Lauren's Latest » Candy Cane Crinkles

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Candy Cane Crinkles

Once upon a time when I was 16, I dated a boy. He was cute, sweet and semi-popular. He came from a big family that was friends with my big family. We dated a while. My Dad joked with his Dad about his son marrying his daughter. *awkward* My sisters and I were friends with his sisters and his Mom was THE.BEST.COOK. Forreals.

Her pulled pork is the bomb.com. {I only had it once, but that one time was enough to be a life changer.} And her rolls are legendary in the Ottawa area. If I got ahold of the recipe, there’s no telling what I would do. Actually, I’d probably have a stroke.

So, this relationship progresses like any high school first love relationship would progress…and then I dump him.

Then I realize I was an idiot and try to get him back for the next few months…we get back together.

And then I dump him again….through his sister! I was a meanie…what can I say? I believe my exact words were “tell your brother to consider himself dumped!” {Totally mean, right?} I was never one to be dumped. I always did the dumping.

I feel really great about this decision, except for the fact that I’ve pretty much cut all my ties to ever getting that roll recipe.

Curses!

So, time goes on as it usually does and I stay in touch with his sisters. Some of them end up going to the University I went to, I see them around, some of them came to my baby shower, etc. etc.

WELL, just the other day, one of these sisters sent me a message saying that her Mom adapted my Lemon Crinkle Cookie recipe, except she replaced the lemon with candy canes. Umm….what? I’m sorry….umm…WHAT? My jaw hit the floor because:

1. YOUR Mom made MY recipe?

2. Your Mom maybe reads my blog?! Really? Am I being punked? {Hi Lorna! }

3. Candy canes in place of lemon? Brilliant!

So, I had to try it out for myself and of course these cookies were just amazing. The Lemon Crinkles won me a contest a few months back, so I was happy to tweak this recipe to turn this pretty simple recipe into something extra special for the holidays.

And just FYI, me and this boy are happily married {to other people} and this is all water under the bridge now. No hard feelings!

To make these amazingly delicious and easy cookies, you will need the following:

I like to start by crushing my candy canes. Throw them into a plastic ziploc bag and bang them up with a rolling pin. I don’t even unwrap the candy canes either. Once they’re crushed, you can pick out the plastic wrappers. Because I’m lazy. Oh yeah.

Hello my pretties! I had a few bigger chunks of candy cane, but for the most part these were pretty small.

Ok, now lets get started with the cookie dough. Cream some buttuh and shugah togethah.

Add in an egg…

…and some vanilla.

Let the mixer whip this up so it’s super light and fluffy. My KitchenAid does an amazazazing jorb at this.

Measure out your baking powder, baking soda and salt–

and stir it into your flour.

Dump all your dry ingredients into the bowl and stir it around until it’s just incorporated.

Last thing to do is add in your crushed candy canes.

I don’t know about you but I could eat this whole bowl of dough. Come to momma.

Once I dismounted the bowl from the mixer, a little girl showed up in my kitchen with her “green” {OXO spatula} and requested a taste test. She was so cute that I agreed and then kept her for free child labor.

To form these sweet lil things, start with a tablespoon of dough.

Roll it into a ball…

…and roll that ball in powdered sugar. It’s not rocket science, people! Super simple stuff.

A great job for little hands.

P.S.–> Expect a mess.

Once you have a tray full, pop those babies into a 350 degree oven and let ‘em bake. NOT TOO LONG! The key to these is their chewiness. You want the outside of the cookie to look matte {not shiny} when you pull them out. Mine were done in 8 minutes on the nose.

See? Not shiny and barely golden {if that} around the edges.

Cool them off and serve them up!

I LOVED these and hope they make it to your mouth soon.

Products I used in this recipe:

Beanilla vanilla

Chicago Metallics cookie sheets and cooling racks

KitchenAid 7-qt. Stand Mixer

OXO pop top storage containers, measuring cups, measuring spoons, spatulas

Le Creuset spatulas

Candy Cane Crinkles
yield: 2 dozen
Print This Recipe

Ingredients:
3 whole candy canes, crushed
½ cups Butter, Softened
1 cup Granulated Sugar
½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 whole Egg
¼ teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
⅛ teaspoons Baking Soda
1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
½ cups Powdered Sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non stick cooking spray, line with parchment paper or use silicone baking mat and set aside.

Place candy canes into a plastic food storage bag and crush using a rolling pin. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla and egg. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir all dry ingredients together in a small bowl and then in pour into mixer and slowly mix until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Stir in crushed candy canes. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

dessert

39 comments »

39 Responses to “Candy Cane Crinkles”

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Kathryn — December 15, 2011 at 9:22 am

Oh those pictures of your daughter helping are just the cutest thing ever!

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Sara — December 15, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Oh! How perfect. I have a cookie exchange TONIGHT and I was still debating over what to make. This will be it. Yay!! Thanks for solving my DEEE-lema!

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- Sara — December 15th, 2011 @ 10:54 pm
  
  Ok – so I made these and I’m ready for my cookie swap tonight, I just have to say,
  HOLY-NEW-FAVORITE-COOKIE-BATMAN!!! These are DEE-lish!!! They will be a part of every Christmas from here on out! Thanks to you and your x-boyfriend’s mom !
  
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Julie @ Table for Two — December 15, 2011 at 12:55 pm

ok, i’m bookmarking this because i’m SO making this on sunday when i make my holiday cookies for work — this is awesome!! thank you your daughter is the cutest thing ever! i really hope i have a daughter so i can cook with her

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Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga — December 15, 2011 at 1:00 pm

these look so great!! I love that someone’s mom is reading your blog and adapting your recipes…before you even That’s pretty cool…I dont think my mom reads my blog and would probably laugh at it. haha!

