Holiday Baking-Round III

Tonight's task was to make the very festive candy cane cookie (my Dad's request). This is another traditional cookie that my mom always made, too. I haven't made these since Christmas of '05. Tonight didn't go quite as well as last night's cashew nut cookies. *sigh* Read on and find out why! I made the dough first, halved it, dyed half of it red, and got it in the fridge to chill for an hour. As I was waiting, I unwrapped 34 peppermint candies. I had fun taking out any agression I had by crushing the peppermint candies for the topping. It was quite loud. I had fun using my hammer though.

I used a teaspoon to help me create equal size balls of dough, to then roll into logs, to then twist and shape like a candy cane before placing on the cookie sheet. I forgot how long that took. I also (briefly) forgot what a perfectionist I am and how I had to get over that for my own sanity tonight. In fact, the one in this picture bothers me and definitely isn't my best...but oh well. I had to work fast as the dough rolls and shapes easier when it's a bit chilled, so there wasn't a lot of time for "do-overs."

So, my first blunder...I BURNED the first sheet of cookies that I had so diligently and patiently worked on. :-( I made the mistake of NOT setting the timer...I thought I'd be fine. But, I lost track of time as I continued to work work on the second sheet and before I knew it...I smelled burning. I had forgotton that these cookies really only take 8-10 minutes, and that you have to watch them very carefully. I was mad that I wasted dough and time. But, then I got over it...and kept on rolling, twisting, shaping, and baking.



All went well for the rest of the dough. I set the timer for each sheet...hey, I learned my lesson...and I didn't want any more burnt cookies. I even managed to be patient when removing them from the cookie sheet (another opportunity for me to break the cookies if I wasn't careful). Then, I went ahead and sprinkled them with the sparkly and sweet peppermint/sugar mixture. They are so light and have a unique flavor with the almond extract. I forgot how much I liked these!

On to blunder 2. Towards the end, I had a bit more red dough left over once I ran out of the white. So, I decided to just make some red candy canes. I set the timer as usual. When one minute was remaining, I turned the timer off, and grabbed my camera to snap a few pictures of my finished product since I didn't think it would take too long. I started taking pictures for this blog...and before I knew it...it took more more than 1 minute to snap my pictures. So yes, I burned my SECOND sheet of cookies for the evening! :-( Oh well, the plain red ones were kinda ugly anyways...don't ya think?

So yes, I managed to burn not just 1, but 2 sheets of the cookies! Haha! But, what's new...when don't I burn something? Oh well. The majority turned out just fine, and I'm very glad I stuck with it. One more night of baking for me tomorrow...