Easy Peppermint Chocolate Cookies
Easy Peppermint Chocolate Cookies are perfect for the Christmas holiday, made with cocoa powder, chocolate chips, mint extract, and crushed peppermint candies, ready in less than 50 minutes!
These cookies are the chocolate peppermint version of my favorite Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies. If you need more ideas for the holidays, check out my all-time favorite Chewy Almond Paste Cookies!
Easy Peppermint Chocolate Cookies are soft and chewy, made with a mix of chocolate chips and cocoa powder for an extra rich chocolate flavor. We’re also adding extract to the cookie dough for a peppermint chocolate flavor, and topping this with crushed peppermint candies. They are the PERFECT chewy chocolate cookie for the holiday season!
You can use crushed candy cane for this recipe, too. You want to add the candies right after the cookies come out of the oven, so they’ll melt a little bit onto the cookies while they’re still warm, but hold their shape for decoration. These cookies will give you a chewy soft texture with a peppermint crunch, and are great to bring to a holiday party!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Gluten Free Flour. I use a gluten free cup-for-cup all-purpose flour mixture, so you can swap regular all-purpose flour for the same amount if you’re not gluten free.
If you are using gluten free flour, choose a mix that is 1-to-1, or cup-for-cup. These blends usually already contain xanthan gum, which helps stop your baked goods from being crumbly.
Butter. I always use unsalted butter, because you can’t guarantee the amount of salt you’re using with salted butter. If you have salted butter, omit the salt in the recipe.
Shortening. A combination of shortening for structure, and butter for flavor, is the perfect mix for chewy cookies! Shortening has a slightly higher melting point, and is also made up of 100% fat compared to butter.
White Granulated Sugar. White sugar adds a good amount of sweetness to the cookies. The key step is to cream the butter and sugar together before adding other ingredients. This helps the sugar evenly distribute and dissolve properly.
Brown Sugar. Brown sugar adds an amazing flavor to cookies because it still has some molasses notes. It also contains more moisture, which helps the cookies become softer and helps with the chewy texture.
Eggs. Eggs are a binding agent, and the egg yolks add a small amount of fat.
If you don’t have eggs, use 1/4 cup of applesauce per egg.
Vanilla Extract. We’re using a combo of peppermint and vanilla for a nice rounded flavor.
Peppermint Extract. Peppermint adds some peppermint flavor to the chocolate, so it’s not all coming from the candies. I find a teaspoon peppermint extract to be too strong, so stick with 1/2 teaspoon.
Cocoa Powder. Choose an unsweetened cocoa powder. I’ve done this with dark cocoa powder, but I didn’t love the stronger bitter notes for a Christmas cookie. This is personal preference, though.
Baking Soda & Baking Powder. A combination of both works perfectly to give the cookie some rise without working against the chewy texture.
Salt. Salt gives some balance and keeps the cookies from tasting overly sweet.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. I added chocolate chips for some extra chocolate indulgence! You can leave these out if you don’t have them, but I like the chewy chocolate bites.
Peppermint Candies. I use gluten free crushed peppermint candies. You can also use crushed candy canes for this recipe. Place them in a Ziplock bag and use the bottom of a glass or coffee mug to gently crush them (not hard enough to break the glass).
How to Make Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (except chocolate chips).
- In a stand mixer on low speed, cream butter, shortening, and white sugar. Mix in the brown sugar, peppermint extract, and vanilla extract into the butter mixture. With the mixer on low, add eggs one at a time, only beating until eggs are just mixed in. Be careful not to over-mix on this step! We want to mix everything together without melting the butter completely.
- While the mixer is turned on low-medium speed, add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl, mixing anything in. Fold in chocolate chips with a spatula. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the chocolate cookie dough for at least 30 minutes, giving the butter in the dough a chance to get cold.
- Use a cookie scoop to make 1-2 inch balls of dough and place onto prepared baking sheets. Leave a few inches of space between each ball. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies begin to look firm around the edges. Once the cookies are out of the oven, sprinkle the peppermint candy (or candy cane) pieces on the top decoratively.
