Each year there are lots of extra candy canes floating around the house.

Any suggestions?

Candy Cane Cocoa

INGREDIENTS
4 cups milk
3 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 peppermint candy canes, crushed
1 cup whipped cream
4 small peppermint candy canes
DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan, heat milk until hot, but not boiling. Whisk in the chocolate and the crushed peppermint candies until melted and smooth. Pour hot cocoa into four mugs, and garnish with whipped cream. Serve each with a candy cane stirring stick.

Donate to shelters, nursing homes etc. They love getting sweet treats!

We usually save them and later when we get a lot of snow, the kids crush them up and sprinkle them on freshly scooped snow to make "snow ice cream". :D

There's probably something bad about that, but man we have such good memories doing that.

:sidesplit


I still have a container of candy canes on my kitchen counter near the microwave.

i break pieces off to put in my cup before i pour in the coffee yum

we crush them up to bite size pieces and add them to regular sugar cookies instead of chocolate chips.

I make peppermint bark with mine.....yummmm

They always seem to get eaten around here. If I happen to find any left over, they are usually broken and I just throw them out.

give them to the babys when their tummys are upset.

I make peppermint bark with mine.....yummmm

Yup - us too!

I make candy cane hearts for Valentine's Day.
Preheat your oven @<hidden> 250. Unwrap candy canes & form hearts on a foil-lined baking sheet. Make sure that both ends of the candy canes are touching. S-l-o-w-l-y & carefully put them in the oven. Bake for about 5 minutes. Let cool & peel off of the foil.
You can also leave the plastic on and just hot glue them together.

I make candy cane hearts for Valentine's Day.
Preheat your oven @<hidden> 250. Unwrap candy canes & form hearts on a foil-lined baking sheet. Make sure that both ends of the candy canes are touching. S-l-o-w-l-y & carefully put them in the oven. Bake for about 5 minutes. Let cool & peel off of the foil.
You can also leave the plastic on and just hot glue them together.

Thats a GREAT idea I will have to try this for my daughters class party.

I try to keep candy canes on hand,I found out last yr during testing at the middle school that candy canes can help students do better on tests...go figure

I make candy cane hearts for Valentine's Day.
Preheat your oven @<hidden> 250. Unwrap candy canes & form hearts on a foil-lined baking sheet. Make sure that both ends of the candy canes are touching. S-l-o-w-l-y & carefully put them in the oven. Bake for about 5 minutes. Let cool & peel off of the foil.
You can also leave the plastic on and just hot glue them together.

That's a cute idea... We always end up throwing some away. I always buy them to put on the tree, and by the time we get the the last few, everybody is kind of sick of them.

I've even accidentally put them in the tree decorations box and opened it up the next year. Not too big of a mess, but a few didn't make it...

my kids throw them like darts at eachother

I make peppermint bark with mine.....yummmm

same here, I got the recipe from food network a few years ago, yummy!

Oh I love the VDay idea! We always have a ton of them left over!

my kids throw them like darts at eachother

LOL :lolrun:

i break pieces off to put in my cup before i pour in the coffee yum

that sounds really good! I will have to remember that!! :yup:

Someone made these for dd's class last year.
They turned out really cute. Except the person who made them used red or green pompoms for the noses.

Candy Cane Reindeer
http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s104/FISHBOYSMOM2007/candycanereindeer.jpg
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf22401235.tip.html

Candy Cane Cookies
[I omit the peppermint extract and just use 1 tsp. vanilla extract]

Ingredients:
1 cup butter - softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup finely crushed candy canes
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, with an electric beater on medium speed, cream the butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the peppermint and vanilla extracts and beat until well blended. Gradually add the flour and salt; mix well. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour. Coat two baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray. In a shallow bowl, combine the crushed candy canes and the granulated sugar; mix well. Shape the chilled dough into 1-inch balls then roll each ball in the candy cane mixture; place on the baking sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until browned. Immediately remove from the baking sheets and place on wire racks to cool.

we make peppermint cheesecake with ours mmmmmmmm:D

We usually save them and later when we get a lot of snow, the kids crush them up and sprinkle them on freshly scooped snow to make "snow ice cream". :D

There's probably something bad about that, but man we have such good memories doing that.

Just don't use "yellow" snow!!

Keep the ideas coming! I've gotten so many great ideas from this site this year (first time I've had to really read the site-- last year too many family issues and work issues...). My oldest loves candy canes and he shared them for a month or 2 after Christmas with friends in middle school. I may buy extras as FCATs (the big tests for our state) are in early March and the kids love something to munch on that isn't always healthy...

These are some really great ideas. We always have a ton left so I end up taking them into the office and they usually are gone within a day or two. But I may have to try some of the ideas here especially the pepermint Bark. Can someone please post an easy recipe for this?
THANKS!!

So many great ideal..

Thanks:)

I love making peppermint bark! It's so good!

