Pioneer Woman Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies Food

COW PIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Using a mixer, cream the sugar and butter until fluffy, scraping the sides once. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl, then add in batches to the mixer, mixing until just combined after each addition. Gently mix in the semisweet, milk and white chocolate chips.
• Using a cookie scoop, add generous 1-tablespoon portions of dough to a baking sheet (about 12 portions). Repeat with the remaining dough and additional baking sheets. Dot the top of each cookie with 2 to 3 chocolate chips if you'd like them to really show up on top. Bake until the cookies are barely done and are still soft and chewy, 9 to 11 minutes. Don't overbake! Let cool on a baking rack.
• Melt the semisweet chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
• Dip the cookies one by one into the melted chocolate to coat, then transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets to set.

CANDY CANE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a mixer bowl or by hand, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in egg, almond extract, vanilla, and salt. Blend flour into mixture in several additions, beat until just combined.
• Remove half the dough from the bowl. Blend red food coloring into the half remaining in the bowl until the coloring is even. Cover dough a kitchen towel to keep it from drying out as you work. Use a floured teaspoon to measure 1 teaspoon each of white and red dough for each cookie. Roll into 4-inch ropes on a lightly floured surface. Place a red and white rope side-by-side, press together lightly and twist to form a spiral. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Curve top down to form handle of a candy cane. Bake until set, about 9 minutes. While the cookies are baking, put peppermint candies in a resealable plastic bag and crush into small pieces with a rolling pin. Mix the candy with the sugar. Place cooling rack over shallow pan. Immediately remove cookies from cookie sheet and gently place onto cooling rack. Sprinkle with candy/sugar mixture.
• Optional: Cool cookies, drizzle with melted chocolate, and add more candy mixture on top of chocolate.

CANDY CANE COOKIES

Steps:

• Place the softened butter and sugar in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer). With a hand mixer (or stand mixer with a paddle attachment) on medium speed, beat until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and peppermint extract and mix well to combine. Add the flour 1 cup at a time, mixing on low to combine completely in between each addition. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
• Remove half of the dough from the bowl and form into a disc shape, about 1-inch thick. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour (or overnight).
• Place the red food coloring in the bowl with the remaining dough. Mix on low to incorporate the coloring into the dough fully (add more food coloring until you reach your desired shade of red). Remove the red dough from the bowl, knead it a few times on a clean surface to incorporate all of the coloring completely, and form into a disc shape, about 1-inch thick. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Unwrap both pieces of dough and pinch off 1/2-tablespoonful pieces of each color. With the palm of your hand, roll each dough ball on a clean surface into a 5-inch long rope. (It's best to roll all of the white dough in one spot on your counter, and all of the red dough in another spot, so that the white pieces don't pick up any red dough left on the surface.) Place the ropes side by side and twist, pinching the tops and bottoms to stick together. Carefully transfer to the sheet trays and form into a candy cane shape. Continue to roll, twist and form all of the cookies. (If the dough starts to get too sticky, or difficult to roll without breaking, re-wrap it in plastic wrap and pop it back in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up again).
• Bakes the cookies 12 minutes, or just until the white dough looks lightly golden. If decorating with crushed candy canes, sprinkle as soon as they come out of the oven. Let cool completely on the baking sheets. Store in an air-tight container in a single layer, between sheets of parchment paper, for up to 1 week at room temperature.

WHITE CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
• Cream the butter and sugar together. Sift in the flour and cornstarch and blend using a pastry cutter until the ingredients all come together. (If the mixture seems excessively dry, cut in 1 more tablespoon of butter--but only if you really need it.) Form the dough into a big ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 20 minutes.
• Roll onto a lightly floured surface and cut into rounds with a 3- or 4-inch round or fluted cookie cutter. Place on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 20 minutes. Do not allow the shortbread to brown; check your oven sooner if it runs hot. Let cool.
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water, or in a microwave. Once the shortbread cookies have cooled, spoon a little chocolate onto each cookie, spread it out and sprinkle over some sprinkles! Allow the chocolate to harden for an hour before eating, storing or packaging.

CHOCOLATE CANDY CANE COOKIES

Steps:

• Add the butter and powdered sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until the mixture is nice and smooth. Mix in the vanilla and egg. Add the flour, cocoa powder and salt and mix just until the dough comes together. Press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of the dough and refrigerate it for a couple of hours.
• While the dough is chilling away, unwrap the candies and place them in two plastic bags, separated by color. Crush the candies to pieces with a rolling pin. Throw the crushed mints into separate bowls and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Roll the dough into balls. Place the balls onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper or baking mats. Flatten them slightly with the bottom of a coffee mug or glass. Bake until just set, 7 to 9 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely.
• Meanwhile, melt the almond bark in a double boiler or microwave-safe bowl and stir until smooth. One at a time, dip the cooled cookies halfway into the melted almond bark. Sprinkle the top sides generously with crushed mints, holding the cookies over the bowls to catch the excess. You can mix red and green on the same cookie, or do some with just red and some with just green.
• Lay the cookies, sprinkled-side up, on parchment paper or a baking mat and allow them to set completely. Serve with a few whole mints on the side.

"PIONEER WOMAN" CHOCOLATE CANDY CANE COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream softened butter with powdered sugar. Add egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Add dry ingredients and mix together until dough comes together. Place plastic wrap on surface of dough and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• In the meantime, unwrap candies and place them in a plastic bag. Beat with a mallet until finely crushed, leaving larger chunks if desired.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Roll cookie dough in walnut-sized pieces and place on a cookie sheet. Gently press balls flat with a plain, smooth surface.
• Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, being careful not to burn. Cookies will remain the same general size and shape after they bake. Remove from oven and place cookies on a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely.
• Place crushed candies in bowl. Melt almond bark in the microwave. Dip cooled cookies into almond bark, coating half the cookie. Immediately sprinkle crushed peppermints over both sides of the almond bark. Gently set on parchment paper or other nonstick surface and allow to cool before serving.