These Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are for the peppermint lover! A peppermint patty hides inside a soft chocolate cookie. Drizzled with white chocolate and crushed candy, this cookie is dressed up for the holidays!
If you love Christmas cookies, also try these Ginger Cookies or these Cranberry Orange Cookies.
Why is it that when you stuff something, it always makes it more exciting? Stuffed crust pizza. Stuffed pasta shells. Stuffed mushrooms. Cheese stuffed burgers. I know my interest will always be piqued if you mention that something is stuffed.
So obviously, cookies are not an exception. Especially when you take a chocolate cookie and stuff it with a peppermint patty.
These Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are the perfect Christmas cookie. Not only are they stuffed with that peppermint patty, but they have a sprinkling of crushed candy cane on top that really makes them festive.
Ingredients
For this cookie recipe, you will need:
- flour
- cocoa powder
- granulated sugar
- brown sugar
- salt
- baking soda
- butter
- an egg
- miniature peppermint patties
- white chocolate
- crushed candy canes
How to Make Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
You’ll first start by making the dough. Combine the dry ingredients, then beat in the butter, followed by the egg. You’ll have a fairly soft dough that is a little bit sticky. Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap then wrap it tightly and refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.
When you are ready to bake the cookies, remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut it into 24 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, divide that dough in half and flatten each piece into a round, flat disc, just slightly bigger than the peppermint patties. Place a peppermint patty on top of one piece of dough, then cover it with the second piece. Pinch the edges all around the peppermint, making the dough as even as possible around the peppermint patty. Place the cookie on a baking sheet and continue with the rest of the dough.
Bake the cookies just until they are set, then let them cool completely.
Once cool, melt the chocolate and drizzle it over the tops of the cookies. Immediately add a bit of crushed candy canes over the white chocolate.
Tips for Making Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
I will admit that these are a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it, they are not too bad.
- Make sure your dough is chilled. You want it cold enough that it doesn’t melt in your hands right away, but if you chill it too long, it may be hard to shape. 1-2 hours should work. But if the dough ever gets too sticky, just pop it back into the refrigerator for a bit. I like to only have one half of the dough out of the refrigerator at a time.
- Freeze your peppermint patties. This will help so that they don’t melt into a puddle when you bake the cookies.
- Keep a bench scraper handy. A bench scraper is a rectangular tool (usually made out of metal) that is used for scraping the counter clean when you are baking. It is a great help to pick the cookie dough up after you have flattened it.
- When you are flattening the pieces of dough into a round disc, I used a plastic cutting board. The dough would soften too much when I used just my hands, so instead I would flatten the dough on the cutting board, using just the heel of my hand. Then use the bench scraper to pick the dough up.
- Make sure you fully enclose the peppermint patty in the middle of the dough, double checking to make sure there aren’t any holes. If there are, the candy will melt and ooze out of the cookie.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container. These stay good for several days.
More Peppermint Recipes that are Perfect for the Holidays
Red Velvet Peppermint Gooey Butter Cookies
Peppermint and Cookie Popcorn
Peppermint Sugar Cookies
Baked Peppermint Donuts
Candy Cake Kiss Stuffed Pudding Cookies
Tools Used for these Christmas Cookies
- I have a super basic bench scraper that I not only use for this recipe, but for many recipes. It’s one of my favorite kitchen utensils!
- For most cookies, I prefer to use parchment paper or a silpat liner over greasing the pan. That way, you don’t end up with cookies that are greasy on the bottom.
- To crush the candy canes, I put them in a plastic ziplock bag, place that on a cutting board, then use the flat side on a meat tenderizer to break them up. You can also use a rolling pin, but the flat side of the meat tenderizer can crush them with just a few firm hits.
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Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup (6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 24 miniature (about 1 1/2 inch) peppermint patties unwrapped and frozen
- 3 oz white chocolate chopped
- Crushed candy canes
Instructions
- Combine the flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the butter and beat until combined. Beat in the egg.
- Lay out a large sheet of plastic wrap. Turn the dough out onto the plastic wrap. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour, but preferably longer.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat liner.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide the dough in half. Place one half back in the refrigerator until needed. Cut the remaining half of the dough into 12 equal pieces.
- Working with one of the pieces at a time – cut the piece in half. Flatten each half into a thin, circle disc, just larger than the peppermint patties. If needed, use a bench scraper to handle the pieces. Place a peppermint patty on one of the circle pieces, then place the second piece of dough on top. Working quickly (as the dough will get sticky the longer you hold it) press the edges together, making sure to fully enclose the peppermint patty in the center of the cookie dough. Place the cookie on the prepared baking sheet.
- Continue with the rest of the dough, removing the second half of the dough from the refrigerator when needed. (If the dough gets too soft, return it to the refrigerator to firm back up.) Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven just until firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. If baking two sheets at the same time, rotate the sheets halfway through. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow to cool completely.
- Melt the chocolate at 50% in the microwave until almost melted, then stir until completely melted. (Alternately, you can melt the chocolate in a double boiler.) Use a large spoon or a fork to drizzle the chocolate over the cookies. Sprinkle with some of the crushed candy cane. Let the cookies sit until the chocolate is set up completely.
Alyssa says
These look like the ultimate Christmas cookie! So pretty and they look even more yummy 😋
MinG says
Realize this is an old post but wanted to post an update. I found these in the RR magazine years ago but stopped making them because the cookies were just too big when on a platter with many varieties no one wanted just one really big cookie. So when I passed the candy aisle at my local store and saw the miniature bag of unwrapped peppermint patties I realized I could make mini versions of this cookie. They turned out perfect!
I took the idea from this blog about rolling in a ball and cutting in half then took each half and wrapped one half around each mini peppermint patty! It made about 44 cookies and I cooked them for 7-8 1/2 minutes.
Deborah says
I love the idea of doing these mini! I’m totally going to be doing that!
Kari@Loaves n Dishes says
I love the peppermint patty inside of the chocolate cookie…yum; and I love how it looks too. I’m pinning this!
vanillasugarblog says
deb do you know that almost every night b4 bed i have 2 peppermint patties? it’s a bad habit but i crave that peppermint every night.
don’t get me started on peppermint gelato!
Melissa // thefauxmartha says
All my favorite flavors combined! My mouth is salivating.