1. Combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
3. Add the egg and vanilla and peppermint extract mix until well combined.
4. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until the dough is well combined. Do not over mix.
5. Divide the cookie dough in half and color one half with some red gel icing color.
6. Refrigerate the cookie dough for 2-3 hours so that it’s easier to work with. I recommend going ahead and making your balls of cookie dough (1 teaspoon in size) while it’s soft, then you can just pull a ball out of the fridge at a time when you’re ready to make your cookies.
7. When you’re ready to make your cookies, preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
8. Make balls of cookie dough 1 teaspoon in size (if you haven’t done it already) and roll out into a 5 inch long rope. I used a ruler to make sure they were all the right size. Place a white rope and a red rope next to each other and very gently twist together. I found it helpful to twist one half first and then the other half, rather than twisting all from the same end.
9. Place the cookie onto the lined baking sheet and curve part of the twisted cookie over to create the candy cane “hook”.
10. Press some sprinkles or peppermint crunch onto the fronts of the cookies, then bake for 5-7 minutes.
11. Allow cookies to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. You want to be sure they don’t break when you move them.
12. Store cookies in an airtight container. Cookies are best for 4-5 days, but could be frozen for about a month.