I absolutely love Christmas cookies. I love baking them because they are a special kind of cookie that you only bake once a year… I love eating them because, well, they are just delicious!!! And I love all the memories I have making Christmas cookies with my family.

This is probably my favorite Christmas cookie recipe! Enjoy!

Candy Cane Cookies

Makes about 20 cookies.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

Red food coloring

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, whisk the flour and the salt. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and the sugar until creamy. Add the egg yolks, vanilla and almond extracts and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixtrue, in three additions, and beat until you have a smooth dough.

Remove half the dough from the mixing bowl. Add the red food coloring to the remaining half and beat on low speed until well blended. Refridgerate dough for 15 minutes.

Take a walnut sized piece of red dough and a walnut sized piece of white dough. Separately, roll each color on a lightly floured surface, into a 4-5 inch long rope. Place the two ropes side by side, gently press together and twist the two ropes to form a sprial. Place the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apat. Shape each cookie into a cane shape by bending one end into a hook.

Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes or until set and the edges of the cookies are just starting to brown. Do not overbake. Remove from oven and let cookies cool completely on baking sheet. Cover and store in an airtight container for about a week. These cookies can be frozen.