A festive box filled with these soft, chocolaty candy cane cookies makes a great gift for the host during the holiday season. For a polished look, be sure to let the icing outlines dry completely before filling in the stripes.
- Portion size 30 servings
- Credits : Canadian Living Magazine: December 2014
Ingredients
Method
Roll dough by 1 tbsp into balls. Using fingers, roll each to form 6-inch (15 cm) long ropes; curve 1 end of each rope to form crook of candy cane.Arrange, 2 inches (5 cm) apart, on parchment paper–lined baking sheets. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in 350 F (180 C) oven until no longer shiny, about 6 minutes. Let cool on pans for 5 minutes; transfer directly to racks to cool completely.
Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat meringue powder with 1/4 cup water until foamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in icing sugar until stiff and glossy, about 9 minutes; beat in peppermint extract. Spoon half of the icing into piping bag fitted with small plain tip; cover remaining icing with damp towel and set aside. Pipe thick outline of icing along edges of cookies; pipe thick outlines of stripes on surface of each. Let stand until dry, about 20 minutes.
To remaining icing, gradually add water, 1/2 tsp at a time, until mixture is consistency of molasses. Divide icing among 2 bowls; using food colouring, tint icing in 1 bowl red.
Alternating between white and red icing, pipe or spoon icing into borders of stripes; using toothpick or skewer, spread to piped edges, popping any air bubbles. Let stand until dry, about 30 minutes. (Make-ahead: Layer between waxed paper in airtight container; store for up to 3 days.)
Nutritional facts per cookie: about
- Fibre 1 g
- Sodium 48 mg
- Sugars 8 g
- Protein 1 g
- Calories 86.0
- Total fat 4 g
- Cholesterol 16 mg
- Saturated fat 2 g
- Total carbohydrate 13 g
%RDI
- Iron 4.0
- Folate 4.0
- Calcium 1.0
- Vitamin A 3.0
