• Place the candy canes in a freezer bag and use a rolling pin to crush the candy canes into small pieces.

Food Processor Method

• In a food processor with the metal blade, process the powdered sugar, butter, and salt until it looks creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the vanilla, and flour and pulse until dough resembles large crumbs or small peas. Add the crushed candy canes and process until the dough starts to come together and forms a ball.
• Scrape the dough into a large bowl.

Electric Mixer Method

• Place the softened butter, powdered sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. With the paddle attachment, mix the ingredients on medium speed, until they are well combined and the butter and sugar mixture looks creamy and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Beat in the vanilla extract and scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl.
• Add all of the flour and mix on low speed just until the flour is incorporated. Add the crushed cand canes and mix on low speed until the candy is evenly distributed throughout the dough. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix in any flour clinging to the sides of the bowl by hand.

For Both Methods

• With a 1-1/4 inch scoop measure out the dough and use your hands to shape the dough into balls. Each ball should weight about 20 grams.
• Place the balls on parchment-lined board or quarter baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Freezing the cookies: At this point you can also freeze the cookies if you want to bake them later. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze the unbaked cookies overnight. The next day place the cookies in a freezer bag and store them for up to 1 month. When ready to bake the cookies, bake the cookies directly from the freezer.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a half baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat
• Place 12-15 cookies on the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for about 15-17 minutes until they just barely begin to brown on top (the bottoms should be golden brown).
• Remove the cookies from the oven. Roll them in powdered sugar while they’re still hot (but not too hot to handle) and place them on a wire rack to finish cooling.
• If using more than one baking sheet, place the second baking sheet in the oven. If only use one baking sheet wait until it is cool before baking the next batch of cookies.
• Once the cookies are cooled, roll them in powdered sugar a second time. The first coating of sugar will help the second coating of sugar stick the cookies.

Storage

• Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.
• If you are storing the cookies before serving them of gifting them, it's okay to reroll them in powdered sugar up to several hours before serving.