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Crushed candy canes and white chocolate chips run through this butter-and-shortening cookie dough. Small, even portions help the cookies bake before exposed peppermint becomes too dark. Let them settle on the tray before lifting.
The formula calls for half a cup of each, with different melting behavior. Keep those quantities separate and use softened butter, not melted butter. An all-butter substitution would need its own bake check.
Ingredient amounts and preparation
- Set out:
- Set out: 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- Set out: 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
- Set out: 1 cup granulated sugar
- Set out: 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- Set out: 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Set out: 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- Set out: 2 large eggs
- Set out: 3 cups all-purpose flour
- Set out: 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Set out: 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Set out: 3/4 cup crushed candy canes
- Set out: 1 cup white chocolate chips, plus extra for topping
Cooking sequence and doneness
- Stage 1
- Heat the oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment.
- Stage 2
- Cream softened butter, shortening and both sugars until evenly combined and lighter. Scrape the bowl.
- Stage 3
- Beat in vanilla, peppermint extract and eggs.
- Stage 4
- Whisk flour, baking soda and salt separately. Mix dry ingredients into the wet mixture just until combined.
- Stage 5
- Fold in the measured crushed candy canes and white chocolate chips.
- Stage 6
- Briefly chill if too soft to portion. Scoop uniform one-to-one-and-one-half-tablespoon portions and space two inches apart.
- Stage 7
- Bake about eight to ten minutes until edges and tops are set, extending as needed.
- Stage 8
- Add optional decorative chips while warm. Cool ten minutes on the tray before lifting to a rack.
Use small pieces rather than sharp chunks or only powder. Tuck large exposed pieces into the dough, since peppermint touching the hot tray can melt and stick. Parchment makes release easier after cooling.
Should sticky dough get extra flour?
First scrape the bowl and briefly chill soft dough. Repeated unmeasured additions of flour can make a different dough from the listed recipe. Portion it once it is firm enough to handle.
How large are the portions?
Use one to one-and-one-half tablespoons per cookie and keep one size across each tray. Leave about two inches between portions. Start checking at eight minutes, continuing until the edges and tops are set.
When are extra chips added?
They are optional decorations after baking; the measured cup goes into the dough. Press decorations lightly onto warm cookies and leave the tray undisturbed for about ten minutes before transferring.
Storage and serving later
Let the baked pieces cool completely before closing a storage container, so trapped steam does not wet the surface. Keep any perishable filling or accompaniment under its own refrigerated-storage instructions.
Related recipe choices
For another complete recipe, see Two-Layer Peppermint Bark with Dark and White Chocolate or Orange Almond Holiday Cutout Cookies. Each has its own ingredient quantities and cooking sequence; keep those measurements separate when choosing a meal.
King Arthur’s creaming guide explains how butter condition affects mixing. That guide concerns recipes using softened butter; where this recipe calls for melted butter, follow its separate mixing sequence. The guide does not establish testing of this formula.
Common Questions About This Recipe
- Why use both butter and shortening?
The formula calls for half a cup of each, with different melting behavior. Keep those quantities separate and use softened butter, not melted butter.
- How finely should candy be crushed?
Use small pieces rather than sharp chunks or only powder. Tuck large exposed pieces into the dough, since peppermint touching the hot tray can melt and stick.
- Should sticky dough get extra flour?
First scrape the bowl and briefly chill soft dough. Repeated unmeasured additions of flour can make a different dough from the listed recipe.
- How large are the portions?
Use one to one-and-one-half tablespoons per cookie and keep one size across each tray. Leave about two inches between portions.
- When are extra chips added?
They are optional decorations after baking; the measured cup goes into the dough. Press decorations lightly onto warm cookies and leave the tray undisturbed for about ten minutes before transferring.