Irresistibly soft, buttery, and sweet, these peppermint meltaway cookies are a festive favorite during the holiday season. Their texture is so unique; it’s a cross between a shortbread cookie and a cakey cookie, and they completely melt in your mouth. The cornstarch and confectioners’ sugar are KEY here, and don’t forget that pretty pink candy cane buttercream!
One reader, Nicole, commented: “Fantastic recipe! Will definitely be making these again. The cookies are a perfect soft and crumbly texture. The peppermint is the perfect amount as well. ★★★★★“
Another reader, Jane, commented: “Great recipe, easy to make, and the texture was, indeed, melt-in-your-mouth. Intended to give these away, but they didn’t last that long. ★★★★★“
You know those meltaway after-dinner butter mints you sometimes see at restaurants… individually packaged, piled in a basket by the door, beckoning you to grab one on your way out? They’re buttery smooth, melt in your mouth, and leave behind a sweet but not overpowering taste of peppermint. Imagine those… but in cookie form. Now add frosting.
These cookies are downright delectable!!
Peppermint Meltaway Cookies Recipe Snapshot
- Texture: They’re called meltaways for good reason! These ultra-soft, light and tender cookies practically melt in your mouth. Think: softer than a peppermint snowball cookie, and less cakey than these buttercream-frosted soft cakey sugar cookies, and not at all chewy. A little crushed candy cane crunch on top adds another dimension of texture, just like we love on these chocolate peppermint madeleines!
- Flavor: Peppermint extract in both the cookie dough and the buttercream adds the perfect pop of peppermint flavor.
- Ease: This is a simple 1-bowl cookie dough, and the buttercream topping is very basic (but delicious!). Easy enough for beginner bakers and cookie decorators.
- Time: The dough only needs to chill for 30 minutes. Compared to other cookie recipes that include hours-long chill times, this is relatively quick!
Ingredients for the Cookie Dough:
To create the ultimate soft cookie texture, you need some key ingredients:
- Butter: A buttery soft cookie starts with creamed butter. Remember that room-temperature butter is essential for proper creaming, and is still cool to the touch. And here’s more on how to cream butter and sugar, if you need a refresher.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Using powdered instead of granulated sugar contributes to the cookie’s meltaway texture.
- Egg Yolk: While shortbread-style cookies like snowballs don’t include any egg, you need an egg yolk to keep these cookies from being too crumbly. It holds the ingredients together, and adds a bit of richness to the finished cookies.
- Vanilla + Peppermint Extracts: The flavors you’ll taste in these cookies!
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the base dry ingredient.
- Cornstarch: Just like in my shortbread cookies, cornstarch makes for an extra-soft, thick, silky-smooth-tasting cookie.
- Baking Powder: This helps the cookies puff up during baking.
- Salt: To balance all the flavors; use regular table salt.
You need an electric mixer—either stand or hand—to make these peppermint meltaway cookies. You’ll need to cream the butter for the cookie dough, and for the buttercream frosting, as well.
Good news: you can make this cookie dough all in one bowl!
This cookie dough only needs a minimum of 30 minutes of chill time in the refrigerator, so you won’t have to wait too long to taste that sweet, melty peppermint goodness.
Tips for Shaping Peppermint Meltaway Cookies
Scoop, roll, and flatten. Each cookie is around 1 Tablespoon of cookie dough, so you can use your Tablespoon measuring spoon to portion out each cookie. If you have a kitchen scale, each cookie dough ball should weigh about 20–22g.
Be sure to slightly flatten the dough balls. You can flatten with the palm of your hand right on the lined baking sheet, or between both your palms before placing on the baking sheet. These cookies puff up but don’t spread much, and we want to encourage them to bake up with a flat surface for frosting.
Bake just until the edges are set. These cookies stay light in color, so you’re not waiting for them to turn golden brown.
Peppermint Buttercream Frosting
While the meltaway cookies are cooling, you can go ahead and make the frosting using the electric mixer again. I tint the frosting light pink with a drop of pink gel food coloring. I always use gel food coloring in frostings, because adding more liquid can throw off the consistency. However, with such a small amount of coloring, liquid food dye would be fine here.
