Day 3: Candy Cane Cookies

When I found these cookies online I thought they were so adorable and I couldn't wait to make them!

Candy Cane Cookies (from Food Network)
Makes 25

Ingredients:

• 1 box sugar cookie mix
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus additional for surface
• Red food coloring
• 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract (optional)
  

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. In a bowl, combine sugar cookie mix, melted butter, egg, cream cheese, and flour; mix together to form dough. Separate dough into 2 equal portions and place in 2 different bowls. Add red food coloring gradually to 1 bowl of dough, kneading together until desired shade of red is created. To second bowl of uncolored dough, add peppermint extract and knead together.

3. On a floured work surface, shape each dough into balls and then roll each ball into 1/4-inch-wide ropes, each about 6 inches long. For each cookie, carefully twist some of the red and white ropes of dough together and shape into a candy cane. Spread candy canes out on cookie sheets and bake on the top shelf of the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool before serving.

Tips: Unless you are a huge peppermint fan I wouldn't add the peppermint. Only my dad enjoyed the peppermint taste of these cookies, everyone else would have preferred a regular sugar cookie. Also these were very difficult to twist together because they kept falling apart. So I ended up making some round "peppermints" with the rest of the dough. To make the peppermints in the picture below, just take a couple pieces of each dough and roll into a ball and press flat before baking.

-amanda