If you love a good peppermint and chocolate combination, then these peppermint chocolate cookies are about to become your new favorite. We're talking chewy, fudgy cookies made with brown butter and unsweetened chocolate. The cookies are loaded with a combo of chocolate chips and chunks of peppermint bark, dipped in white chocolate and then topped with a crushed candy cane sprinkle.
This recipe is everything that a holiday cookie should be - soft, chewy and packed with tons of flavor. The brown butter adds depth and richness to the chocolate and then there's that white chocolate dip! Make these gorgeous cookies for your next cookie swap, holiday party or just because it's December and you deserve something special. If you are looking for other holiday cookie recipes, check out our soft and chewy Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies or our decadent Chocolate Dipped Ginger Madeleines.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Brown butter makes everything better - the brown butter adds a caramel like depth that takes these chocolate peppermint cookies from good to incredible!
Serious fudgy texture - the combination of the brown butter, unsweetened chocolate and cocoa powder creates a soft and chewy chocolate filled cookie.
Perfect balance of chocolate and peppermint - that classic chocolate peppermint combination that we all love.
These cookies are gorgeous - with the white chocolate dip and crushed candy cane topping, these cookie look like they came from a fancy bakery.
Easy to make ahead of time - you can make and scoop this cookie dough ahead of time - the dough keeps well in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or you can freeze it.
Ingredient Notes
unsalted butter - use unsalted butter and be sure to brown the butter before making the cookie dough
bittersweet chocolate - use a bittersweet chocolate bar for this recipe - I like to use the bittersweet chocolate from Ghirardelli for baking
cocoa powder - use a Dutch processed cocoa powder for the chocolate peppermint cookies. Dutch processed cocoa is less bitter and leads to a richer chocolate flavor
peppermint extract - use one teaspoon of peppermint extract for this cookie recipe - this gives the cookies a perfect peppermint and chocolate flavor
peppermint bark chunks - you can buy peppermint bark and chop it up into bite sized pieces or Ghirardelli makes Peppermint Bark Mix-Ins which his a combo of chocolate chips and peppermint bark.
white chocolate melting wafers - I like to use the White Chocolate Melting Wafers from Ghiradelli. They have excellent flavor, are easy to melt and create a gorgeous and delicious dip for the cookies
crushed candy cane pieces - use smashed up candy cane pieces to sprinkle over the white chocolate after dipping the cookies
Substitutions and Variations
Substitutions
unsalted butter - you can use salted butter if that's all that you have, just reduce the salt in the recipe to ½ teaspoon.
peppermint bark - if you can't find or don't have peppermint bark, you can use crushed candy cane, chopped Andes candies for even peppermint baking chips. You can also use additional chocolate chips in place of the peppermint bark.
cocoa powder - I prefer using Dutch-process cocoa powder for this cookie recipe. If you only have natural cocoa powder, it makes a fine substitute.
white chocolate dip - the white chocolate dip is beautiful and adds a nice white chocolate flavor but it's optional. The cookies are delicious without it or you can try dipping in dark or milk chocolate too!
Variations
Double Chocolate Peppermint - you can use all chocolate chips (1 cup total) and skip the peppermint bark for a pure chocolate cookie with a hint of peppermint from the extract.
Dark Chocolate Dipped - Dip cookies in melted dark chocolate instead of the white chocolate. This will give you a more decadent dark chocolate peppermint cookie.
Gluten Free Chocolate Peppermint Cookies - replace the all purpose flour with your favorite gluten free flour blend. I like baking with King Arthur Measure for Measure or Bob's Redmill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour.
how to make chocolate peppermint cookies
Be sure to see the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions.
Make brown butter and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Add bittersweet chocolate to brown butter an whisk until melted.
Mix in granulated and brown sugar.
Whisk eggs, vanilla and peppermint extract into the cookie dough.
Fold in cocoa powder, flour, salt and baking soda.
Mix in the chocolate chips and peppermint bark.
Cover and chill the cookie dough for one hour.
Scoop the cookie dough and arrange on a sheet pan.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Roll the cookie dough balls and arrange them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes.
Once cookies are cool, dip in melted white chocolate and sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies.
Expert Tips
Use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop - I find a cookie scoop to be one of the best kitchen tools! It makes scooping cookie dough easy and helps to be sure that the cookies are the same size. It's also perfect for making meatballs or filling muffin cups!
Roll the dough balls - For smooth, uniform cookies, roll the dough in your hands until it's nice and round.
Pull the cookies from the oven after 10 minutes of baking - they'll look slightly underdone but trust me, they are good to go.
Add extra peppermint bark and chocolate chips right out of the oven - makes the cookies prettier and gives them that bakery style look!
