By Lisa Ngo of Safely Delish – Brought to you by YumEarth

The holidays are just around the corner, which means family time with cookies, crafts, and of course, the classic red and white candy cane! Candy canes are a holiday staple that have many uses in your Christmas baking and crafting. Brightly colored candy cane Christmas decor, crushed candy cane recipes, DIY reindeer crafts (that are almost too cute to eat!), and more – there’s a lot of fun to be had with this sweet and simple treat.

Read on for a few of my favorite uses of the candy cane…

Peppermint Bark

This festive bark is one of my favorite candy cane recipes, and it couldn’t be easier to make. All you need are candy canes and your favorite melting chocolate. Peppermint bark looks beautiful served on a holiday plate, or packaged up as a gift (place in clear treat bags or in a mason jar tied with ribbon). This crushed candy cane recipe is sure to become your go-to each holiday season!

What you’ll need:

• Melting chocolate/bark, or chocolate chips
• YumEarth Organic Candy Canes (Regular or mini!)
• Parchment Paper

Instructions:

1. Crush the candy canes (I pulse mine a few times in a small food processor). 
2. Melt the chocolate/bark according to package instructions and immediately stir in the candy cane pieces.
3. Spread onto parchment paper, and sprinkle extra candy cane pieces on top. 
4. Once fully cooled, break apart into large pieces.

Peppermint Topped Sugar Cookies

Take your Christmas cookie tray to the next level with this candy cane dessert! A simple sugar cookie recipe is beautiful when topped with festive peppermint. Just take your favorite recipe, top with a simple frosting or glaze, and sprinkle with crushed candy canes (I like to use the minis for this one). No food coloring or dyes necessary!

What You’ll Need:

• Your favorite sugar cookie recipe
• Confectioners sugar
• Milk (or dairy free milk!)
• Vanilla extract
• YumEarth Mini Candy Canes

Instructions:

1. Make your cookies according to the recipe (check out my Egg Free Sugar Cookies or Gingerbread Cookies for classic, allergy friendly options). 
2. Make a simple frosting with confectioners sugar – start with about 1 cup confectioners sugar, and add milk, one teaspoon at a time, and a few drops of vanilla extract until you reach the desired consistency. 
3. Once cookies are frosted, immediately top with crushed candy canes for a beautiful, festive candy cane dessert.

• Icing Tips and Ideas: More milk will create a thinner, glaze-like icing that will set smoothly. Less milk will create a thicker, creamier icing – great for those who like to pile on the frosting! If your icing becomes too thin, simply add more confectioners sugar. This simple icing is easy to modify to your needs. Add a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder (and a dash more milk) to create chocolate icing. Replace some of the milk with softened butter/margarine for a sweet buttercream!

Hot Cocoa Stirrer

A fun and delicious way to spice up your hot cocoa is with a candy cane! The sweet treat will begin to melt into your cocoa and create the perfect flavor combo of chocolate and peppermint. Kids will have fun using the candy cane to stir their marshmallows into the cocoa.

What You’ll Need:

• Hot cocoa
• YumEarth Organic Candy canes
• Mini marshmallows

Instructions:

1. Make your hot cocoa, and add a candy cane. That’s it! Or, better yet, just use your candy cane as the tool to mix your hot cocoa.

Candy Cane Reindeer Craft

This adorable candy cane craft brings back memories from my childhood, and I’m so excited to bring it back this year! Candy Cane Reindeer are perfect for building with kids, tucking into stockings, or handing out to family and friends. These sweet reindeer also make excellent candy cane decorations for the Christmas tree.

What you’ll need:

• YumEarth Organic Candy Canes
• Small googly eyes
• Brown chenille stems, AKA pipe cleaners
• Mini red craft poms
• Ribbon
• Hot glue gun or craft glue

Instructions:

1. Leave the wrapper on the candy cane (so you can enjoy it later!), and secure the chenille stems by wrapping around the top. 
2. Swirl or zig-zag stems to create the antler shape. 
3. Glue the eyes and red poms onto the short end to make a face. 
4. Finish off the look with a sweet little bow.

Candy Cane and Poinsettia Centerpiece

This easy candy cane Christmas decor only requires a few items, and adds a festive (and tasty) piece to your home around the holidays. It would also make a sweet and simple host gift for a holiday gathering.

What You’ll Need:

• Poinsettia stems (found at craft and dollar stores)
• Mason jar
• YumEarth Organic Candy Canes

Instructions:

1. Place your candy canes inside the mason jar, hooking the short ends around the outer edge.
2. Add a few poinsettia stems to the middle and this holiday centerpiece is ready to go – it can even double as dessert!

This holiday season, YumEarth has your family covered with their delicious, allergy-friendly, organic, non-GMO, and vegan classic candy canes! As a food allergy mom, I especially love that they’re free from the top 8 allergens, and completely safe for my son to eat, share, and craft with!

Follow along the YumEarth blog for more sweet inspiration throughout the seasons. For my family’s allergy friendly holiday recipes and more, check out my blog, Safely Delish. I hope you enjoyed reading about my candy cane recipes, crafts, and more, and found some holiday inspiration for yourself. I can’t wait to continue baking and creating with YumEarth’s Candy Canes this holiday season! What fun new candy cane uses for the candy cane will you come up with this year?