"candy canes" news and stories

You simply cannot have Christmas without candy canes. Like Santa, reindeer and twinkling trees, they are an iconic part of Christmas, with their carefully spun stripes and crisp, refreshing minty flavor.

But while they look like something that could only come from the metal hands of a special machine -- or at the very least, those of a seasoned professional -- they're one of the most fun concoctions you can make over the holiday season.

Most candy cane cookie recipes turn tasty sugar into candy cane shapes, but why do that when you can put your piles of real candy canes to good use and make some Christmas Day cookies?

This recipe for Candy Cane Cookies isn't your normal cookie treat, but it's delicious, and easy to prepare. Even better, it'll make use of your pile of candy, and allow the kids to wield a hammer and smash things. Trust me -- they'll love it, and it's perfectly safe with supervision. Just put the candy canes in a zip lock bag and get to work!

Unlike most recipes, these cookies call for powdered sugar, and that helps to give a nice, powdery inside to contrast the hard, slightly melted candy canes coating it. This is also a great way to use jars of peppermint snow. The recipe calls for finely crushed canes, but coarse chunks work just fine.

Happy Baking and Merry Christmas!

Find more Christmas cookie ideas and Christmas recipes on KitchenDaily.

We hope you had a great Christmas yesterday and are in the middle of very happy holiday week. You probably have some leftovers from the last few days, and that probably includes candy canes. I always have almost a box left on my kitchen counter every December.

I've looked around and found some recipes that include candy canes or are shaped like candy canes, including these Candy Cane Cookies from Better Homes & Gardens and these Candy Cane Cookies from Betty Crocker. Here's a recipe for Candy Cane Cheesecake, which sounds interesting.

And Snopes.com clears up some candy cane myths.

While you're thinking about what to serve for this holiday season, here's something else to think about: AOL Food's quiz on holiday foods. Ten questions on everything from advocaat and candy canes to mulled wine and pfeffernusse.

I got eight out of ten, which is better than I usually do with these quizzes. One I guessed on and got right, and another one I got because they showed a picture that was a huge clue.

Back when I was in high school, I discovered that you could get maple sweetened candy canes in the health food section of Fred Meyer (a west coast chain of stores that sell groceries, clothes, homewares and just about everything else. I've lived on the east coast for six years and I still miss it). I bought them instead of the traditional ones because I liked the old-fashioned color the maple gave the candy. I also liked the idea of eating something that wasn't filled with lots of artificial colors.

Now there's another way to get candy canes that make you feel incrementally better about eating them. According to our friends over at Green Daily, you can now get organic, vegan, fair trade, GMO-free candy canes. They are made by a company called Pure Fun. They use all natural, kosher, vegan, gluten-free and Fair Trade ingredients and they source their cane sugar from companies that "green cut" it by hand. You can find Pure Fun candy at Whole Foods or online.

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