Storage
Room Temperature - Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Freezer (Baked Cookies) - Freeze baked and cooled cookies (before dipping them in chocolate) for up to 3 months. Place cookies in a single layer in an airtight container or freezer bag. Thaw cookies at room temperature and then dip in the chocolate and sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies.
Freezer (Cookie Dough) - After scooping the cookie dough, freeze the balls of cookie dough on a baking sheet until frozen solid. Transfer frozen cookie dough to a freezer bag or airtight container for up to 3 months. When you bake cookies from frozen, add an extra 1-2 minutes to the baking time. This is perfect for making freshly baked cookies whenever you want them.
Make Ahead Tips - You can make the brown butter up to 3 days in advance and store it in the refrigerator. Just warm it up in a small saucepan when you are ready to make the cookie dough. The cookie dough can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
chocolate peppermint cookies FAQs
You can use melted, unsalted butter in place of the brown butter but I don't recommend this unless you are in a hurry. The brown butter creates a rich, caramel flavor in the cookie dough.
Cookies spread either because the dough wasn't chilled enough or you don't have enough flour in the cookie dough. Be sure to chill according to the recipe and use a kitchen scale for the most accurate measurement on your flour.
You can make the cookie dough up to 3 months in advance and store it in your freezer. If you are baking for an event or party, I recommend making these cookies the day of or night before.
Any chocolate will work well for dipping. White, dark or milk chocolate will all be beautiful and delicious. I do recommend using a chocolate make specifically for melting (Ghirardelli Melting Chocolate) as it will melt easily and set up beautifully with minimal effort on your part.
Yes! You can freeze cookie dough for up to 3 months. You will want to scoop your cookie dough and arrange it on a sheet pan and freeze completely. Once frozen, transfer the cookie dough to a freezer bag or airtight container. I like to label my bag or container with the recipe name, date and baking instructions.
More Holiday Cookie Recipes
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Peppermint Chocolate Cookies
Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- whisk
- spatula
- baking sheets
- cookie scoop 1.5 tablespoons
- parchment paper
- glass bowl or measuring cup for melting the white chocolate
- rolling pin or wooden spoon for crushing the candy cane
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- ¾ cup unsalted butter browned and cooled
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate melted with the butter
- ¾ cups (180g) light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 ½ cups (195g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (45g) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup milk chocolate chips
- ¼ cup dark chocolate chips
- ¼ cup white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup peppermint bark roughly chopped
For the White Chocolate Dip
- 1 cup white chocolate melting wafers
- 1 regular candy cane crushed
Instructions
For the Brown Butter
- Place butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the butter becomes bubbly, fragrant and nutty smelling - swirl and stir as needed¾ cup unsalted butter
- Watch closely for small brown bits to begin forming on the bottom of the pan - this will happen around 5 minutes
- As soon as you begin to see brown bits in the butter, remove the butter from the heat
- Transfer butter to your mixing bowl.
For the Cookies
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the warm brown butter and the unsweetened dark chocolate. Whisk until smooth.2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- Add the brown sugar and white sugar to the cooled brown butter and mix well.¾ cups (180g) light brown sugar, ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- Mix in eggs, vanilla and peppermint extract. Whisk again until light and fluffy.2 large eggs, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- Fold in the dry ingredients. Mix until all of the flour and cocoa powder are well incorporated.1 ½ cups (195g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (45g) cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Add the chocolate chips and peppermint bark to the cookie dough¼ cup milk chocolate chips, ¼ cup dark chocolate chips, ¼ cup white chocolate chips, ¼ cup peppermint bark
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and cover the finished dough with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- After one hour, use a cookie scoop to scoop dough and arrange the balls of dough on a parchment lined quarter sheet pan.
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Arrange cookie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roll each ball of dough to make it nice and round.
- Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes. The edges will be set and the middles should look shiny on the top.
- Remove cookies from the oven and add 3-4 chocolate pieces to the top of each cookie.
- For best results, allow cookies to cool on the sheet pan for 5-6 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the White Chocolate Dip
- Place candy cane in a ziplock bag and crush the candy canes with a rolling pin. Save crushed candy cane to sprinkle over the cookies once they are dipped in the white chocolate.1 regular candy cane
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, melt the white chocolate wafers.
- Use the microwave to melt the white chocolate. Place chocolate in a glass measuring cup. Melt for 1 minute and then mix. Continue to warm and mix, 30 seconds at a time until the white chocolate is smooth.1 cup white chocolate melting wafers
- Dip each cookie in the melted white chocolate and sprinkle with the crushed peppermint candies.
- Allow the white chocolate dip to cool until firm. Transfer cookies to a tray or container for storing.
- Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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