Let’s dress up a favorite chocolate cookie dough and make these peppermint frosted chocolate cookies. You’ll love these Christmas cookies because they’re fudge-like and rich with extra soft centers and chewy edges. The peppermint frosting is velvet smooth and a pleasant crunch from crushed candy canes adds a festive finishing touch!
One reader, Veronica, commented: “Excellent cookies. The chocolate cookies are delicious on their own, but the buttercream frosting really puts it over the top. Perfect for the holiday! ★★★★★“
Another reader, Ginny, commented: “I don’t make cookies often so if I do, they have to be AMAZING. That’s exactly the word I would use for these. I’ve made a note for them to come out every holiday season—gorgeous to look at and absolutely delicious exactly as the recipe directs. ★★★★★“
This recipe is part of my annual Christmas cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza!
Tell Me About These Peppermint Frosted Chocolate Cookies
- Flavor: If you love the combination of mint and chocolate, don’t miss out on this cookie recipe. We use peppermint extract in both the cookie dough and frosting, an ingredient I always prefer over regular mint extract (which can sometimes taste like toothpaste). A careful ratio of unsweetened cocoa powder, flour, and butter gives us fudgy cookies that border the line of homemade brownies. These are pretty much brownie cookies without the need for melted chocolate in the dough.
- Texture: Soft-baked, thick, and chewy. All good stuff!
- Ease & Time: This is a basic chocolate cookie dough without any specialty ingredients. Most of the ingredients are repeated in the frosting, too. Cocoa powder makes this cookie dough extra sticky, so chilling the cookie dough is imperative. Set aside 3 hours to chill or you can prepare the dough the night before to get a jumpstart on cookie baking the next day.
Your Go-To Chocolate Cookie Recipe
If you’ve made a few of my chocolate cookie recipes before, including double chocolate chip cookies, this dough will look familiar. The reason I hardly stray from it is because this cookie recipe works and I don’t find testing alternate versions necessary. The soft cookies are in-your-face chocolate, so it’s my gold standard chocolate dough. We use it for:
Note: The chocolate crinkle cookies and peppermint mocha cookies can over-spread as a result of the sugar coating and peppermint extract (respectively), so I leave out the milk in those versions.
If you’re looking for cookie cutter style chocolate cookies, here are my chocolate sugar cookies (based off my reader-favorite sugar cookies!). Or if you are looking for peppermint flavor without the chocolate, these peppermint meltaway cookies are for you.
Success Tips for Peppermint Frosted Chocolate Cookies
- Chilling the dough: Make the cookie dough using the printable recipe below. Cocoa powder is a very light, fine powder so it doesn’t bulk up cookie dough like all-purpose flour. (It’s also very drying.) As a result, this chocolate cookie dough is sticky. It’s sticky & soft before chilling it in the refrigerator and even though it’s still a bit sticky after chilling, it’s much easier to handle. Chilling dough also guarantees thicker cookies. See my 10 tips for how to prevent cookies from spreading.
- Portioning the dough: Each dough ball should be a heaping Tablespoon, so use a cookie scoop or Tablespoon measure to scoop the dough. Give the cookies a light roll in your hands and have a kitchen towel or paper towel nearby. I usually wipe my hands clean after every few cookie dough balls because clean hands make rolling easier.
- Baking tip: Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes. If the cookies aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2-3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven for a couple more minutes.
As the cookies cool, make your frosting.
Peppermint Frosting
The creamy frosting on top is essentially vanilla buttercream with the addition of peppermint extract. It’s very similar to the frosting on these peppermint mocha cupcakes, too. I’ve never paired this chocolate cookie dough with buttercream before and even though it sounds like an obvious match, I wasn’t expecting it to be *this* good. The cookies are pretty rich, so they don’t need a heavy pile of frosting.
The buttercream recipe makes just enough for a simple swipe of frosting on each cookie. Feel free to pipe it on top, but I just use a knife or small icing spatula.
