Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
These Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are the most sensational Christmas cookies with a fudgy chocolate texture and delicious peppermint flavors.
If you are after a treat for the holidays, these are the chocolate cookies you need to try.
I love baking for Christmas, especially to share with my family.
While I love my keto Christmas cookie recipes, I also like to bake regular cookies for the kids and friends. And these chocolate peppermint cookies are my kid’s favorite this Christmas.
They are soft and fudgy in the center, just crispy on the edges, and the best part is the sprinkle of candy cane on top.
Read my recipe below to learn how to make fudgy chocolate cookies with a hint of peppermint flavor. If you have food allergies, scroll to the bottom, where I also share some options to use sugar-free sweeteners or gluten-free flours.
How To Make Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
These Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are super easy to make, let me share my tips with you to make these cookies perfect every time.
Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour – You can also use all-purpose gluten-free cookies, but this recipe won’t work with almond flour or coconut flour. Try my other cookie recipes instead.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – I recommend using unsweetened cocoa powder as you can control the sugar you add without over-sweetening the dough.
- Salt
- Baking Powder
- Sugar – Use white table sugar. You can also use your favorite sugar-free crystal sweetener, such as allulose or erythritol, to make it sugar-free.
- Light Brown Sugar – To make it sugar-free, use brown erythritol.
- Unsalted Butter – The butter must be softened at room temperature for 20 minutes. You can also use margarine or dairy-free butter.
- Avocado Oil – Avocado oil has a light flavor, but you can use other similar oil.
- Large Egg – To make it egg-free, make a flaxseed egg.
- Vanilla Extract – To add a perfect flavor.
- Peppermint Extract
- Dark Chocolate Chips – or white chocolate chips if preferred. You can use dairy-free chocolate.
- Candy Cane – For a true Christmas taste, crush some candy canes.
Making Cookie Batter
First, combine the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Stir well to combine. Set aside.
Pour the oil, softened butter, and sugars into another large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer.
Using an electric beater or the paddle attachment, beat at medium speed. Beat until creamy, smooth and well combined. It takes about 1 minute on speed 5 of a stand mixer.
Stop beating, add the egg, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and beat for 20 to 30 seconds to just incorporate.
Now, add in the flour mixture from the first bowl and beat again on low speed to incorporate.
Fold in the chocolate chips at the end.
Baking The Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly oil the paper with avocado oil.
Scoop two tablespoons of cookie dough, form a ball and place it on the prepared baking sheets. Press the ball with your hand to flatten it slightly.
Don’t over-press the cookies to keep a decent height in the middle, making the texture even fudgier.
These chocolate cookies won’t expand much in the oven, but leave half a thumb of space between each, so they have room to grow a bit.
Bake in the center rack and rack just under for 10 to 13 minutes.
These chocolate cookies dry out fast so don’t over-bake them.
I found that the perfect baking time is 11 minutes, but depending on your oven calibration and cookie size it can vary a bit.
Bake until the outside starts to crack and look set. It’s normal if they are soft to the touch. They harden at room temperature.
Remove from the oven and cool down for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet or until they harden enough to be easily transferred to a cooling rack.
Let them cool completely for about 30 minutes at room temperature before decorating.
Decorating The Cookies
It’s optional to decorate these peppermint chocolate cookies, but it really adds a lovely texture and flavor.
To make the chocolate shell, melt chocolate chips, and coconut oil.
Then, dip the cooled chocolate peppermint cookies halfway in the melted chocolate. Keep the cookies above the bowl for a few seconds to let the excess melted chocolate run down to the bowl.
Bring the cookie on a cooling rack and sprinkle crushed peppermint candy cane on the melted chocolate side.
Completely cool down at room temperature or pop in the fridge for 10 minute to help the chocolate shell set faster.
However, I found that refrigerating the cookies to set the shell makes the cookies firmer and the shell white-ish. So be aware of that before trying.
Storage Instructions
These chocolate cookies store very well in a cookie jar for up to 6 days.
