I will not lie. I was pretty jittery about pulling these cookies off. Especially since most recipes asked for all shortening or shortening and butter in 1:1 ratio and I wanted to do all butter and there was not a single recipe with all butter and good ratings on the net. I scoured through many. I fretted a lot, got flustered, backed off and then just took the plunge.

The Candy Cane Twist Cookies did not turn out to be as perfect as I had initially envisioned but it did turn out way better than I later in my jittery stage expected it to be . And with each cookie I got better with the braiding/twisting part. The dough did not break on me, it wasn’t too sticky too handle and the end results resembled candy canes – yeah I did a survey!! So either my friends love me too much and are too biased or these actually look like candy cane cookies!

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder and keep aside. In another larger bowl, beat the butter and sugar using a electric mixture till soft and fluffy. Beat in the egg and almond extract.

Once the dough starts coming together, transfer to a floured surface and knead into a smooth ball of dough. Divide the dough into two parts and add red food color to one half. Use as much red food color you need to get the perfect shade of red. Personally, I am not a fan of using food colors, but I give in 2 to 3 times a year!

Pinch out balls of dough of each color and roll into strips. If the dough is sticky, refrigerate for 10 minutes. Braid the strips, press down a little to flatten and bend the top to look like a candy cane. Cut off at desired length. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

Arrange on the cookie sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes or till the cookies start turning golden brown on the edges. Take the cookies out of the oven and let the cookies cool down a little before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.

Let the Candy Cane Twist Cookies cool down completely before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

I am sending this recipe to Kolkata Food Bloggers’ Christmas event – Christmas Goodies