To garnish the cookies, you can use:
- Crushed Candy Canes
- Chopped Andes Mints
- Sprinkles
- Mini Chocolate Chips
Or you could even sandwich the frosting between two cookies, then roll the outside edges in your garnish of choice, similar to rolling cookie ice cream sandwiches in chocolate chips or sprinkles.
Sally’s Cookie Palooza
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
- Peppermint Mocha Cookies
- Butter Cookies
- Soft Molasses Cookies
- Cherry Almond Shortbread Cookies
- Homemade Brownies
and here are my top 10 cookie baking tools if you’re looking for recommendations!
Peppermint Frosted Chocolate Cookies
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These peppermint frosted chocolate cookies combine a rich and fudgy chocolate cookie with smooth and creamy peppermint frosting. The dough requires 3 hours of chilling in the refrigerator, so make sure you set aside enough time.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2/3 cup (55g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk (any kind, dairy or non)
- 1 cup (180g) mini or regular semi-sweet chocolate chips
Peppermint Buttercream & Topping
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 and 1/4 cups (270g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk, at room temperature (dairy or nondairy)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, or more to taste
- salt, to taste
- 1/3 cup (50g) crushed candy canes (about 3–4 large candy canes)
Instructions
- Make the cookies: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract, and then beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour into the wet ingredients. Beat on low until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick. Switch to high speed and beat in the milk, then the chocolate chips. The cookie dough will be sticky and tacky. Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this sticky cookie dough.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 3 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. This makes the chilled cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Scoop and roll dough, about 1 Tablespoon of dough each, into balls. Arrange 2-3 inches apart on the baking sheets. The cookie dough is certainly sticky, so wipe your hands clean after every few balls of dough you shape.
- Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes or until the edges appear set and the centers still look soft. Tip: If they aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2-3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven to continue baking.
- Cool cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will slightly deflate as they cool.
- Make the buttercream: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream/milk, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium-high speed and beat for 2 full minutes. Taste. Beat in a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. I usually add a little less than 1/8 teaspoon. And, if desired, beat in another drop of peppermint extract.
- Frost the cookies: Top each cookie with frosting. Garnish frosting with crushed candy canes. Frosting doesn’t dry completely, but will set after several hours. Carefully stacking frosted cookies is fine after that.
- Cover and store cookies at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days (step 2). Baked cookies with or without frosting freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, and then bring to room temperature before enjoying. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack | Small Icing Spatula
- Larger Batch: The recipe is easy to double in 1 mixing bowl without overwhelming your mixer. Simply double all of the cookie dough and frosting ingredients. Dough chill time remains the same.
- Natural Cocoa Powder: Do you know the difference between dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder? Use natural in this dough.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi! I mail a variety of Christmas baking to my brother every year and would love to include a chocolate/peppermint-frosted cookie, but I fear the buttercream frosting would be far too soft.
Do you have another peppermint frosting that would set up on these cookies?
Hi Mary, I recommend making these Andes mint chocolate cookies, and Andes does make a peppermint version of their mints that you can usually find in the store around this time of year. Hope this helps!
Can you recommmend a good brownie recipe that would go well with your peppermint frosting?
We would use this frosted brownies recipe – using peppermint frosting instead.
A family member loves york peppermint patties. I was wondering.if you thought it would work to press a patty into the top of the baked cookie ? Maybe press it into the frosting ?
Hi Pam, you can definitely do that!
This is so good i love the taste of the pepper mint. The steps are so easy I love baking with you!!!!! ❤️
They ended up smaller than I thought they were smaller than expected also frosting didn’t come out at right consistency.
These are amazing! Favorite cookie baked this Season – thank you Sally!
Your tips and info are very helpful. I normally would not double a recipe the first time trying it, but so glad I did with these cookies. They were such a hit that I’m making another double batch the day after Christmas. I followed the recipe using mini chocolate chips and picking up a bag of Brach’s peppermint crushed candy canes was worth the expense!
