Candy Cane Cookies

Candy Cane Cookies Jill Cordes: Besides the wonderful sites and sounds of the holiday. The smells coming from the kitchen, remind us of the time of year. And the variety of different cookies can conjure up a true taste of the holidays. Peppermint, vanilla and lemon are just some of the flavors to savor. So check on our next featured cookie. It has a tangy citrus taste. This buttery short bread combines a crispy cookie with a citrus kick. Adding fruit to a cookie use to be costly because centuries ago fruits were exotic fair. This citrus short bread will wake you up with its refreshing jolt of Clementine. Another cookie with a kick, this peppermint candy cane made by a family who values the Christmas baking tradition. During the holidays, Nani Bertola transforms her home in Salt Lake City into a winter wonderland. Nani Bertola: Keep going. Jill Cordes: her family looks forward to digging up the freshest recipes that date back to her childhood. Nani Bertola: When I moved away from home, I took two recipes from my mom’s recipe box. And it was ginger bread houses and candy cane cookies. There we go. Jill Cordes: Baking candy cane cookies is now a tradition with her kids. Bread adds butter, Britney’s spoon flour and eight-year old Bradley watches eagerly. After adding almond extract, sugar and egg, Bradley takes a taste and now he remembers dealing with her 14th siblings who often eat the dough before it went into the oven. Nani Bertola: They would just eat dough. And so I just remember a lot of time trying to shoo the other kids out of the kitchen so we could get the cookie to bake. Jill Cordes: But today, there’s only one cookie thief. Nani Bertola: Bradley just can’t his hand out of it, can you? Bradley: No. Jill Cordes: The kids prepared their work space with a dusting of flour. Half the dough gets a drop of red food coloring and they’re ready to roll. Nani Bertola: They just want gently roll them back and forth. Jill Cordes: Kneading the white and red dough together, they twist and shape. Bradley: Mom, it turns going up hard. Jill Cordes: Bradley gets then help from his sister. Even Brad enjoys cooking but today, he’s more of a culinary clown. Time to bring off unrestrictive energy. Here’s the chance to hit without making mom mad. The kids crash peppermint candies to make the topping for their cookies. Nani Bertola: Good way to get your frustration out though. Jill Cordes: Frustration for Bradley is waiting nine minutes for the cookies to bake. Jill Cordes: Then it’s straight to work again. Nani Bertola: He needs to put the peppermint candy and the sugar mixture on the cookies right when they get out of the oven because then they’ll stick to the cookies. Jill Cordes: As if the peppermint coating isn’t enough, the top of the street, they even drizzles some chocolate in addition to get dad’s attention. Greg Bertola: And we just added the chocolate in the last few years and so that’s my favorite. Nani Bertola: Okay, there it is. Jill Cordes: The whole family enjoys these candy cane cookies and even though dad didn’t help with the baking. Greg Bertola: Life worth is eating. Jill Cordes: That’s what he thinks. None of this two is that her husband’s Greg has his very own job in the kitchen. Nani Bertola: He does the dishes at the end. [Laughing] Jill Cordes: But the biggest fun is the big guy himself. Every Christmas eve, the kids treat Santa to their specialty, the candy cane cookie and no complain so far. Nani Bertola: They’re gone in the morning. So, that must be the sign that Santa is does like these cookies. Jill Cordes: Whether eaten or hanging it from the tree, these candy canes brings the Bertola family together just as Nani had hoped. Nani Bertola: They came at Christmas time. It was just the wonderful Christmas memory for me and that’s what I want to pass on to my children.