Butter cookies with a hint of mint in every bite. Candy Cane Cookies with M&M's are festively decorated in red and green.
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Christmas trees, carols, red and green candies, the sound of Salvation Army bells, lights on every tree, shrub, window and roof in the neighborhood, making and eating Elf spaghetti - all these things are pretty darn festive.
As is the candy cane! And in that spirit, the word of the day is pepperminty.
My kids find a candy cane from Santa under their pillows every Christmas morning, and my son receives a fruit-flavored cane instead of the traditional peppermint. He has never been a mint fan.
When I opened the oven door to take out these baked cookies the pepperminty aroma filled every corner of the house! Which was fine by most of us in the house. (Sorry, son!)
Why you'll love these cookies
While there are no actual candy canes in these cookies, they do have the shape and they have the flavor - thanks to peppermint extract.
Red and green M&M's add holiday colors to the cookies, and give a milk chocolate pairing to the peppermint. Which is just divine.
They are really fun cookies to bring to a Christmas party, share with your neighbors, or to leave for Santa! (And I have it on good authority that he IS a peppermint fan.)
🔪 How to make Candy Cane Cookies with M&M's
Ingredients:
- Butter: Choose a good, quality butter—the flavor really comes through in these simple cookies. I use Cabot unsalted; Kerrygold is another good butter to try.
- Confectioners' sugar: The sweetness in the cookies is from confectioners' sugar, which blends smoothly with the butter leaving no gritty crystals.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour for the cookies—my go-to brand is King Arthur Baking Company.
- Extracts: Use two extracts: pure vanilla and peppermint. Together they give the cookies a soft mint flavor that's really delicious with the chocolaty M&M's.
- Salt: Just a little salt in the cookie dough enhances the other flavors.
- M&M's candies: I use red and green M&M's for those Christmasy vibes. You can also make them with all red or all green if you want. There are other holiday M&M's, too like mint chocolate or white chocolate that come in other holiday color blends.
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Make the dough
Cream together the butter and sugar, then add in the extracts. Whisk together the dry ingredients, then add them to the butter mixture. Squeeze the dough together by hand a few times, then wrap and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
Roll and cut out the shapes
Roll out the dough between parchment paper and use a candy cane cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.
Add the M&M's and chill. Then bake
Press red and green M&M's into the candy canes in a festive pattern! Chill the cookies for 20 minutes, then pop them in the oven. Bake the cookies for about 18 minutes.
Tips:
- These cookies are made using my recipe for Simple Butter Cookies, with a little change-up to the extracts.
- Peppermint extract is strong. I mean, WOW is it strong! Working with it was a good reminder that extract flavors can't be swapped in and out at the same ratio... some pack way more of a punch. These cookies have a perfect blend of peppermint and vanilla extracts, and baking mellows out some of the pepperminty flavor as well.
- This recipe has two chilling times: the first one helps the dough firm up to make it easier to roll out and cut. The second chill helps to keep the cookies from spreading too much while baking.
Have fun with the festive chocolate and pepperminty cookies!
The recipe is below, and here are a few more holiday sweets to try:
💬 Did you make and devour this recipe? Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies with M&M's
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Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, unsalted and softened
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1¾ teaspoons peppermint extract
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 7 ounces (about 1 cup) red and green holiday M&M's candies
Instructions
Make the dough:
- Cream together the butter and confectioner's sugar for 3 minutes on medium speed in a stand mixer. Scrape the bowl a couple of times during the mixing, it should be smooth.
- Add in the peppermint and vanilla extracts and beat the mixture on low to incorporate them.
- Whisk together the flour and salt in a separate bowl. Mix this into the butter mixture in two additions on low speed, scraping down the bowl often, until the dough has come together.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and squeeze the dough together a few times until it is smooth.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. The cut cookies will need to chill before baking so be sure the baking sheet can fit in your fridge.
Cut out the cookies:
- Unwrap the chilled dough and use a knife to cut it in half. Rewrap one of the halves and hold it in the fridge. Place the other half on a large piece of parchment paper.
- Move the dough to one side of the parchment and fold the other half of the parchment over the top of the dough. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough inside the parchment to a ¼-inch thickness. (Tip: on a toothpick, measure up from the tip ¼-inch and mark it with a Sharpie. To see if your dough is at ¼-inch thickness, poke the toothpick into the dough and check it against the mark.)
- Use a candy cane cookie cutter (about 3½ inches tall and 2 inches wide at the crook) and cut cookies from the dough. Place the cookies onto the parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between them.
- Roll scraps together and continue cutting cookies to fill the baking sheet. Wrap and hold any leftover scraps in the fridge.
Add M&M's
- Gently press a line of 7 M&M's into each candy cane cookie, following the shape of the cane and alternating between red and green M&M's.
- Lightly cover the cookies with plastic wrap and chill them for 20 minutes.
Bake the cookies:
- Bake the cookies for 18-20 minutes, only until the edges of the cookies just barely show a little color. Carefully remove the cookies to a cooling rack.
- Repeat the rolling, cutting, M&M-ing and baking until all of the cookies are done. You may have a few M&M's left over... actually, probably not, since you'll have inevitably snuck a few into your mouth while working on the cookies!
- The cooled cookies can be stored wrapped or in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Makes about 35 cookies.
Notes
- Peppermint extract is strong. I mean, WOW is it strong! Working with it was a good reminder that extract flavors can't be swapped in and out at the same ratio... some pack way more of a punch. These cookies have a great blend of peppermint and vanilla extracts, and baking mellows out some of the pepperminty flavor as well.
- This recipe has two chilling times: the first one helps the dough firm up to make it easier to roll out and cut. The second chill helps to keep the cookies from spreading too much while baking.
Nutrition
tricia says
I found this recipe. The simplicity of it sold me on trying it. I decided to lay a candy cane cookie on top like a stuffed M&M Christmas cookies with sprinkles. So good. Thanks.
Nancy Mock says
Hi Tricia! Oh, that sounds like such a cute sandwich cookie—great idea! I'm so happy you like these cookies, thank you very much for trying my recipe. Happy holidays!
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