Recipe: Chocolate Chip Candy Cane Cookies

I promised I would bring some cookies to my Scouts camp a few days ago. I planned on just using my trusted chocolate chip cookie recipe, but then remembered that there was a member in my troop which was allergic to peanuts. I’m kinda glad for that, because without her, I wouldn’t have been so bold as to put candy canes in my cookies. xD
And yes, though I put white chocolate chips in mines, I checked and they were peanut free (unless shea oil is actually a nut in disguise! :O) and, besides, the cookie needed the extra kick.

Cookie on the left was rushed and made without the dark chocolate chips, the right was made with care and with the dark chocolate chips.
Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
Adapted from my favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe in the Eyewitness cookbook.

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (I like to buy the 1/2 cup sticks and just cut it in half, paper and all)
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (I don’t really shift my flour or anything, I just fill, like, 1/4 less of my cup with flour; any other flour works fine, too, though I’m not very fond of pastry flour, but it works)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (I mistaken it for baking powder for my first batch of cookies, but really, they turn out the same :P)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (or if you have the weird ones that only has one which says “just a pinch”, use that one)

The good stuff:
I estimate when it comes to this. I just use whatever I feel like looks good.

• peppermint candy canes (I use 4… even when I doubled it; use the pretty colourful ones!)
• white chocolate chips
• (optional: dark chocolate chips, but I think milk chocolate might taste better… don’t add too much, though, because I find it takes away from the delicate white chocolate taste, but, whatever; my mom likes the dark chocolate)
  

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. I don’t know what it is in Celsius, but that’s what the internet is for. I’d strongly recommend using a convection oven (which, in that case, you would need to preheat it at 345 degrees) for any baking because the outside colour is nice and even, even on the bottom.
2. Crush candy canes until there are no pieces bigger than 1 cm or so. I put them in a Ziplock bag and go wild, using some kind of blunt object to break especially stubborn pieces. If you prefer a more minty and crunchy cookie, leave the pieces bigger. Put aside.
3. Cream butter with brown and white sugar. I like to leave my butter for a few hours before I use it to make it easier to use.
4. Mix in the egg, then add the vanilla extract.
5. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt). They say to add it “a little at a time” but I just dump the whole thing in and mix.
6. Add crushed candy canes and chocolate chips.
7. Line cookie sheet with wax paper (because, believe me, even non-stick pans lose when it comes face to face with melted mints – so line your cookie sheet!) and scoop about 1 inch in diameter balls, roll them into balls, and squish them into the cookie sheet. The dough is a bit sticky, so make sure your hands are covered in flour, or to make them a bit more neat, you could wrap rolls of dough in plastic wrap, leave them in the fridge till they’re hard, and cut chunks off that.
8. Bake for 15 minutes, or when you can stick a toothpick in it, and it comes out clean. For a convection oven, I’d say around 10-7 minutes. For a softer cookie (and those are the best) leave it in for a few minutes less, or just gobble them up when they’re warm.

Yes, this recipe is easy - so easy that a 3rd grader (or so) could make them. I know because I’ve been doing it till then. I’ve got the whole recipe memorized, man! Chocolate chip cookies are like my speciality.
So yes, I think it’s a semi-festive treat for a cookie loving holiday.