Tis the Season...

It's that Time of Year again. Time to Make the Candy Cane Cookies.

These cookies are my dad's favorite. His mother was an excellent baker and would make him these cookies every year. When she died (over 30 years ago), my dad remarked to my mother that he'd never get any candy cane cookies again. Even though my mom does not like making these, to her credit, not a single year has gone by that my dad hasn't enjoyed these cookies! When I was old enough, I started to help. Unfortunately, my grandmother (Mom-Mom) never shared the secret to how to roll/shape these cookies without becoming totally frustrated. The recipe is easy enough:

1 cup butter or margarine -- softened
1 cup powdered sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon red food coloring

Mix first 6 ingredients together well. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Add food coloring to 1 portion. Blend well.

NOW THE TRICKY PART:

Roll 1 teaspoon of each color dough into ropes and 5-1/2-inches long. Lay them side by side. Pinch ends together. Twist to form a spiral. Lay on ungreased baking sheet. Shape to form canes. (This sounds pretty basic. But just try it, it's easier said than done.)

Bake in a 350-deg. F. oven for about 10 minutes until pale gold. Cool on sheet for 2 to 3 minutes then remove. Makes about 4-1/2 dozen. (This is a total lie. We are lucky if we get 2 dozen!!!!).

Over the years, we've tried lots of different tricks to get these shaped just right. My mother always tells me how perfect Mom-Mom made them. So delicate and tiny. Perfectly twisted and shaped. I can't say that about ours. I have gotten better at shaping them, and some do turn out decent, but the majority look sad and pathetic. Ours belong on the Island of Misfit Cookies!

I like to bake and I like to think I got a lot of my grandma's talent in that respect, but I do wish every year that I would have been old enough before she died for her to show me how to make these darn cookies. One year we tried to skimp and we took all the dough, put it into one big log and cut circles out. We justified this by saying that they were peppermint candy cookies. It didn't work. We returned to the candy cane making.

It is a labor of love to make these cookies, and I know my dad appreciates them. No matter what they look like, they taste delicious--they are made with love. And it's one tradition that we'll keep up every year!