Candy Stripe Twist Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Stir together 1 cup sugar, the butter, milk, vanilla, peppermint extract and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Divide dough in half. Stir food color into 1 half. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
• Heat oven to 375°F.
• Stir together peppermint candy and 2 tablespoon sugar; set aside.
• For each candy cane, shape 1 rounded teaspoon dough from each half into 4-inch rope by rolling back and forth on floured surface. Place 1 red and white rope side by side; press together lightly and twist. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; curve top of cookie down to form handle of cane.
• Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until set and very light brown. Immediately sprinkle candy mixture over cookies. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Sift together and set aside the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Cream butter and sugar til fluffy.
• Beat in egg and oil of anise.
• Sift in dry ingredients a third at a time, alternately adding with milk.
• Stir until well blended.
• Divide dough in half and tint one half pink.
• Pinch off 1 tsp each of pink and white dough and roll each into a pencil-thin strip about 5 inches long on a lightly floured board.
• Place strips side by side, pressing ends together, then twist gently into a rope.
• Shape into candy canes if desired, or leave straight for old-fashioned peppermint stick look.
• Bake 1 inch apart at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or until firm.
• Cool on wire racks, then store between layers of waxed paper in cookie tin.

Steps:

• Prepare the royal icing: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, combine the confectioners' sugar, egg whites and glycerin, if using. Combine on low speed, then raise speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Remove bowl from mixer, and test some of the royal icing on a cookie: If it doesn't spread out to a smooth finish within 10 seconds, it's too thick. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water as needed to thin the mixture, whipping it by hand using the whip attachment. If the royal icing runs off the edge of the cookie, it's too thin, so you'll need to whisk in more sugar to thicken. You should have 1 1/2 cups royal icing.
• Transfer to a small airtight container and refrigerate. It can be left out for 1 or 2 days, but you'll need to refrigerate for longer storage. (The icing will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks.)
• Decorate the cookies: Pour the royal icing into a wide bowl. (The icing can be used cold, but it may separate, so it needs to be whisked, and may need to be thinned out with water or thickened with confectioners' sugar.) Holding a cookie by the edges, with the top-side down, dip into the icing, moving the cookie around a bit to make sure the icing coats the whole surface. Gently shake the cookie from side to side to let the excess icing drip off.
• Use a small offset spatula to stop the flow of icing, gently scrape cookie against edge of bowl, and flip the cookie over. Use the spatula to spread the icing to pop any air bubbles, and make sure it goes all the way to the edges. It should quickly smooth out on its own. If not, thin it out a bit until it does. Use your fingers to wipe away any icing on the outside edges. Repeat with all the cookies. Place on a cooling rack set over a parchment- or wax paper-lined baking sheet to dry completely, preferably overnight (or at least 4 hours).
• When dry, set up the cookies on a baking sheet or other flat surface in four rows of five cookies (you may have a few extra cookies), so they are abutting one another with no spaces. Mix the petal dust and luster dust with enough peppermint extract to make a very loose "wash" and, using brushes of different widths, make continuous brushstrokes in a few different widths across the entire surface. If you run out of pigment as you're brushing, dip the brush again, and continue the line, allowing the brush texture to show in places. When dry, rearrange the cookies on a platter so the lines no longer match up. Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Steps:

• In a small shallow bowl, combine frosting and food coloring. Remove paper liners from peanut butter cups., Holding the bottom of a peanut butter cup, dip top of cup in yellow frosting. Position over center hole on the bottom of cookie, forming the hatband and crown. Add a buckle of one orange bubblegum bit. Repeat with remaining cups and cookies.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla; gradually beat in flour. Divide dough in half; mix food coloring into 1 half. Roll each dough portion into a 6-in. square. Wrap each in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight., Preheat oven to 350°. Cut each dough into 36 squares. Working with a quarter of the dough at a time, keep remaining dough refrigerated. Roll 1 piece of plain dough into a 6-in. rope; roll 1 piece of red dough into a 6-in. rope. Place ropes side by side. Lift left rope over the right; repeat to form a twist. Repeat with remaining dough. Curving top of each twist to form hook of cane, place 1 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets., Bake 7-9 minutes or until set. Cool on pans 3 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Steps:

• Preheat oven 400 degrees. Combine egg whites and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment; beat on medium until foamy. Reduce speed to low. Add flour and salt; mix until just combined. Add butter, cream, and vanilla; beat until combined.
• Transfer 1 cup batter to a small bowl; set remaining batter aside. Stir in red coloring until desired color is reached. Transfer tinted batter to a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip. Secure end of pastry bag with rubber band; set aside.
• Place a 3-by-6-inch rectangle (cut out a stencil to use as a guide) on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat baking mat. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of plain batter into the rectangle; spread with a small offset spatula. Repeat. Pipe diagonal tinted stripes onto each rectangle. Bake cookies until pale golden, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Immediately loosen edges with a spatula, and flip cookie over. Starting from one long side, roll cookie into a stick. Place seam side down, on a clean work surface; let cool until set. Quickly repeat with second cookie.
• Repeat process, tinting and baking 2 or 3 cookies at a time.

Steps:

• Mix and divide into 10 balls.
• Mix together cinnamon and sugar.
• Roll dough into part of the sugar mixture.
• Roll into circle.
• Cut shapes into 16 pie shaped portions.
• Roll up each piece starting at the wide end.
• Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.