I made Candy Cane Cookies for the first time back in January. The kids thought they tasted great, but very flat. Being the time of year that candy canes have started appearing again, I thought I would adjust the recipe and give them another try and this time we had much more success.
I am not a fan of the candy cane. They look cute, but as soon as you take of that plastic wrapping (which in itself can take 30 minutes!) they lose all their cuteness to me. They are so sticky and they are horrendously bad for the kids teeth – yes just call me a wowser! As I have noted on the blog before one of my children does have tooth enamel defects which means his teeth really don’t need the constant sugar coating that candy canes give out.
In the area we live in, it is quite common for the kids to receive a candy cane along with a Christmas card from their class mates (even in kinder). A couple of years ago, I came to an arrangement with my kids – hand over the candy cane and you can have a stick of sugar free chewing gum. My kids loved the idea. So as a consequence of the deal, I end up with a stack of candy canes. One way to use them up is to make these cookies!
Candy Cane Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups self raising flour flour
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 175 grams butter, softened
- 1/3 cup caster sugar
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cups white chocolate chips, roughly chopped
- 1 cup candy canes
Method:
- Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
- You can use a food processor to grind the candy canes, but we don’t have one, so simply used the good old fashioned mortar and pestle to crush them up.
- In a large bowl cream butter, sugars and vanilla essence until light and fluffy.
- Fold in chocolate and crushed candy canes.
- Add flour and combine into a firm dough.
- Place large tablespoons on to lined baking trays, allowing room for spreading.
- Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until golden.
- Cookies will harden upon cooling, so leave on tray for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool further.
Coloured hair from the school disco!
- 1¼ cups self raising flour flour
- ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
- 175 grams butter, softened
- ⅓ cup caster sugar
- ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cups white chocolate chips, roughly chopped
- 1 cup candy canes
- Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
- You can use a food processor to grind the candy canes, but we don't have one, so simply used the good old fashioned mortar and pestle to crush them up.
- In a large bowl cream butter, sugars and vanilla essence until light and fluffy.
- Fold in chocolate and crushed candy canes.
- Add flour and combine into a firm dough.
- Place large tablespoons on to lined baking trays, allowing room for spreading.
- Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, or until golden.
- Cookies will harden upon cooling, so leave on tray for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool further.
The Family Menu Plan For This Week
Baking: Candy Cane Cookies
Monday: Marinated Steak and Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Tuesday: Chicken Stir Fry With Seasonal Vegetables
Wednesday: Left Overs
Thursday: Mexibake
Friday: Left Overs
Saturday: Marinated Chicken Sticks With Salad
Sunday: Roast Lamb
If you are looking for further recipe inspiration, check out my complete list of Family Friendly Recipes. All of these recipes are in the database of the Planning With Kids Free Menu Planner. You can use the menu planner to plan a week of meals for your family and then print out the associated shopping list.