Mint Candy Cane Cookies

• Vegetarian

• Refrigerated

  • 2 Egg yolks, large

• Condiments

  • 1 Paste color, Red and green

• Baking & Spices

  • 2 3/4 cups All-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp Almond extract
  • 1 tsp Peppermint extract
  • 3/4 cup Power sugar
  • 1/8 tsp Salt

• Dairy

  • 2 sticks Butter, unsalted

Found on valyastasteofhome.com

Description

Ingredients

• 2 sticks – unsalted room temperature butter
• ¾ cup – power sugar
• 2 large – egg yolks
• 1 tsp. - peppermint extract (add 2 tsp. if you like them very minty)
• 1 tsp. – almond extract
• 2¾ cups – all-purpose flour
• ⅛ tsp. – salt
• Red and green paste color

Directions

• Into the electric mixer bowl add butter. Beat for a minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat again for another minute.
• Add confectioners’ sugar and start beating on very low (unless you want to stand in a white dust cloud), gradually increase the mixer speed as the sugar combines with butter. Beat it for 2 minutes on high.
• Add egg yolks. Beat again for 2 minutes on high. Starting with a low speed and increasing as it gets more incorporated. (This step is a personal preference, if you don’t want to be splashed with yellow yolk)
• Add peppermint and almond extract and mix well.
• Add salt to flour. Mix it with whisker. Sift the flour into the butter mixture. Then stir it on very low for 1 minute or until all flour is well combined.
• Place the dough on a big cutting board. Separate the dough into 3 equal pieces.
• Put one piece of the dough back into bowl of the electric mixer. Add red color paste on the tip of a teaspoon to the dough and mix it well on low speed.
• I placed my second piece of dough into a separate small bowl, and then added green food coloring and mixed it with a hand mixer until its well combined.
• Cover each piece with plastic food wrap. Place it in the fridge for an hour.
• How to assemble cookies
• Preheat oven to 375 F. Place just enough dough as much as a teaspoon fits on a cutting board. Measure out 4-5 pieces of the each color at a time to work with and put the rest of the dough back in the fridge. (If the dough is too soft it’s hard to roll logs out).
• Roll each color into a log about 5” long. Roll the same color of dough on the same spot each time. You don’t want the little crumbs of the other color to mix into a different color.
• Place 2 logs next to each other tightly, and then place the third log on top of those two. It does not matter what pattern you place them in, because when it gets twisted it looks the same in the end.
• Twist the logs. Place them on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper then shape the cane hook. (Another way is you can twist the logs on the baking sheet, then shape the hook. Whichever is easier for you. I was doing it both ways).
• Continue these steps until your baking pan is full. Bake at 375 F for 8-10 minutes depends on your oven. The white cookie edges should be barely gold in color.
• Remove from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes on the pan before moving to the cookie rack. Cool completely before serving.
• Enjoy!