Easy Frozen Peppermint Cheesecake

1 1/4 C. chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (about 24 wafers)
1/4 C. sugar
1/4 C. margarine or butter, melted

Combine crumbs, sugar, and margarine. Press on bottoms and halfway up sides of two 9-inch springform pan or pie pan.

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1 C. crushed hard peppermint candy
Red food coloring, optional
2 C. whipping cream, whipped (or nondairy whipped topping)

In a large mixing bowl, beat cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk. Stir in crushed candy and food coloring if desired. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into prepared pan, and cover. Freeze 6 hours or until firm. Garnish as desired.

Yield: Two 9" pies.

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Peppermint Balls

2 T. cream cheese
1 t. milk
1/2 C. powdered sugar
2 T. finely crushed peppermint candies
1 drop red food coloring
1 C. butter
1/2 C. powdered sugar
2 1/3 C. flour
1 t. vanilla

Combine cream cheese and milk. Add 1/2 C. powdered sugar slowly. Stir in 2 T. crushed peppermint candy & food coloring, set aside for filling.

Cream butter and 1/2 C. powdered sugar. Mix in vanilla, then flour. Knead dough into balls, make a deep well in center of each ball. Fill with 1/4 t. of filling, shape a scant 1/4 t. of dough into a flat round, lay on top of filling; press gently to seal.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet, bake 350° F for 12 minutes.

Roll cookies while warm in a mixture of:
1/4 C. powdered sugar
6 T. finely crushed peppermint candies

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Peppermint Pretzel Canes

6 oz. vanilla flavor candy coating, cut into pieces
2 T. shortening
2/3 C. peppermint candy; finely crushed
12 pretzel rods

Line cookie sheet with waxed paper.

Melt candy coating and shortening in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Pour into 11 x 7 inch or other shallow baking pan. Carefully set baking dish in hot water to keep coating soft carefully, so that you do not to get any water in coating.

Sprinkle crushed peppermint candy over separate sheet of waxed paper. Roll pretzels in coating, allowing excess to drip off. Roll in crushed candy.

Place on lined cookie sheet; let stand until set.

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Holiday Mints

2 C. powdered sugar
2 T. butter
1 egg white
1/2 t. mint flavoring

Mix powdered sugar and butter together. Add egg white and flavoring, as well as any food coloring desired. Mix well, adding extra powdered sugar if needed to make a soft dough. Roll into balls the size of large marbles and press with a fork to flatten and add ridges.

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Peppermint Meringue Kisses

2 egg whites
1/4 . salt
3/4 C. sugar
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. peppermint flavoring
1/2 C. miniature chocolate chips
4 T. finely chopped peppermint candy
red or green food coloring (optional)

Beat egg whites and salt at high speed until stiff but not dry. Add sugar gradually. Beat 5 minutes or longer until very stiff. Fold in vanilla, chocolate chips and peppermint. Add drop or more of food color, depending on how much color you want in the cookies. Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 250° F. for 45 minutes.

Makes about 6 dozen.

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Santa's Favorite Cane Cookies

1 C. butter
1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. salt
2 C. flour
1/4 t. baking powder
Peppermint frosting (see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350° F..

Cream butter. Add sugar gradually. Blend in vanilla, salt, flour and baking powder. Shape level teaspoonfuls of dough into pencil-like strips. Turn one end to resemble a cane and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven about 10 minutes. Remove to cool on racks.

Peppermint frosting

3 T. whipping cream, about
1 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. peppermint extract
Red food coloring

Add enough cream to sugar to make frosting of spreading consistency. Add vanilla and peppermint. Divide frosting into two equal parts. Color one part red.

Meanwhile, prepare peppermint frosting. Use to decorate the cooled cookie canes with alternate stripes of red and white.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

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Candy Cane Cookies

1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. shortening
1 C. confectioners sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 t. almond extract
1 t.. salt
2 1/2 C. flour
1/2 t. red food color
1/2 C. crushed peppermint candy
1/2 C. sugar

Heat oven to 375° F. Thoroughly mix butter, shortening, confectioners sugar, egg and flavorings. Blend in flour and salt. Divide dough in half. Blend food coloring into one half and add half of the crushed peppermint candy.

Shape 1 t. dough from each half into 4 inch rope. For smooth even ropes, roll them back and forth on lightly floured board. Place ropes side by side. Press together lightly and twist. Complete cookies one at a time. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Curve top down to form handle of cane.

Bake about 9 minutes or until set and very light brown. Mix remaining peppermint candy and sugar. Immediately sprinkle cookies with candy mixture. Remove from baking sheet and cool.

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http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/christmasfun/candycane.htm

Yup - us too!

yep.. us too

my kids have made the reindeers since they were 3 or 4 years old... i just take the left over candy canes to work. any leftovers go there.

My mom did the peppermint meringue cookies but she would make them last after a day of baking. She's turn the oven off and let the cookies just sit in the oven for a few hours. They are very yummy!