I saw your donuts on the front page of FG and on Tasty Kitchen..congrats. Now I want these cookies and donuts!

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Lauren @ What Lauren Likes — December 15, 2011 at 1:38 pm

Hahah great story and recipe! To cute

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Laurie {Simply Scratch} — December 15, 2011 at 1:42 pm

AWW~ Love this post! Your daughter is adorable! {and so are those cookies!!}

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Rachel @ Not Rachael Ray — December 15, 2011 at 2:21 pm

Ha, your story cracked me up! Your daughter is beautiful, and these cookies look AMAZING! Pinning–might have to squeeze these in this year.

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Megan Pence — December 15, 2011 at 5:40 pm

Ohhhh, awkward first loves. Gotta love ‘em.
I love how she adapted your recipe, talk about a great twist on a classic!

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Natalie — December 15, 2011 at 6:30 pm

That is hilarious. You were quite the little heartbreaker it seems! I love her idea of swapping lemon for candy canes! Maybe you can get that roll recipe afterall…

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Briana — December 15, 2011 at 8:14 pm

Remind me to tell you sometime about how I dumped your brother-in-law on Christmas Eve. at age 12. We love this story.

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Michelle — December 15, 2011 at 9:11 pm

I LOVE chewy cookies. I’m pretty sure I’m making these tonight. Yummy.

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Tara @ Chip Chip Hooray — December 15, 2011 at 9:25 pm

Crinkle cookies make me smile. And these are holiday-happy too!

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Jessica @ How Sweet — December 15, 2011 at 9:42 pm

these look seriously perfect. love.

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Blog is the New Black — December 15, 2011 at 9:54 pm

Lauren, or Lauren’s ex’s mom: GENIUS! I am making these!

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Magen — December 15, 2011 at 10:19 pm

That story cracked me up! And I can’t wait to make these.

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Amber, RD — December 15, 2011 at 10:42 pm

Oh my! These sound wonderful. Unfortunately, my baking list is set for the rest of the Christmas season, but these will be on my list for next year. How brilliant is a candy cane cookies?
P.S. What a beautiful little girl!!

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Melissa // thefauxmartha — December 16, 2011 at 1:52 am

I’ll take three! Peppermint anything is my weakness.

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Beth - Slice of Southern — December 16, 2011 at 3:07 am

Love peppermint! These look so good, and your daughter is a doll!

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Priya — December 16, 2011 at 4:26 am

Interesting read…I couldn’t stop reading to know how it ends . YUMMY cookies…you have a cute little helper!!

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Moontaj — December 16, 2011 at 6:16 am

I am TOTALLY making these!

Do have 1 question what is the purpose of Baking Soda in the cookies?

Totally n000b question but I’ve wondered cause I’ve made cookies without the baking soda before and they turned out fine.

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CouponClippingCook — December 16, 2011 at 8:17 am

o.m.g. these look soooo good. seriously, love how they look chewy…and the color of the cookie looks so delish. Also, your little one is just adorable. So love your pics too. great post.

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brandi — December 16, 2011 at 1:47 pm

ouch – what a way to be dumped although, i have some stories that are probably worse.

these cookies look great!

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Jill Lombardo — December 16, 2011 at 3:41 pm

Wow, will have to make these this weekend. But now that you know she reads your blog, you can definitely work on getting the roll recipe…and ….share it with us=) Thanks for a great story and wonderful recipe!

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Michelle — December 16, 2011 at 6:51 pm

Love this idea and the quick cooking time so much I linked to you on my blog for my holiday madness round up! Would love it if you checked it out!

http://www.fromthefirstbite.com/2011/12/last-minute-holiday-madness.html

xo

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Jolene (www.everydayfoodie.ca) — December 16, 2011 at 11:18 pm

Those look amazing!!!!!! I love that the recipe is really easy and includes things that I always have on hand! Mmmmmm! I am going to make this one!

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Jessi — December 17, 2011 at 3:03 pm

These are sooo good! and easy too. A permanent addition to my Christmas cookie list! Thanks

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natalie (the sweets life) — December 19, 2011 at 8:57 pm

ahh i’m regretting using up all of my candy canes this weekend! great story and great recipe

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channing @channingosity — December 21, 2011 at 5:38 pm

yum, yum, yum, these look like minty pillows of sweet heaven! cannot wait to try!! thank you! channing

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Heather Walker — December 22, 2011 at 4:33 pm

I make a cookie very similar to this, but along with the peppermint I add WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS! It is really, really good!

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Erin P. — January 20, 2012 at 4:16 pm

Okay…these were great! BUT, I have to share this. I was low on butter. So…I used shortening. I know people think I am a crappy baker for this. However, in my defense…I always have shortening and with all the great mint flavor dominating this cookie it was still delicious.

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Dara — December 21, 2012 at 12:46 pm

Hi Lauren, I made these cookies for the first time today, and they are divine. So easy to make, beautiful to look at, and absolutely delicious. I quadrupled the recipe to bring to a cookie swap tonight. Thank you!

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Brie — December 24, 2012 at 11:27 am

Delicious! I made these today and they were really easy to make and tasted great. I gave some to my mom and she said that they were the best cookie she had ever eaten.

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Lilia Beltran — December 29, 2012 at 12:25 pm

So excited to try these!!

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