My stepdaughter’s favorite Christmas goodie! Make them twice a year. Once for family and a batch for back to college package. ❤️❤️
This recipe was so goo! I followed the directions exactly and the cookies turned out great! Everyone loved them!
If using mini chocolate chips instead of regular, do you have to reduce the amount of chocolate chips?
Hi Loraine, you can use the same amount of mini or regular chocolate chips.
Can’t wait to try this recipe! May I ask if you still have the York Peppermint Patty Fudge Cookie recipes too?
Hi Amber! I did remove that recipe from the site because I was no longer satisfied with it. You can, however, email my team and I and we will be happy to send. sally(at)sallysbakingaddiction.com
This dough was so thick that it burned out the motor of my handmixer! Be careful! I’m making these for a cookie exhcange. Will report back later on how they taste! But so far the batter is delicious.
This is a pretty soft and creamy dough, so I am surprised! Did you by chance make a larger batch in your mixer, or over-measure something?
This has become a family favorite and will be made annually at our house. So GOOD!!!
I made this recipe for a cookie exchange! East to make! Just one question my frosting was not smooth, would that require more milk or powdered sugar?
Hi Amy, a little more milk will help smooth it out. I’m so glad you enjoyed these!
Hello! These cookies look amazing, can’t wait to try. Question, can I add crushed candy canes into the cookie dough and then bake?
Yes, you can!
Thank you for your response! I will definitely try!
Made them for the first time today and they are amazing. I don’t think that they will last until Christmas…. they are even more delicious frozen.
I made about 6 dozen of these for a school event at Christmas, and they were very well-received—not a single one left! I also made them for my family so they wouldn’t feel short-changed, and they were amazing. They are delicious without being too sweet. And the kitchen smells amazing during the process of baking them.
These cookies were delicious! They were eaten before I could frost them. Definitely a new Christmas staple!
I made these last year and they were a hit so I’m made them again! So delicious!
The cookie is great, the frosting and crushed peppermint is entirely too sweet to add to this fudgy cookie though.
Hi! Can I skip the peppermint extract in the cookie (not the frosting)? If I do, should I make any adjustments to the cookie recipe?
Hi Kelly, you can skip it without any other changes.
I made these cookies last night and they were fantastic! My only tip is to try one fresh out of the oven before you start working on the frosting. They’re plenty chocolatey and minty on their own, so if you don’t have much of a sweet tooth (like me), you may prefer them plain.
This recipe was so good! I just wanted to say that if you don’t want to wait three hours for the cookies to chill, just put them in the freezer for 30 minutes. Also, I didn’t have any peppermint extract, and the candy cane made it taste very minty.
I not a big fan of icing on cookies. Could I sprinkle the crushed peppermint directly on top of the cookies? Before or after baking?
Hi Lois, either will work! If you add the crushed candy peppermint before baking, they will take on a chewy texture. They’ll retain more of their crunchy texture if you press them on after baking.
The recipe ingredients mention peppermint extract in the cookie dough but it doesn’t say when to add in instructions? Clarification?
Hi Amanda, add it when you add the vanilla extract – thank you for noticing that!
Thanks! These are delicious!
These came out perfect! I was worried I overbaked them but they were very soft and fudgy, almost like a brownie/cookie hybrid. I added extra peppermint extract in the frosting because I wanted them to taste extra minty.
these are my new favorite Christmas Cookie!! Thank you!
The cookie recipe actually doesn’t mention adding the peppermint extract so I didn’t add until after partially chilled! However, after adding, they came out really wonderfully. I might try with chopped up bar chocolate next time instead of chips to see if they will end up a little smoother on top – they were tricky to frost because there were chocolate chips sticking up on a lot of them.
Perfection! The balance of sweet and richness is incredible. My husband, who doesn’t typically like chocolatey desserts, even loves this recipe.
These are wonderful, easy cookies to make. I added another measure of peppermint extract to the dough out of personal preference, & they were delicious. Thank you for a great recipe!
I just made these wonderful cookies for the 2nd time. This time I tinted the icing green and decorated them for St Patrick’s Day.