What are peppermint bark cookies? Coated in peppermint white chocolate, these soft chocolate sugar cookies are a beautifully festive and equally irresistible Christmas cookie. Like traditional peppermint bark but in delicious cookie form!
Welcome to my annual Sally’s Cookie Palooza! It’s time to tuck away the pie crust and Thanksgiving pie recipes and turn to all things cookies.
What is Sally’s Cookie Palooza?
A tradition since 2013, every December we countdown to Christmas with 10 new cookie recipes in a row. This is the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Sign up for instant updates and you’ll receive a free email alert whenever I publish a new recipe. 🙂
We’re kicking off this year with Peppermint Bark Cookies.
Peppermint bark cookies will be the most festive cookies on your Christmas cookie trays. Need an impressive cookie recipe for a work party, bake sale, holiday event, or Christmas cookie exchange? Bake these. Every single taste tester (there were 10 of us!!!!) went absolutely BANANAS for these.
How to Make Peppermint Bark Cookies
There are 3 parts to today’s cookie.
- Super soft chocolate sugar cookies
- White chocolate flavored with peppermint extract
- Crushed candy canes
My chocolate sugar cookies are just like my vanilla sugar cookies. This is a roll-out chocolate cookie flavored with cocoa powder. The chocolate sugar cookie dough is very easy to work with and requires at least 1 hour of chilling in the refrigerator– 2 hours is even better. It’s the same dough we use when making these Halloween cookies, too. If you really want to get ahead, you can chill the cookie dough for up to 2 days. You’ll notice in my sugar cookie recipes that I roll the cookie dough out before chilling. Over the past several years, I learned that this method is much easier than chilling the cookie dough in a ball and then trying to roll out a cold chunk of dough. Dividing the dough in half before rolling makes the process easier because smaller sections are more manageable to roll out.
Helpful tip: Flour is helpful when rolling out cookie dough. It helps prevent the dough from sticking to the surface and rolling pin. But since we are making chocolate sugar cookies, use cocoa powder instead of flour for extra chocolate flavor.
Roll Out on a Non-Stick Surface
Roll the dough out right on your silicone baking mats or parchment paper! Why? Think about it. You have to chill the rolled out dough in the fridge… and you can’t really pick up a mass of dough you rolled out on the counter, right? Nor can you cut into shapes when the dough is this warm. Roll the dough out on a nonstick surface that you can literally pick up, put on a baking sheet, and place in the fridge.
I shape peppermint bark cookies into circles, but you can use any cookie cutter shape. To ensure the cookies don’t break apart, I recommend a cookie cutter that is 3 inches or smaller. I use my 2.5 inch circle cookie cutter from this handy set.
The pictured cookies are about the size of Oreo cookies.
Let’s decorate!
Peppermint White Chocolate
Once the chocolate sugar cookies are cool, dunk them in pure white chocolate. Flavor the white chocolate with some peppermint extract and thin it out with a little oil. The thinner the chocolate, the easier coating the cookies will be.
Use white chocolate baking bars, such as Bakers or Ghirardelli brands, found in the baking aisle next to the chocolate chips. They’re usually on sale this time of year! Don’t use white chocolate chips. Chocolate chips contain stabilizers and are processed so that they DO NOT melt in the oven. Dunking cookies in melted white chocolate chips is impossible.
Dipping
Use Candy Dipping Tools to make the job easier– the 2 or 3 pronged tool are best for dipping cookies. The spiral dipping tool is what I use for neatly dipping chocolate truffles and most candy recipes. A fork works too, but the inexpensive dipping tools make the white chocolate coating very clean and neat.
Sprinkle the wet white chocolate with crushed candy canes, then let the chocolate set before stacking, gifting, or eating. These cookies are so SOFT and so THICK!!
You might also like: Peppermint Mocha Cookies, Peppermint Frosted Chocolate Cookies, and Peppermint Bark Fudge
Print
Peppermint Bark Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 3 dozen cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Simple and soft chocolate sugar cookies are coated in peppermint white chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy canes to make a beautifully festive Christmas cookie!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
- 3/4 cup (62g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder (or dutch process), plus more for rolling
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Coating
- 4 4-ounce (450g or 16 ounces total) white chocolate baking bars, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, solid coconut oil, or canola oil
- 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1/2 cup crushed candy canes (about 5 candy canes)
Instructions
- In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract on high speed. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. On low speed, slowly mix into the wet ingredients until combined.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Dust your rolling pin, cookie dough, and work surface with cocoa powder. Roll each portion out to about 1/4″ thickness on a piece of parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Stack the pieces (with parchment paper between) onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Chilling is mandatory so the cookies hold their shape. If chilling for more than a couple hours, cover the top dough piece with a single piece of parchment paper. You can chill up to 2 days.
- Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Remove one of the dough pieces from the refrigerator and using a 2.5 inch circle cookie cutter, cut in shapes. Transfer the cut cookie dough to the prepared baking sheets. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used.
- Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies will still appear soft in the centers. Cool cookies on a baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before coating.
- For the coating: Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Melt the chopped white chocolate and oil together in a double boiler or in the microwave in 15-second increments, stopping and stirring after each until completely smooth. Add another drop of oil to thin out if needed. After melting, stir in 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract. Taste. Add 1/4 teaspoon more if desired. (I suggest using 3/4 teaspoon because when the white chocolate sets, the peppermint flavor won’t be as strong.) Drop 1 cookie into white chocolate. Using a 2 or 3 pronged candy dipping tool, flip the cookie over to coat all sides. Lift the cookie up out of the chocolate and gently tap the dipping tool against the side of the bowl so excess white chocolate drips off. Slide coated cookie off the dipping tool onto prepared lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Repeat with remaining cookies.
