Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

I took a bit of a break from the world of blogging. I was feeling a bit lazy, to be honest, and uninspired. But there's nothing like putting up your Christmas tree and decorating your house to get you in the mood for baking. I saw these cookies over at Lauren's Latest and knew that I had to try them. In her version, the dough is rolled in icing sugar before baking, but I omitted that step. I figured with my addition of a white chocolate glaze and a sprinkling of candy canes after baking, they wouldn't miss the extra sweetness. These cookies taste just like a sugar cookie, the centers are nice and chewy - and the candy cane adds a hint of mint - nothing overwhelming. Festive, pretty and delicious -enough said.

Recipe for Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

Source: adapted from: Lauren's Latest
4 regular sized candy canes, crushed with rolling pin, divided
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
2 ounces white chocolate, chopped (for drizzling)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, and set aside. Place unwrapped candy canes in a small zip loc bag and crush with a rolling pine. Set aside. In bowl of stand mixer, using paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg, scraping sides bowl as needed. With mixer on lowest setting, add your dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add about three-quarters of the crushed candy canes and gently combine. Roll the dough into balls using a scant table-spoon for each and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges just begin to turn a light golden brown. Allow to cool for a couple minutes before moving onto wire rack to cool completely. Melt the white chocolate in your microwave at 50% power, watching closely. I always do 1 minute - then stir until completely smooth. Drizzle white chocolate over cooled cookies and sprinkle remaining crushed candy canes over the chocolate before it sets. Allow to set for about 30 minutes.