If you are frugal like me, you probably have ribbon candy left over from Christmas or you purchased it at
a HUGE discount right after the holiday ended.
And being a penny pincher, even though it’s now late February you just don’t want to throw it away.
That would negate the discount.

But wait! It’s Mardi Gras! On Fat Tuesday, we have an excuse to party hard because tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the penitent season of Lent. Fat Tuesday calls for eating lots of tasty treats along with those go-cups of adult beverages. Here’s a treat that uses that Christmas sweet to make a yummy cookie covered in jewel-like candy confetti that shines like the beads you can catch on Bourbon Street.

Laissez les bon temps roulez!

Yield: 30 cookies

¼ cup shortening (I use butter-flavored Crisco)

¼ cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

½ cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg (preferably freshly grated)

1 9-ounce box of ribbon candy*

In the bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly combine the shortening, butter, sugar and egg. Add the buttermilk and the vanilla and stir until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Stir or sift together. Add this mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until a uniform dough takes shape. Place in a small container, cover with plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for one hour.

Put the ribbon candy in a heavy-duty zipper bag and close it tightly. Using a rolling pin or a heavy can (fruit works well), crush the candy so that it is in pieces a quarter of an inch or smaller. Work carefully so that you don’t pierce the bag and end up with a big mess. You should have roughly ¾ cup of candy shards. Put the sealed bag aside.

After the dough has chilled for an hour, preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease two cookie sheets. Pour the crushed candy into a shallow bowl. Scoop up a tablespoon of dough and roll lightly between your hands to form a ball. It doesn’t have to be perfect and you don’t want the dough to get too warm. Push the ball of dough into the candy pieces and roll around to make them stick. Put the ball on the cookie sheet candy side up and flatten into a circle with the bottom of a glass. Any candy that falls off or sticks out the sides should be re-placed on top of the cookie. Repeat steps with the remaining dough.

Bake for 8 minutes, being careful to make sure the cookies don’t get too dark. Remove the pan from the oven and quickly remove the cookies to a cooling rack. The candy will have melted and once it starts to cool on the cookie sheet it will be difficult to remove the cookies without tearing them. After the cookies are on the rack, immediately wash the cookie sheets with hot water, using a spatula to scrape off the extra candy that has melted on to them.

Allow the cookies to cool so you don’t burn your mouth and then enjoy!

*If you ate all your ribbon candy, you can use any other hard candy that you like. Life Savers® would work well.  

If you thought this recipe looked yummy,
please“rate” it and make it.