These Christmas candy cane shortbread cookies will be the highlight of your next holiday cookie exchange! These cookies are made with just 8 simple pantry ingredients, like flour, butter, and some cornstarch to keep them soft. Like my double ginger shortbread, I've dipped some of the peppermint shortbread cookies in melted chocolate for a peppermint bark twist!
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I'm on a peppermint kick right now! From my peppermint bark cake to my mocha peppermint layer cake, I thought it was high time for a peppermint cookie!
After lots of candy cane ideas, I settled on these pinwheel cookies. The red and white swirl is such a festive and fun take! These candy cane shortbread cookies are perfect as a festive edible gift or just as a Christmas treat.
Because I love a chocolate and peppermint combo, I've dipped some of the cookies in semisweet chocolate. I added some edible gold stars (hello, Christmas vibes!), but I think they would also be delish with some crushed candy canes sprinkled on top.
Grab Your Ingredients
- Red Food Gel: Not all food gel brands are created equal! My favorite is Americolor because you don't need too much to get a vibrant color. I'm using the shade 'Super Red' here.
- Cornstarch: Adding cornstarch will help keep these cookies soft.
- Peppermint Extract: Make sure you're using peppermint extract and not spearmint extract, which will just make the cookies kind of taste like toothpaste.
Let's Make These Cookies!
- Step 1: Beat the room temperature butter with confectioner's sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and peppermint extract, and mix to combine.
- Step 2: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the salt and cornstarch. Slowly pour into your bowl and mix until just combined.
- Step 3: Remove half of the shortbread dough and wrap in plastic wrap. Add a few drops of red food gel and mix to combine. Remove the remaining red dough, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1-2 hours.
- Step 4: Roll out the dough, one at a time, so it's a 9x11-inch rectangle. Place one on top of the other, and tightly start rolling up from the longer end.
- Step 5: Wrap the log in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. Take out of the oven and slice into ½-inch cookies.
- Step 6: You can chill them again at this stage, or bake them in the oven. Let them cool completely before you dip into chocolate!
My Christmas Cookie Tips!
- Don't skip chilling. Because we want these shortbread cookies to keep their shape, we can't skip out on the chilling. I recommend chilling the dough, then the dough log, and honestly, even the slice-and-bake cookies. You don't want to go through all this effort only for your cookies to spread!
- Ok, but don't chill for that long! When chilling for the first round, you only want to chill the two cookie doughs for 1-2 hours. If you chill too long, it'll be hard to roll out and the sheets of dough might crack when rolling them into a log.
- Use a pizza cutter. If your rectangles of dough aren't perfectly straight, use a pizza cutter to slice off any uneven edges.
- Wrap tightly but gently. We don't want any air in between the two layers of cookie dough. When I was first testing these peppermint cookies, I found I had to slowly unroll the log and reroll it to get it tighter.
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Thank you!
Ella
Recipe
Candy Cane Shortbread Cookies
These melt in your mouth candy cane shortbread cookies are the perfect Christmas cookie recipe! These classic pinwheel cookies are made with just 8 simple pantry ingredients. They taste just like a candy cane! I've dipped them in semisweet chocolate for a peppermint bark twist.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup (56 grams) confectioners' sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 cups (240 grams) all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup (28 grams) cornstarch
- red food gel
Ella's Baking Tip!Weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale for the best results!
Instructions
- In a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the butter and the confectioners sugar until light and fluffy, on medium speed.1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, ½ cup (56 grams) confectioners' sugar
- Add the vanilla and peppermint extract and mix to combine.1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour with the salt and cornstarch.2 cups (240 grams) all purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ cup (28 grams) cornstarch
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients mixing on low speed. Combine until a dough forms, it might start off dry but will come together to form a large ball.
- Divide the dough in two (about 270 grams). Place one half in plastic wrap and place in the fridge.
- Add a few drops of red food gel to the other half in the mixer. Mix to dye the cookie dough. Depending on the brand of food gel, you might need to add more.red food gel
- Once it's the color you desire, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Chill both pieces of dough for 1-2 hours.
- Remove from the fridge. Lightly dust your countertop with flour. Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin so each one is 9x11 inches. You'll now have two dough rectangles.
- Place one piece of dough on top of the other, making sure to gently dust off any flour! If the rectangles aren't totally straight, use a pizza cutter to slice any uneven edges.
- Very gently start rolling up the two doughs together from the long edge. If the dough cracks a bit, I use my fingers to patch up the dough. Once you have a log, wrap it up in plastic wrap.Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 350℉/175℃ and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Take the log out of the fridge. Slice into ½ inch cookies. I find the two ends don't make great cookies, so I don't use those!
- At this point, you can freeze the cookies for 30-45 minutes to help them keep their shape even more, I have tested both ways.
- Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the two baking sheets and bake one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes. While one sheet is baking, place the other in the fridge so the cookies stay cold.
- Let the cookies cool completely and enjoy!
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Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way.
Salt: If you don’t have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt. Please note I am using Diamond Kosher salt and not coarse kosher salt!
Separating Dough Pieces: You want to (gently!) roll up the cookie dough layers together so there isn't much air between the two pieces.
Dip in Chocolate: Melt semisweet chocolate in the microwave (making sure every 15 seconds to stir so it doesn't burn!) and dip the cooled cookies in it!
Storage: keep the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below! You can also tag me on Instagram @alpineella so I can see what you made!
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