My Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are rich chocolaty cookies with chocolate chunks and candy cane pieces. The perfect Christmas cookie recipe!
These double chocolate and peppermint treats are the perfect Cookies to add to your holiday baking list. For more chocolaty peppermint goodies for this holiday season, try my Peppermint Bark Cookies and Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cookies!
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Sabrina’s Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Recipe
Nothing quickly gets you in the holiday spirit like your favorite Christmas cookies. There are many classics to pick from, like sugar cookies and Gingerbread cookies, but sometimes you want a cookie a bit more Christmasy. These chewy double chocolate peppermint cookies just shout “holiday treat” with their rich fudgy base, pools of melty chocolate and crunchy minty candy cane pieces!
Ingredients
- Butter: Before starting this cookie recipe, give the butter enough time to soften at room temperature. Softened unsalted butter better creams with the sugar to make a light, fluffy butter mixture.
- Sugar: I combined ¾ cups granulated sugar and ¾ cups brown sugar for the perfect texture. Brown sugar creates more moist but dense cookies, and the white sugar makes them firmer and lighter. Using half of each, you get a perfectly moist, chewy cookie.
- Flavoring Ingredients: Adding vanilla extract enhances the sweet and chocolate flavors in the rich chocolate cookies. Then, you’ll use ½ teaspoons of peppermint extract for a candy cane flavor.
- Cocoa Powder: To get the perfect amount of chocolate flavor, add 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder to the cookie dough along with the flour mixture.
- Chocolate Chunks: Mix 1 cup of chocolate chunks into the cookie dough and set aside ½ cup to add to the top of the cookie dough balls before baking so you get molten chocolate pools inside and out!.
- Leavening Agents: Use both baking soda and baking powder so that the cookies rise during baking. If you notice your cookie recipe turning out dense, it could be because these ingredients are past their expiration date.
- Candy Cane Bits: Along with the peppermint extract, you’ll roll the cookie dough balls in candy cane pieces for a beautiful finishing touch and extra peppermint flavor. You can break apart candy canes or peppermint candies in your food processor or add them to a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to make the roughly chopped peppermint pieces.
How to Make
Time needed: 50 minutes.
- Cookie dough:
Add softened butter, granulated and brown sugar to your stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to combine at medium speed and cream until light and fluffy. It should only take 3-4 minutes. Then, add the egg, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract until they are well combined. Sift the flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt into a separate bowl. Then, add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer. Combine at the lowest speed until the flour mixture is combined with the wet ingredients.
- Mix-ins:
Add 1 cup of dark chocolate chunks to the cookie dough, and mix until just stirred in. Be careful not to overmix the dough.
- Refrigerate:
Cover the mixing bowl and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Shape Dough
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Add candy cane pieces to a medium bowl. Then, get the cookie dough out of the fridge and use a two-tablespoon-sized cookie scoop to scoop cookie dough balls.
- Coat in Candy
Roll each dough ball in the crushed candy canes until coated. Then, place them 2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Then, add the remaining dark chocolate chunks on top of the cookie dough balls.
- Baking time
Put the cookies in the preheated oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let the Chocolate Peppermint Cookies cool for 5 minutes before serving or transferring cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar , packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chunks , divided
- 1 cup candy cane pieces , roughly crushed
Instructions
- Add the butter, sugar and brown sugar to a stand mixer on medium speed with the paddle attachment and cream until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add in the egg, vanilla extract and peppermint extract until well combined.
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt and add it to the stand mixer on the lowest speed setting until just combined.
- Add in the 1 cup of the dark chocolate chunks and stir until just mixed in.
- Cover and chill batter for 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a two tablespoon sized cookie scoop add the cookie dough to a bowl of the candy cane pieces and roll it to coat.
- Place the cookies 2-inches apart on your baking sheets.
- Place additional dark chocolate chunks onto the tops of the cookie dough balls.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Let cool 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet.
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note: Peppermint Extract
To give these cookies that signature candy cane flavor, you want to use peppermint extract. It’s a bit sweeter and not as floral as regular mint extract. However, you could use mint extract if that’s what you have on hand, the mint flavor will just be a bit cooler, more like Andes Mints and Grasshopper Cake. One thing I don’t ever recommend to use for baking is spearmint extract – it gives baked goods an almost toothpaste aftertaste.
Can this be made ahead of time?
To make your holiday baking easier, try prepping Chocolate Peppermint Cookies in advance and freezing them for later. You can let them thaw at room temperature or reheat them in the oven, then enjoy the delicious treats as good as new and just in time for Christmas.
- Dough Freezing: You can prepare the cookie dough, shape it into discs or balls, and then freeze it. When you’re ready to bake, take the dough out, let it thaw slightly, and bake as directed. This is a great way to have fresh cookies with minimal effort.
- Baked Cookies: If you’ve already baked the cookies, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days. For longer storage, you can freeze them. Just layer them with parchment paper and use a freezer-safe container. When you want to enjoy them, let them thaw at room temperature.
Nutritional Facts
How to Store
- Serve: Let the Chocolate Peppermint Cookies set before serving. Don’t leave them sitting out at room temperature for more than a few hours, or they’ll start to dry out.
- Store: To keep the cookies fresh, cover them in foil or plastic wrap or place them in an airtight container. Kept sealed, the recipe can stay good at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: You can freeze the chocolate cookies for up to 6 months. Place them in a freezer bag or another freezer-safe container with parchment paper or wax paper between the cookie layers to prevent them from freezing together, and lay the container flat. When you’re ready to defrost the cookies, you can let them sit out at room temperature or place them on a baking sheet to reheat in a 250-degree oven until warmed through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! If you don’t have a stand mixer, your next best option is a large mixing bowl and handheld electric mixer. However, you can make this recipe entirely by hand if you don’t have an electric mixer. It will just take a little more time and work to combine the wet and dry ingredients by hand.
Yes! Instead of baking immediately, you can freeze the cookie dough for later. Combine the cookie dough as usual, then form the dough balls and add the peppermint and chocolate coating. Place the dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and lay the sheet flat in the freezer for 1-2 hours. Once the dough balls are frozen through, you can transfer them to a freezer bag to keep frozen for up to two months. Then, place the cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet and bake until thawed and cooked through.
Of course! If your making these cookies for a party, bake sale, or another big event, simply double up on the ingredients and bake extra batches. You could also double up the recipe to bake half the cookies now and freeze half the cookie dough for later.
Variations
- Chocolate flavors: These double chocolate cookies taste amazing with dark chocolate chunks. But, if you prefer, you could swap out the dark chocolate for semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate, or white chocolate chips. Or, use a combination of a few different chocolate varieties. You could also add to the flavor by using half dark chocolate chips and half peppermint chips.
- Triple chocolate cookies: To add even more chocolaty flavor to the peppermint chocolate cookies, you can drizzle melted chocolate over the top of the cookies. Melt semisweet, white, or dark chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Then, drizzle melted chocolate over the peppermint and chocolate cookie recipe to finish the delicious holiday treat.
- More mix-ins: Add your favorite cookie mix-ins to this delicious recipe. Chopped nuts, mini marshmallows, or shredded coconut would all taste amazing. You could also add colored sanding sugar to the candy cane mixture to add to the outside of the chocolate cookie dough before baking.
More Delicious Peppermint Cookies for the Holidays!
