USING ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR ARTISAN BLEND:

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Mix butter in stand mixer with paddle with until soft. Add sugars and extracts and blend until soft and fluffy. Add egg, and blend until light and well combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until a ball forms.

USING SUGAR COOKIE MIX:

Place Sugar Cookie Mix in bowl of stand mixer, add butter and mix until pea sized pieces form. Add egg and extract and mix until well combined.

FORMING THE COOKIES:

Remove half the dough, pat into a rectangle and wrap in plastic for 1 hour or until firm. Add food coloring to other half of dough and mix until color is well combined. Pat into a rectangle and wrap in plastic and refrigerate. Dough can be held at this point for 4 or 5 days as long as it is well wrapped and air tight.

When ready to shape candy cane cookies, unwrap and cut off 1/3 of each dough to use. Wrap remaining dough and refrigerate to keep cool while forming cookies. Cut into equal strips about 1/2" wide, or chunks about 1" square. Tape a piece of parchment on counter top (for easy clean up) or roll right on flat counter top. Roll individual dough pieces into long, thin log shapes about 1/4" wide and 5" to 6" long.

Cover a cookie sheet pan with parchment for shaped cookies. To form cookies, lay a white log next to a red one and holding one end flat, start to twist. Once twisted, place on the covered sheet pan and shape top into bent candy cane shape. If dough cracks, you can gently spread it back together with your finger. Leave room in-between cookies as they spread. Refrigerate cookie sheet with formed cookies while working on the next batch.

Pre-heat oven to 350°. Bake with rack in top third of oven 8 to 10 minutes. Bottoms may brown slightly but not the tops. Once baked, cool on a rack. When completely cool, store in an air tight container. If left out over night the cookies will soften.

Chef's Note: To bake fresh cookies at a later date, carefully place shaped candy cane cookies in a flat container between layers of wax paper and freeze. To bake at a later date, pre-heat oven to 350°. Place frozen cookies on parchment covered sheet pan, thaw 10 to 15 minutes and bake in preheated oven 10 to 15 minutes as directed above.

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