These chocolate peppermint cookies have Ghiradelli peppermint bark mixed in the dough and a sprinkle of crushed candy canes on top. Easy to make and perfect for the holidays!
Why You’ll Love These Cookies
Have too much peppermint bark or chocolate that you either bought or received for the holidays? I’m certainly guilty of buying ridiculous quantities of seasonal chocolate (Ghiradelli Peppermint Bark being a top offender). Try chopping up the chocolate and using it as mix-ins for cookies! Other than being a great way to use peppermint bark, these chocolate peppermint cookies are great because:
- They’re chewy and full of chocolate and peppermint flavors. There is a hint of peppermint extract in the dough and bits of peppermint bark in every bite.
- The dough is super easy to make, takes less than 10 minutes, and you can do it all in one bowl.
- Perfect for a cookie exchange, Christmas dessert, or holiday party.
Ingredients for Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- All-purpose flour: I highly recommend measuring your flour with a digital food scale to ensure that you do not over-measure the flour. Doing so will cause the cookies to be dry. If you don’t have a scale, then make sure to the use the scoop and level method.
- Unsweetened, cocoa powder: either Dutch-process or Natural cocoa powder. I used Dutch-process for the ones pictured in this post, so if you use Natural your cookies may be a little lighter in color!
- Unsalted butter: melted and cooled
- Light brown sugar and granulated sugar
- One egg, at room temperature: to quickly warm up the egg, soak it in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes.
- Salt: either fine sea salt or fine kosher salt
- Baking soda and baking powder: as leavening agents
- Vanilla extract and peppermint extract: for some lovely flavor
- Ghiradelli peppermint bark: if you don’t have Ghiradelli, you can also substitute regular peppermint bark (note it may be thicker) or another chocolate of your choosing.
Step by Step Instructions
- Beat melted butter and sugars together until combined. You can either use a mixer or a whisk.
- Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Sift the dry ingredients — flour, cocoa, leavening agents, and salt — together to remove any lumps and combine them. Fold this into the wet ingredients until the flour is just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Chop up the peppermint bark and fold it into the batter. Chill the batter for half an hour. You can chill it for longer, but may need to let it warm up a bit before it’s scoop-able.
- Scoop the cookies into 1.5 tbsp sized balls and bake them for around 12 minutes, or until they’ve puffed up and are no longer shiny on top. When in doubt it is better to under-bake than to over-bake cookies.
- Top the cookies with some crushed candy canes once they’re done.
Tips and FAQ
What other mix-ins could I use? You honestly could substitute any number of different chocolates and they’d probably be delicious! Try white chocolate chips, dark chocolate, crushed candy canes, toffee, or caramel chocolate squares.
How do I store leftovers? Store leftover cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days. They taste best within the first day or two though!
Can I freeze the cookie dough? Yes! For fresh cookies anytime you want, balls of pre-scooped dough and pop them in the oven whenever your heart desires. Scoop the cookie dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, and then freeze the balls of dough on the sheet for at least 30 minutes to set them. From there, you can transfer the balls into a zip-loc bag and store in the freezer.
Pin & Save for Later
Want to make these brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies but aren’t ready to bake yet? You can hover over (or tap on mobile) any image in this post to save it to Pinterest. While you’re at it check out these dark chocolate peppermint cupcakes or these brown butter toffee cookies!
Peppermint Bark Cookies
A chewy chocolate peppermint cookie with peppermint bark in the dough and a sprinkle of crushed candy canes on top. They're a great holiday cookie and super easy to make.
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp peppermint extract
- 1 cup flour (120g)
- ½ cup dutched cocoa powder (40g)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 8 squares of Ghiradelli peppermint bark
- (optional) crushed candy canes, for topping
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until combined.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and peppermint extract. Continue beating until the mixture is very smooth (around 1 minute).
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Add it into your mixing bowl and fold the wet and dry ingredients together until the flour is just combined.
- Chop up the peppermint bark into small pieces and fold them into the dough. Let the dough chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Scoop 1.5oz (1.5 tbsp) balls of dough onto the baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed up and no longer shiny on top.
- Sprinkle with some crushed candy canes (if you want) and the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure that the egg is at room temperature before baking. If it's cold, soak it in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes.
- Tip: use a cookie scoop to get even sized balls of dough. You can user a larger scoop if you with but may need to increase the baking time.
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