Now, one Christmas, Mrs. Shields and all her girls came over to bake Christmas cookies. We hadn’t seen them since Halloween, so we were all excited about their arrival. When I came running into the breakfast nook to greet them, Mrs. Shields put her hands on my shoulders, took one look at me and said, “I declare, Bobbi Jo . Just look at how cute and chubby you’ve gotten!” Now, I wasn’t upset because, frankly, I didn’t know what “chubby” meant. But, I did hear a certain tone of disdain connected with the word. As her girls, my sister and I were running into the kitchen to bake all our wonderful candy cane cookies, I remember glancing at my reflection in the sliding glass door and thinking , “Hmmm…so this is chubby.” I mean, I knew my Momma bought my clothes in the Big Girl’s Department, but up to that point, I just never knew there was anything wrong with it.
The next day, however, my Momma had me on a strict diet. I was relegated to only one candy cane cookie for dessert! Now, this seemed kinda harsh, but there was no arguin’ with Momma once she’d made her mind up about something. Anyway, the next night I finished supper and like a good little girl, took my plate into the kitchen and placed it in the sink to be washed. Then, all of a sudden, I could have sworn I heard my name bein’ called, “Bobbi Joooo. Bobbi Joooo.” And, as I glanced over to the right, sure enough, sitting on the counter-top, callin’ my name, was that plate of them beautiful candy cane cookies we’d baked the night before. So, I looked around to make sure no one was lookin’ and I grabbed three of those sweet little canes and stuffed them under my shirt.
Unfortunately, as I walked past the dining table, my sister yelled out, “Momma! Bobbi Jo took more than one cookie!” and pulled on my shirt as all them beautiful candy cane cookies came tumbling out onto the floor. I was busted. And so were my cookies. As I ran upstairs, I yelled through my tears, “But, I had to take ‘em, they was callin’ my name!”
Crying, I threw myself on my bed and buried my face in the pillow. After about 10 minutes I heard someone come in quietly and sit at the end of my bed. I was too upset to turn around. But, a few more minutes went by and not a word was spoken. However, I could hear this crunching sound. Somebody was eating something! I finally turned around and there on the bed was my Daddy with a mug full of those beautiful candy cane cookies. He looked over at me, handed me one and whispered, “I was in the kitchen and I heard ‘em callin’ your name. I figured I’d better bring ‘em up to you.” And, for the next half hour, me and my Daddy just sat on my bed laughin’, tellin’ stories, and sharin’ together our beautiful Christmas Candy Cane Cookies.
“What’s that I hear?” Uh-oh. I think them candy cane cookies is callin’ your name! You’d better git your family into your kitchen and bake up them cookies. Remember what Grandmama Watson used to say, “When you git two or more people in the kitchen…then you’re cookin’ with a right smart of love.”
These cookies are beautiful on a plate and perfect for the holidays!
Peppermint Candy-Cane Cookies
Recipe by: Bobbi Jo Lathan
Recipe type: Dessert/Treat
Cuisine: Holiday
Serves: 8
PREP TIME
15 mins
COOK TIME
10 mins
TOTAL TIME
25 mins
INGREDIENTS
1 cup Butter (softened)
1 cup Powdered sugar (sifted)
1 Egg (beaten)
11⁄2 teaspoons Almond extract
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon Salt
2 1⁄2 cups Flour
A “right smart” of Red food coloring
Optional: For Peppermint Candy-Cane Cookies
1 Box Powdered sugar
1 Bag Peppermint Candies
INSTRUCTIONS
Mix butter, powdered sugar and egg together.
Add almond extract and vanilla and salt.
Work in the flour until you’ve got a big ol’ ball of dough.
Now divide the dough in half and add red food coloring to one of the halves.
Take a piece of white dough (about the size of your finger or longer) and braid it together with a same sized piece of the red dough.
Now shape the braid into a candy cane shape and place on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350° F for 9 or 10 minutes ‘til barely browned on the bottom. Let cool.
Optional: For Peppermint Candy-Cane Cookies
Crush the peppermint candies by either wrapping them in waxed paper and folding up the paper and pounding them with a rolling pin or just chop them up fine in your food processor.
Pour the box of powdered sugar into a plastic bag. Add the crushed peppermint to the powdered sugar and close it and shake well.
Now, take the cooled cookie and place it in the peppermint/powdered sugar mixture ‘til completely coated.