Candy Cane Cookies

Pretty much all of my free time at home over the past couple of days has been devoted to cookie-baking. I know, it's a tough life I lead. I've already made multiple batches of four different types of cookies and last night was the fifth: candy cane cookies.

(Recipe originally from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, with alterations.)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring

Heat oven to 375F. Mix butter, shortening, confectioner's sugar, egg and flavorings. Blend in flour and salt. Divide dough in half and blend food coloring into one half. Shape 1 teaspoon of dough from each half into a 4-inch-long rope. Press ropes together lightly and twist. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9 minutes or until set and lightly brown.

I'd also suggest sprinkling the cookies with sugar before baking them. Despite the multiple forms of flavorings, the taste is actually not very strong.

I've been baking long enough to know that the estimate of just how many cookies a recipe will produce is an overexaggeration; that or I make the world's most ginormous cookies. But this is the most ridiculous one yet. According to Betty Crocker, this recipe should yield four dozen cookies. That is baloney. I'm always lucky to get two dozen; last night, I wound up with about 26 total (minus the broken one I disposed of orally).

These cookies are a funny tradition in my family growing up. The recipe came from my mom's 1970s-edition Betty Crocker Cookbook and were always a big hit with me, my dad and my brother. They tasted good - light and almondy and not overpowering, perfect with a cup of tea or coffee or as a chaser for a richer, more chocolately dessert. Plus they're fun-looking. Candy canes! Yay, Christmas! But they're a huge pain in the butt to make. The process of rolling out the dough and twisting it is one thing; there is also the cookies' consistency: soft and flaky, which is yummy to eat but comes with a propensity to break apart in many pieces. My one casualty last night was actually kind of impressive. So, with that debate raging every year, whether we actually made them at Christmas or not was really a toss-up.

Betty Crocker no longer puts this recipe in her book (and yes, I realize Betty Crocker is not a real person, but she is to me so LAY OFF), a fact I was extremely disappointed to discover when I moved into my first apartment and got a copy of my own. What the what, Betty?! Frankly, the only reason I bought the book was because of this and her apple pie recipes (which is still included). Thankfully, I was able to copy it out of my mom's book and now make them every year.