Char’s Candy Cane Cookie Bars

Soft, chewy and oh-so-Christmasy!!

I’ve been known to use these cookie bars like croutons – best vanilla bean ice cream topper/garnish ever!! ‘Tis the eating season.

Note: most bulk food stores carry pre-crushed candy canes. I highly recommend going this route, trying to crush your own is messy and it’s hard to get even pieces.

Ingredients

• ½ cup (125 mL) salted butter (I use Gay Lea Sea Salted European Style Butter ~ click here for more info)
• ½ cup (125 mL) brown sugar
• ¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
• ¾ tsp (3 mL) peppermint extract
• 1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour an all-purpose gluten free flour could be substituted
• ½ tsp (2 mL) salt
• ½ tsp (2 mL) baking soda
• 1 cup (250 mL) dark chocolate chips I like to use 70 % dark chocolate (milk or semi-sweet will work too).
• ½ cup (125 mL) white chocolate chips

Garnish:

• melted dark chocolate (about 2 oz/60 g)
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) crushed candy canes found at bulk food stores
• edible glitter found at bulk food stores/or baking section of grocery store

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 C (190 F). Beat together butter, sugars, egg, vanilla and peppermint extract.
2. Stir together flour, salt and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture until well combined.
3. Stir in chocolate chips until evenly combined.
4. Press mixture into a parchment paper lined 8 X 8-inch square baking pan.
5. Bake in the center of preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the edges are golden and the center is just set. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
6. Cut into 16 bars.
7. Drizzle evenly with chocolate and sprinkle with crushed candy canes and spray with edible glitter (for easy cleanup: place cut cookie bars on parchment paper, then drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. This way you don’t have chocolate and candy all over your countertop – simply pop the piece of parchment paper into garbage).
8. Once melted chocolate and crushed candy canes have set, store cookies in an airtight container for up to one week (but they won’t last that long).

Watch clip below for parchment paper trick:

Charmaine Broughton is a Muskoka/Toronto-based cooking show host & guest expert and author of ‘Delicious & Doable ~ Recipes For Real and Everyday Life‘.

‘Delicious & Doable ~ Recipes For Real and Everyday Life’ is on Amazon! Get your copy today!