These White Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies are crispy, chewy, and delicious. The perfect sweet treat for the holidays!
The holiday season isn’t long enough for all the baking I want to do, especially this year with my sister in town for most of November and a new(ish) puppy that has taken over our lives (in the best way possible).
I’m still trying to come up with a plan of attack for the Christmas tree this year — how to keep her away from it while we’re putting it up and just in general once it is up.
Do we leave ornaments off all of the bottom branches? Barricade the tree somehow? Put her playpen around it?? Open to any and all tips!
These White Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies that I bring you today are a revamp of an old holiday cookie recipe from a few years ago.
Candy canes and peppermint aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. They’re a staple during the holiday season, but not everyone likes the taste of mint, which is understandable.
Personally, I am a huge fan of the mint and chocolate combo, especially when paired with dark chocolate.
If you’ve been following along, you know that I am not a fan of white chocolate, but honestly, white chocolate pairs so well with certain flavors, and peppermint happens to be one of them.
I swear, I’m not being converted to a white chocolate lover (it’s technically not even chocolate after all), but I’m now convinced that it pairs well with both gingerbread and candy canes!
White chocolate does add for more sweetness though, so these cookies are not lacking in that regard.
How to make White Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
These White Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies are super easy to make. Crush up some candy canes and throw them into a standard cookie dough.
The first time I made these my food processor was being temperamental, so my candy cane chunks were a bit large. Not wanting them to turn into candy cane powder, I stopped pulverizing before I should have.
They still turned out great, but maybe a bit more crunchy than expected.
The second time making these I used store-bought crushed candy canes due to laziness, they worked perfectly well and would recommend you go this route if they are easily available to you. Either method will work though!
I strongly recommend chilling the cookie dough before baking. I didn’t do this when I baked them and they were fine, but lots of people had trouble with cookies that spread too much. As such, I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit and added a note to chill the dough before baking.
I didn’t try freezing them after baking. I suspect they would do ok in the freezer but the candy cane parts will get stickier/chewier.
Ideally, I would store them in an airtight container separated with parchment. They’ll last a couple weeks or so this way at room temperature.
And OH before I forget, I have a tip for you…
I am obsessed with perfectly round, pretty cookies. I don’t like when they come out lopsided and uneven due to the chocolate chips or other additions.
What I do as soon as they come out of the oven is I grab one of my metal cookie cutters (one that’s larger than the cookies that bake up), I place it over the baked cookie and nudge the cookie cutter in a circular motion around the outside of the cookie to bring in any uneven sides.
I hope that makes sense… This only works when the cookies are straight out of the oven and haven’t quite set yet, so you have to be a bit speedy about it.
These white chocolate candy cane cookies are the perfect burst of flavor this holiday season. If you’re not a fan of white chocolate like me, these cookies might just convert you, or you could swap the white chocolate for any other kinda and have an equally delicious cookie on your hands!
Looking for more Christmas Cookie Recipes?
- Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
- Eggnog Cookies
- Stained Glass Cookies
- Snow Capped Gingersnaps
- Chocolate Dipped Gingerbread Cookies
Tips for making these White Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
- ***RECIPE REVISED NOV 5, 2020***
- These cookies are on the sweeter side due to the candy canes and white chocolate. You can add a bit more salt to cut the sweetness.
- Chilling the cookie dough is necessary as they will spread too much otherwise.
- The recipe can be doubled if you’d like to make more cookies – change the Servings to 40 to get the amounts.
- I used store-bought crushed candy canes due to laziness, but you can crush your own.
- I used a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2 Tbsp) for these cookies, but you can use a smaller one (2 tsp) if you want smaller cookies. You’ll need to reduce the baking time to 7-8mins or so.
White Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup crushed candy canes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy (approx. 3 mins).
- Add egg and mix until fully combined. Add vanilla.
- Reduce speed to low and add in flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
- Add in crushed candy canes and chocolate chips and mix until just incorporated.
- Using a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2 Tbsp), scoop cookies onto baking sheets. With floured hands, roll each one into a ball.
- Chill dough balls for at least 1 hour in the fridge.
- Bake for 10-12 mins until cookies are golden brown on the edges. Cool completely on baking sheets.
Notes
Originally published on December 6th, 2015
Lisa Bacigalupi says
Could you tell me why do you roll them in balls after using cookie scoop?
Thank you,
Lisa Bacigalupi
Olivia says
Hi Lisa! Just to help ensure they bake up nice and round.
Lucie says
Love these! I’ve been baking these every year since 2020 and they turn out perfectly everytime
Olivia says
Hi Lucie! So happy you love these 🙂
Tammy says
I have tried many candy cane white chocolate chip cookie recipes and this one is THE best!! Chewy on the inside, crisp on the outside and buttery delicious. Followed recipe exactly and they turned out perfect!! Can’t wait to serve these over the holidays.
Olivia says
Hi Tammy! Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback! I’m so happy you loved these 🙂
Julie says
My son claims that we have made these in the past but I honestly don’t recall. We made these today and I doubled the recipe, and it yielded about 30 or so cookies that were of medium thickness. They were perfect, and they were awesome! We even put extra chips and candy cane on top before we put them in. I think it might be better to put them on afterwords or do both like what we did. These were absolutely amazing and I’m sure we will make them many, many more times.
Olivia says
Hi Julie! Thanks for the wonderful feedback. I’m so glad you both loved them!