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.
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 97kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- red food gel
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 unsalted butter, ½ cup 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 all purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ cup 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!
Video
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.
Nutrition
Calories: 97kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 21mg | Potassium: 11mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 189IU | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.4mg
