cookies on wax paper so they don't stick. Delicious!
These tasted very good. The only thing I'll do different next time is roll the dough skinnier. They puffed up pretty big. The almond extract gives it a great taste.
I don't know what I did wrong but this recipe was horrible! The dough was VERY sticky and hard to work with even after adding about 3 cups more flour and refrigerating it! Also these had a horrible taste very salty even with the candy and sugar on top! Kids wouldn't touch them! I will keep looking for a candy cane recipe.