Frequently Asked Questions
Types of Fat. Chewy cookies do best with a combination of butter and shortening. The butter gives a lot of nice flavor and fat to help keep the cookie soft, while the shortening adds fat but also structure because it has a different melting point than butter.
Baking Time. The baking time can affect the cookies because a longer time will result in harder, crispy cookies.
Refrigerating the Dough. Make sure to refrigerate the dough, to allow the butter to solidify before baking. More on this below.
Brown sugar contains moisture and flavor, helping to make a soft and chewy cookie. But it is also more dense and allows less air to be mixed into the cookie dough, resulting in a crispy texture. The best way to use brown sugar in a cookie recipe is to mix it half-and-half with white sugar for the best of both worlds.
I always recommend refrigerating the cookie dough, because it gives the butter a chance to become solid again before baking. During the cooking time, the butter won’t melt as quickly, resulting in a less crispy and more chewy cookie. The steam it releases will also help lift the cookie up, giving a chewy texture.
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies Storage
Let the peppermint chocolate cookies completely cool, then store at room temperature in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks.
Store cookies in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.
Freeze in an airtight container for about 6 months. I wrap the container in an extra layer of plastic wrap to help prevent freezer burn.
More Cookie Recipes
- Flourless Oatmeal Cookies
- Oatmeal Cookie in A Mug
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
- Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Recipe Variations
- Try using different candy cane flavors for this peppermint chocolate cookies recipe! My family likes the blue candy canes, but make sure whatever brand of candy cane you use is gluten free first.
- You can swap out the regular chocolate chips for dark chocolate chips or white chocolate chips. The white chocolate chips also look very decorative!
- Try adding pecans or walnuts for a crunchy texture. Or add macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips.
- Melt some white chocolate chips in a mixing bowl and drizzle a white chocolate coating on top before adding the peppermint candy pieces. You can also do this with dark chocolate chips, or any other type of melted chocolate you have. You can add a drop of peppermint extract to the melted chocolate as well.
Cooking Tips
- Measurements are important for cookie recipes. Make sure you level off your measuring cups, or weigh the ingredients to be more exact.
- You can use spoons, but a cookie scoop with make sure that each cookie is the same size, so they’ll cook at the same time. The cook time can change depending on how big you make the cookie dough balls.
- You can use a stand mixer or a hand electric mixer for this recipe. If you don’t have an electric mixer, you can cream the butter and sugar together by hand. Food52 explains how to do it here.
- If you do use an electric hand mixer, I recommend using the paddle attachment that is made for baking. It has soft plastic pieces that scrape the sides of the bowl for you. I got mine on Amazon for around $12.
If you loved this recipe, be sure to leave a 5 Star review below, and tag me with a photo of your finished recipe on Instagram @Jacqui_DishingDelish!
Easy Peppermint Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 3/4 cups gluten free all-purpose flour, 1:1
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder, double acting, gluten free
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips, gluten free
- 15 pieces peppermint candies , crushed into pieces
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer
- 1 baking sheet
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a stand mixer on low speed, cream together butter, shortening, and white sugar. Then add brown sugar, peppermint extract, and vanilla extract.
- Still on low speed, add eggs one at a time, only beating until eggs are just mixed in. Be careful not to over-mix.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (except chocolate chips). With mixing speed on low-medium, add dry ingredients until just combined. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl, then mix again for a few seconds to combine everything.
- Fold in chocolate chips with a spatula. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, giving the butter in the dough a chance to get cold.
- Use a cookie scoop to make 1-2 inch balls of dough and place onto prepared baking sheet. Leave a few inches of space between each ball. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies begin to look firm around the edges.
- Once the cookies are out of the oven, sprinkle the peppermint candy pieces on the top decoratively.
Notes
- Measurements are important for cookie recipes. Make sure you level off your measuring cups, or weigh the ingredients to be more exact.
- A cookie scoop with make sure that each cookie is the same size, so they’ll cook at the same time.
- Use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to line the cookie sheet, so cookies are easier to transfer to a cooling rack later.
Nutrition
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