- Allow chocolate to set completely in the refrigerator for 45 minutes or at room temperature for 90 minutes.
- Coated cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Dipped or un-dipped cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. You can chill the rolled-out cookie dough in the refrigerator for up to 2 days (step 3). You can also freeze the cookie dough (before dividing and rolling out in step 3) for up to 3 months. Then allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before rolling out. Chill for only 30 minutes in step 3 as opposed to 1 full hour.
- Special Tools: KitchenAid Stand Mixer | Rolling Pin | Cooling Rack | Baking Sheet | Silpat Baking Mat | Circle Cookie Cutters | Candy Dipping Tools | 2-cup Glass Measuring Cup | Candy Canes
- Cocoa Powder: You can actually use either unsweetened dutch-process or natural cocoa powder in this cookie recipe. Read the difference between dutch-process and natural cocoa powder.
- White Chocolate: Use 4-ounce white chocolate baking bars, such as Bakers or Ghirardelli brands, found in the baking aisle next to the chocolate chips. Don’t use white chocolate chips. Chocolate chips contain stabilizers and are processed so that they DO NOT melt in the oven. Dunking cookies in melted white chocolate chips is impossible. Why oil? The oil helps thin out the chocolate.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Keywords: peppermint bark cookies
These are such beautiful, delicious cookies! I adore this recipe!
★★★★★
These cookies came out beautifully, but I agree with other commenters that there was not enough white chocolate for dipping. Next time I would use six bars instead of four.
Hi Sally – I made these cookies over the weekend and they turned out pretty good. The chocolate biscuit itself is addictive. I was afraid of my chocolate seizing so I added high-ratio shortening (I added about 2.5 tsp) to my chocolate I may have added a bit too much as my chocolate is set but is slightly soft, not totally crisp. Is the chocolate meant to be very hard after its set? Regardless they taste amazing and I had no problems adding in the mint extract. I will make again but stick to just adding to 1 tsp of oil to the chocolate again.
I doubled this batch, used your Oreo cookie filling to make sandwich cookies and then dunked them in the peppermint white chocolate mixture. They were amazing!
Thank you Sally!
★★★★★
Had problems with chocolate seizing, I used Baker’s white chocolate in a double boiler. Probably got too hot. I tried it again in the microwave with much better results! Only other issue was that I ran out of chocolate. My cookies may have been a little larger/thicker because I did not get the recipe yield. Very good cookie though. Will make again!
I made these, they were great! Though I also had trouble with the chocolate seizing. White chocolate is so finicky, I would use candy coating the next time.
I, too, had issues with the chocolate seizing. I used Baker’s and melted it with the oil in the microwave as directed in the recipe but it seized as soon as I added the extract. Not sure what the issue was. I wound up dipping the cookies so they were half coated, but it was still very thick. Still super tasty, though! And the cookie alone is awesome too. If the chocolate had worked out they would’ve been perfection.
Amazing cookies but not enough white chocolate by nearly half, unfortunately.
Made these this past weekend. They were a decent amount of work but they are worth it! I rolled mine a little thinner by mistake so wound up with more cookies and not enough white chocolate. I used 4 Ghirardelli bars and next time I would use 6 (adjusting oils and peppermint extract accordingly). Thanks Sally for another winner!
Hi Sally! This is the first recipe of yours I made. I also had an issue with the chocolate seizing up. I was doing it over a double boiler on low heat, had the oil in it, but after the first few cookies it started to seize up. I also had to spread it like frosting eventually. Delicious but not as pretty as I hoped, aside from the first few. What did I do wrong?
Hi Meghan! The type of chocolate has a lot to do with it. Are you using pure white chocolate, such as Ghirardelli or Bakers brand baking bars? Or are you using almond candy coating or candy melts?
Thanks for the reply. I as suing Ghiradelli white baking chocolate bars. I left it on the double boiler while dipping, maybe it got to hot and started to clump/seize. It didn’t completely seize up into an unusable form but just got really thick so it was more painting chocolate on rather than dipping. I would like to try again though. I brought them to a party last night and they were a big hit!
Hi Sally. When I added the peppermint extract the chocolate seized. I stuck it back in the microwave for a bit, but was afraid of scorching. Any idea why this happened? The white chocolate alone was perfect consistency before I added the peppermint. I spread it on like frosting, and it still tasted great.
Hi Kelly! Chocolate, white or regular, needs a fat (oil) to prevent it from seizing when alcohol (extract) is added. Make sure you add that oil next time. Thank you for trying my recipe!
Would I be able to use Ghirardelli white melting wafers?
Yes, those are AWESOME for coating cookies/candies.
I made these in star shapes today! It worked out great!
I’m not a fan of white ‘chocolate’ although I know it looks better white can I dip in dark chocolate?
Yes, you can sub in regular chocolate or dark chocolate instead. Enjoy!
Can I use something other than crushed candy cane? I’m getting out of ideas
How about crushed peppermint candies or even festive sprinkles?
I want to use cookie cutters on my Silpat but I’ve been told the metal ones will cut into the mat. Any suggestions and/or what has been your experience with the metal cutters?
Hi Diane! Unless you’re pressing with all your mighty strength, you won’t make a dent in your silicone baking mats with metal cookie cutters. You simply don’t need to press through the cookie dough that hard. 🙂 I’ve never had that be a problem and I’ve been doing it this way for years!
I think if you temper the chocolate before adding the peppermint (and honestly even the oil), it should solve the pretty prevalent seizing problem. I always temper chocolate for dipping, but the directions as written wouldn’t allow for seeding so that could be the disconnect.
Hi Beatrice! You can leave it out for regular chocolate + white chocolate cookies.