Is anyone else excited for holiday baking? I’m excited to start sharing my holiday cookie ideas and recipes with you!
Is it just me or has holiday cookie season started early this year? So fact, about me, when I’m not working on this blog, I work in marketing. Based on a lot of consumer research we’ve been discussing, holiday shopping has definitely started early this year. It looks like the holiday baking followed along that trend as well!
I know it’s Thanksgiving this coming week, but I really wanted to share a brand new festive cookie recipe that I perfected over the past few days. If you are looking for holiday cookie ideas already then these white chocolate peppermint cookies are great to add to your list.
White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
These are chewy vanilla sugar cookies full of white chocolate chips and crushed candy canes. You could also call them white chocolate candy cane cookies if you wanted to! It’s a seriously good Christmas cookie.
If you stick around me long enough, you’ll come to learn that I have a large spot in my heart for chocolate and mint. While normally this means dark chocolate and mint, white chocolate and peppermint also go great together. The peppermint really helps balance out the white chocolate, which has the reputation of being quite sweet.
These cookies are soft, chewy, and easy to make. They’re also the first of several Christmas cookie recipes that I hope to share this year! For me and I’m sure many food bloggers out there this is one of our favorite times of year to dream up content. Excited to show you all what I have cooked up over the coming weeks!
Tips and FAQs for Baking These Cookies
Use room temperature ingredients: this will prevent the butter from splitting (aka when the mixture looks curdly) and give the dough a more even consistency.
Chill the cookie dough before baking: while not an absolute requirement, I do highly recommend chilling this cookie dough for at least half an hour before baking! It will not only marinate the flavors (richer peppermint flavor? yes please) but will also prevent the cookies from spreading too much while baking.
For size, I used a medium cookie scoop for these–roughly 1.5 tbsp balls.
As part of the ingredients, you will need crushed candy canes. The easiest way I have found to do this is to put the candy canes in a ziploc bag and then beat it with a rolling pin or bottom of a jar. Or you could really save yourself the effort and buy pre-crushed candy canes!
Quality white chocolate makes a difference! For the absolute best results, buy a white chocolate bar that’s high in cocoa butter content for the most melty and creamy results. If you’re using chocolate chips, then Ghirardelli is my go-to brand.
Be careful to not over-mix the dough, as this leads to tough cookies.
Why is there cornstarch in the dough? Cornstarch keeps the cookies soft, tender, and thick. It in a sense turns your flour into cake flour, which makes them taste and feel like a high-end dessert if that makes sense! The cookies end up chewy yet incredibly soft at the same time. You’re welcome to leave it out though if you don’t have any on hand!
How do I store leftover white chocolate peppermint cookies? Store leftover cookies in an airtight container on the counter for 4-5 days. Add a small slice of bread in with them to keep them soft and moist!
Did You Make This Recipe?
If so, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment, rating, or take a picture and share it with me on Instagram @toppedwithhoney. Looking forward to seeing your festive cookies!
Festive White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter (one stick), softened, at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg , at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp peppermint extract
- ¾ cup chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips, plus more for drizzling
- ½ cup crushed candy canes
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and sea salt. Set this aside for now.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Then add the egg, vanilla, and peppermint extract and continue beating on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Turn the mixer off and add the flour mixture. Gently fold the flour in until it is just combined, being careful to not over-mix the dough. And then fold in the white chocolate and crushed candy canes.
- Cover and chill the dough for at least half an hour before baking. Once you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop 1½ tbsp sized balls of dough onto the cookie sheets, making sure to space the cookies at least two inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden. Remove them from the oven and let them rest for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Optional: make a white chocolate drizzle to go on top by melting ¼ cup of white chocolate in the microwave. Melt it in 20 second intervals, stirring between each until the chocolate is smooth.
Enjoy!
-Rools
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