These Candy Cane Thumbprint Cookies are guaranteed to be a holiday hit!

Each year at my annual Christmas cookie exchange, I try out a new recipe to share with friends. This year I picked these Candy Cane Thumbprint cookies from one of my Gooseberry Patch Christmas recipe cookbooks.

These delicate cookies have a great mix of textures. The mildly sweet butter cookie is a wonderful contrast to the sweet peppermint buttercream topping. This cookie is definitely a keeper!

*Recipe from 101 Christmas Recipes by Gooseberry Patch

Candy Cane Thumbprint Cookies

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Cook Time 8-10 mins Total Time 0:00

Serves 36

Ingredients

For the cookie

2/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Garnish: finely crushed candy canes

For the filling

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tsp milk (I used half & half)

Directions

With an electric mixer on low speed, blend softened butter, sugar and salt. Mix in egg and vanilla. Beat in as much flour as possible; stir in remaining flour. Cover and chill for one hour. Shape dough into one-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until lightly golden around edges (very lightly golden…these should be soft when cooled.) Remove from oven; make a thumbprint in each cookie with thumb. Cool. Pipe filling into centers with a star tip. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes.
For the Filling:
Blend butter and extract. Gradually add powdered sugar and half & half to a piping consistency. Sprinkle crushed candy canes on the frosting immediately so that they stick before icing starts to firm just a bit.

by Amee Livingston

Recipe Notes

A few pictures from my cookie exchange this year….

That’s a whole lot of deliciousness!

Fabulous friends!

Beautiful and creative displays

and new recipes and treats to share with family and friends! If you don’t currently take part in a cookie exchange, then why not start one of your own?! It’s a whole lot of fun! Don’t worry, if you don’t want to go into a sugar coma, there are places that you can donate trays of cookies that would be very grateful this time of year: nursing homes, homeless shelters, churches, etc.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours! xo~

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Comments

Jennifer F says

December 23, 2013 at 5:14 am

can I come over?

- Amee Livingston says
  
  January 4, 2014 at 2:16 am
  
  You’re always welcome here Jennifer! 🙂
  
Christie says

December 12, 2014 at 1:02 am

I would love to host a cookie exchange. It would be fun to try lost of dfferent cookies and swap their recipes. LIke these. They look fabulous and I can’t wait to try them! #onthemenu Thank you for linking up with #FooddieFridays this week!