December 11.

This is the classic milk and cookies dressed up for christmas.

The peppermint cookies are nice and minty, but still crispy and delicate like real candy canes.

Makes 36 candy cane cookies.

Cooking time: 13-15 minutes.

Temperature: 325℉ (165℃)

Prep. time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

160 g all-purpose flour
113 g (1 stick) butter, salted and room temperature
75 g sugar + more for springle
30 g confectionary sugar /powdered sugar
egg yolk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
red food coloring, I used 2 pea sized drop red gel food color

Directions:

Cream the butter with both sugars until pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolk, mix well. Add vanilla and peppermint extract. Slowly add the flour and mix until just combined.

Divide the dough into two, add the food coloring to one part, and mix until fully incorporated. Form each half into squares, and let them rest, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325℉ (165℃), and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll each dough to a 9x9 inch (23x23 cm) square, and stack them on top of each other. Roll to seal them together. Cut the dough down the center and refrigerate both until firm about 15 minutes.Take out one halves and start cutting short strips that are about ¼ inch (¾ cm) thick. Gently twist the strip to lengthen it a bit and even out the edges. Roll the strips in granulated sugar and put them on the baking sheet in the shape of a candy cane. If your kitchen is warm you need to work fast or only take out a quarter of the dough, so the dough won't be to soft.

Bake the cakes for 13-15 minutes until just slightly brown round the edges. Let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, before transferring to a wire rack.

Store in a separate airtight container at room temperature.

Enjoy!