To me Christmas is all about the baking. Well, that’s not entirely true. There’s also the spirit of the season, the wonderment of the day as seen through children’s eyes etc etc but what really gets me excited, and flicking through cookbooks in anticipation, is the bounty of baking that awaits.
Like lots of people have a plethora of Chrissy events to attend, which means finding new recipes to road test.
I had looked at this recipe for a few years after it appeared in issue 42 [Jan 2009] and decided this was going to be the year I made Donna Hay’s chocolate candy cane cookies. Candy canes, in my books, are ghastly – sticky and fragile and far too sweet. Even my kids’ school has banned them yet here I was, buying and bringing these sugar-packed morsels into my home.
Getting to smash them into smithereens was quite satisfying, though…
If, like me, candy canes aren’t your thing, feel free to omit them and enjoy these chunky, chocky cookies unadorned.
GATHER:
110g softened butter, diced
¾ cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon best quality vanilla
1 cup plain flour
¼ cup cocoa, sifted
½ teaspoon bicarb soda
120g dark chocolate, melted
250g dark chocolate, extra, roughly chopped
About 5 candy canes, smashed into little pieces
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 160C and line two baking trays with non-stick paper.
Beat sugar and butter in bowl of electric mixer for 8-10 minutes, until creamy and light.
Add egg, vanilla and beat until combined.
Scrap down sides then add flour, bicarb, and melted chocolate until just combined.
Fold through extra chopped chocolate.
Roll tablespoons [I used heaped teaspoons] into rounds, place on tray and gently flatten. Sprinkle over the chopped candy canes.
Bake 10-15 minutes, depending on size of bickie.
the hungry mum 
They look great. My nieces and nephews would devour a batch of those in about a second.
Think anything with candy canes is a hit with young kids!
how did they taste? I’m thinking of making peppermint bark this Christmas which also uses candycanes.
pretty!
thanks 🙂
They look so festive. Love it 🙂
Tra la la la…! Getting into the Chrissy spirit 🙂
I’ve been experimenting with the candy canes-they come in such large packets that you need to figure out what the do with the leftovers! 😛
You get a lot of bang for your buck with candy canes! $2 gets you a lifetime supply 🙂
Very cute!
And very chocolatey 🙂
Pretty cookies…! 🙂
Thanks!
I love this idea, I would never have thought of putting candy cane on cookies! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for your sweet words! Glad to be of service 🙂
This looks absolutely delicious! One of my favorite things about holiday baking is how just a few candy canes can jazz up some cookies!!
The simple things are often the best, don’t you think! Ta for the lovely words x
How festive! Yum!
tis the season 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Great minds really do think alike. When we have finished gorging on Candy Cane Cracker Toffee we will be moving on to these. Kris Kringle has deposited even more candy canes in my girls’ school bags. They’re multiplying faster than rabbits. Good reason why they’ve been banned at your children’s school.
I almost typed, “Isn’t it about the presents?” but then I thought maybe someone would think I was serious. For me it’s all about family and friends and sharing – and these cookies would be perfect!
hahaha! Misses 6 & 8 would def nominate presents as the highlight 🙂
To me Christmas is about doing a lot of baking too. I have so many recipes I want to try and get done in readiness for Christmas and my fear is I’m going to run out of days. I do love the look of these cookies – very Christmasy and a great way to use up a stash of candy canes xx
yes! I have a gazillion things I want to bake [and blog!] and time is fast running out 🙂 Thanks for the sweet words x
I read about these cookies in a novel and tried them with regular sweets – but they didn’t work too well. I shall give these ones a try 🙂
Hope you like them 🙂 Let me know how they go.
fab idea to use candy canes esp for presentation!
Thanks! Lord knows, those candy canes seem to breed in the pantry…
these are so festive!! Baking and the holidays just go together….and then we diet!
Diet is a four-letter word! bake, eat, repeat – that’s my style 🙂
I love this post! I just did a little round up of candy cane recipes on my blog. Wish I’d seen this sooner 🙂 http://janinejackson.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/52-lists-candy-cane-recipes/
Oh, me too! Maybe next time 🙂
Christmas is a fun time. I love to bake and dont seem to be able to fit enough in. Candy cane cookies would go down well at anyones place
I keep adding to my ‘must bake’ list – there’s so many great recipes at this tie of year!
Chocolate-peppermint seems to be everyone’s favorite Christmas flavor combination! These look super chocolaty with a peppermint crunch! Yum!
A little bit of candy cane / peppermint makes all the difference in December!
Anything with candy canes gets my attention! I love how festive these are. I hang candy canes all over my christmas tree… It looks so pretty and yummy! 🙂
cheers! I think candy canes look pretty but they are too sweet for me to eat!
These look great! I don’t like candy canes either, but I’m almost hoping I get some this year just to try this recipe 🙂
thanks! Candy canes are something you get whether you want them or not 🙂
Reblogged this on the hungry mum.