You can keep the jar at room temperature or refrigerated if it’s hot where you live. With time, the cookies dries out a bit, so the fresher, the better.
Another option is to make the cookies ahead and freeze them for later. Simply thaw the cookies on a rack at room temperature the day before serving.
Allergy Swaps
If you have food allergies, you can try some of the options below.
- Sugar-Free – This recipe works perfectly well with sugar-free sweeteners like white erythritol and brown erythritol. Use the same amount as the sugar listed in the recipe. You can also use your favorite stevia-sweetened sugar-free chocolate chips for the filling and chocolate shell. Skip the peppermint candy cane or use a sugar-free version.
- Egg-Free – A flaxseed egg works in this recipe. The cookies are slightly dryer with it, but it makes the cookies delicious and suitable for people with egg allergies. To make a flax egg, stir one tablespoon of flaxseed meal with three tablespoons of lukewarm water. Set aside for 10 minutes until it resembles an egg in texture. Use it as an egg in the recipe.
- Dairy-Free – You can use dairy-free butter like margarine or vegan butter in this recipe.
- Gluten-Free – All-purpose gluten-free flour works in this recipe. The cookie texture will be a bit different, chewier less fudgy. However, this recipe won’t work with coconut flour. Use my vegan coconut flour chocolate cookies instead. Also, the recipe won’t work with almond flour but you can try my keto chocolate cookies for an almond flour version.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are the answers to your most common questions about this cookie recipe.
Can I Freeze The Cookie Dough?
Yes, you can freeze the cookie dough, preferably rolled in cookie dough balls so they thaw faster at room temperature.
Always thaw the dough before baking.
Can I Add Candy Cane To The Dough?
Yes, you can swap the chocolate chips for crushed candy canes or add half-half in the cookie dough.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
If you like this recipe, here are more Christmas cookie recipes for you to try.
Have you tried this chocolate peppermint cookie recipe? Share a comment or review below to connect with me.
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Nutrition Snapshot
Want My Kitchen Equipment?
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup All-Purpose Flour (note 1)
- ½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ cup Sugar (note 2)
- ½ cup Brown Sugar (note 3)
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter softened
- 3 tablespoons Avocado Oil (note 4)
- 1 large Egg at room temperature (note 5)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Peppermint Extract
- ½ cup Chocolate Chips
For decorating optional
- ⅓ cup Dark Chocolate Chips
- 1 teaspoon Coconut oil
- 3 Candy Cane crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Slightly oil paper with oil spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter, oil, sugar, and brown sugar until creamy and smooth – about 1-2 minutes.
- Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract. Keep beating on low speed until incorporated – about 1 minute.
- Stop the beater, pour in dry ingredients, and beat again on the low-speed setting until a soft, sticky cookie dough forms. Fold in chocolate chips and stir to combine.
- Scoop 2 tablespoons of cookie dough, place the cookie dough ball on the baking sheet and slightly flatten the cookies.
- Bake for 10-13 minutes until they puff and are set on the outside. They should stay soft in the middle and will harden as they cool down. Don't over-bake to avoid dry cookies.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes or until easy to transfer to a wire rack.
Storage
- Store for up to one week in a sealed cookie jar, no need to refrigerate them.
Decoration
- In a non-stick saucepan, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil.
- Drizzle on top of the cookies and sprinkle crushed candy canes to stick on top.
Notes
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Nutrition
About The Author
Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook and many ebooks, and founder of Sweet As Honey.
I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.
I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet
Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!
All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.
Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.
I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!
Disclaimer
The recipes, instructions, and articles on this website should not be taken or used as medical advice. The nutritional data provided on Sweetashoney is to be used as indicative only. The nutrition data is calculated using WP Recipe Maker. Net Carbs is calculated by removing the fiber and some sweeteners from the total Carbohydrates.
You should always calculate the nutritional data yourself instead of relying on Sweetashoney's data. Sweetashoney and its recipes and articles are not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose, or treat any disease. Sweetashoney cannot be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or advice found on the Website.
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