Easy Chocolate Chip and Crushed Candy Cane Cookies

Making Good Use of Leftover Candy

Candy canes are lovely and festive. Perfectly shaped to hang on a Christmas Tree or tape to a holiday card. Let’s be honest though, the canes are not the easiest or most exciting to eat and usually end up in a broken, sticky mess.

Take a look in your cupboard and tell me how many broken, leftover candy canes are sitting in there from past Christmases. If you’re anything like me, you have a gallon bag full of candy canes, peppermints, and other random candies collected from different holidays. Luckily, this recipe is an absolutely delicious way to use up old candy.

Candy Cane Cookies

Put away the peppermint extract and break out the candy canes!

Materials Needed:

1. Food Processor
2. Small Mixing Bowl
3. Whisk
4. Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
5. Rubber Spatula
6. Medium Cookies Dough Scoop
7. Parchment Lined Cookie Sheets

Ingredients:

• All-purpose flour – 1 1/4 cups
• Sea salt – 1/2 tsp
• Baking soda – 1/4 tsp
• Unsalted butter softened – 1/2 cup (1 stick)
• Packed dark brown sugar – 1/2 cup
• Granulated sugar – 1/4 cup
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
• White chocolate chips – 1/2 cup
• Dark chocolate chips – 1/2 cup
• Crushed candy canes – 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup

Process

Yield: 16 cookies

Add 6 to 7 candy canes to food processor and pulse until crushed into small to medium pieces. Leaving some chunks of candy adds great crunch to the cookies. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small mixing bowl with whisk. In bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until fluffy (about 3 minutes on medium). Blend in egg and vanilla. On low, add dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Remove bowl from stand mixer and use rubber spatula to fold in chocolate chips and candy cane pieces.

Use medium cookie dough scoop to form balls of dough and place at least 2″ apart (the cookies spread) on parchment lined cookie sheets. Place cookie sheets with dough balls in fridge to chill for at least an hour (no more than 6 hours).

Preheat oven to 350F. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until edges golden. Cool cookies on baking sheets. Store at room temperature in airtight container for up to 3 days.