Ingredients

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy canes or hard peppermint candies
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter or margarine, at room temperature
1/2 cup plain or butter-flavored shortening
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon liquid red food coloring

Directions

Adjust two racks to
divide the oven into thirds. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Have ready two ungreased

baking sheets. In a small bowl, mix the sugar with the crushed candy; set aside.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer at medium-high speed, beat together the butter,
shortening, confectioners' sugar, egg, vanilla, and peppermint extract until light and
fluffy, 2 or 3 minutes. With the mixer at medium-low speed, gradually add the flour,
beating just until blended. Remove half of the dough from the bowl and set aside on a
sheet of waxed paper. To the dough remaining in the bowl, add the red food coloring and
beat until evenly colored. (At this point both of the doughs can be tightly wrapped
separately in aluminum foil and refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for up to three
months. If frozen, thaw in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before
proceeding.)
For each candy cane, scoop 1 teaspoonful of the plain dough and the same amount of pink
dough. Roll each scoop between the palms of your hands to make a 4-inch rope. Twist the
ropes together and shape into a candy cane. As they are made, arrange the canes on an
ungreased baking sheet, spacing them about 1-inch apart.
Bake for about 9 minutes until firm to the touch and barely golden. Reverse the baking
sheets on the racks and from front to back once during baking. The moment the cookies

come from the oven, sprinkle each one with the sugar-and-peppermint mixture. With a wide
turner, immediately transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Store in a tightly covered container, separating the layers with sheets of waxed
paper.