Ingredients:
- 2 cups butter (softened)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 tsp salt
- red food colouring
- candy cane shaped cookie cutter
Directions:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix softened butter with granulated sugar at medium speed.
- Next add the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Mix until the mixture forms a soft dough. The dough should be soft, and you should be able to roll it into a ball. If it is too sticky, add 1-3 more table spoons of flour until it is slightly more manageable.
- Divide the dough into thirds and set aside two of the thirds.
- Place the last third of dough back into the stand mixer and add 40 drops of traditional red food colouring. If you would like your dough to be a deeper or paler red, adjust accordingly. Mix until the food colouring is fully combined.
- Roll each of your thirds of dough into balls then flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Place them in the fridge for 1.5 to 2 hours or until firm.
- Prepare your counter to roll the dough. Take 1 tbsp of all-purpose flour and lightly dust your countertop with it. Next take another tbsp and dust your rolling pin with it.
- To make the candy cane stripes, roll out your dough on the floured surface until it is roughly one inch thick. Then cut various sized strips from the red dough and the white dough and align alternately
- Once they are lined up. Continue to roll out the dough to 1-1.5 cm in thickness, making sure the strips of dough are forming together as you roll.
- Using your cookie cutter, begin to cut out your cookies and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, spaced 1 inch apart. I like to cut my cookies on an angle so that the stripes are diagonal instead of horizontal.
- Once you have finished, wrap your baking sheet with plastic wrap and place into the fridge for 1.5 hours, or overnight if you prefer. The cookies should be very firm before placing them in the oven.
- Once you’re ready, bake your cookies in an oven preheated to 350 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cookies have golden bottoms. Leave them to cool on the cookie sheet then enjoy!