And, of course, you don’t have to tint the frosting at all! Feel free to keep it white, like I do with these peppermint frosted chocolate cookies. Spread it onto the cooled meltaway cookies; 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
Is there anything better than a frosting-covered cookie? That’s a rhetorical question. I’m not taking answers at this time. 😉
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.
Peppermint Meltaway Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Yield: 30-32 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Irresistibly soft, buttery, and sweet, these peppermint meltaway cookies are a festive favorite during the holiday season. Their texture is so unique; it’s a cross between a shortbread cookie and a cakey cookie, and they melt in your mouth. The cornstarch and confectioners’ sugar are KEY here. Don’t skip chilling the dough for 30 minutes, and be sure to slightly flatten the dough balls before baking as instructed.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2/3 cup (80g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 cup (30g) cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Buttercream
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1–2 Tablespoons milk, at room temperature (dairy or nondairy)
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
- optional: 1 drop red or pink food coloring
- 1/4 cup (40g) crushed candy canes (about 2–3 large candy canes)
Instructions
- Make the cookie dough: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium-high speed and beat for 2 full minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg yolk, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract and beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Beat on low speed until combined. The cookie dough will be thick and creamy. Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this creamy cookie dough.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Scoop and roll dough into balls, about 1 Tablespoon or 20–22g each. Place dough balls 3 inches apart on the baking sheets, and then flatten each slightly with the palm of your hand; they should be just under 2 inches in diameter.
- Bake the cookies for 13–14 minutes or until the edges appear set. The cookies won’t darken/brown, so be careful not to over-bake them.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the buttercream: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners’ sugar, 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. To thicken the buttercream, beat in more confectioners’ sugar. To thin out the buttercream, beat in more milk. To help offset more sweetness, beat in a pinch of salt.
- If you’d like to tint the frosting, beat in 1 tiny drop of food coloring. Add more to deepen the color, if desired. Using a knife or icing spatula, spread frosting onto the cooled cookies. Sprinkle each lightly with crushed candy canes.
- Cover and store frosted cookies at room temperature for up to 1 day, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Frosting “soft-sets” on the cookies after a few hours, meaning it will slightly dry on top.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can freeze the unbaked flattened cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding a minute or two to the baking time. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough. We do not recommend freezing the baked cookies; the texture is not the same after freezing and thawing.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack | Small Icing Spatula
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch (aka cornflour) is a key ingredient in this recipe, and is what helps give the cookies their signature “meltaway” texture. Do not skip or substitute it. (Not to be confused with cornmeal.)
- Food Coloring: I use 1 drop of pink gel food coloring. I always use gel food coloring in frostings, because adding more liquid can throw off the consistency. However, with such a small amount of coloring, liquid food dye would be fine here.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
- Recipe inspired by Taste of Home and adapted from Shortbread Cookies
Reader Comments and Reviews
Indeed absolutely love these cookies, as does everyone who tastes them. Meltaways is the perfect description. My family has requested that I make another batch after Christmas. Thank you for all the very detailed instructions and all the delicious recipes. I have not had a single fail after trying many of your recipes. Delicious!
Thank you so much for your review, Joan!
These were wonderful! Loved the texture, very soft and delicious. I didn’t press down on the dough balls, I left them as is and got taller/rounder cookies then dipped the tops into a thinner icing and topped with candy cane pieces …. turned out great! I made them pretty small and got about 25 cookies. I will be making these again next year.
We’re thrilled to read you loved these cookies, Stacey!
Let me clarify: cookies 2 stars, frosting 5 stars
I hate to give a poor rating because I’m a baker and I absolutely love Sally’s recipes! It’s my go-to for cookies and desserts!
However, I’m adding my review here so others can pick one of the other great Sally’s recipes or adapt this one.
I decided to make these for Christmas to try something new and the results were very disappointing. I used a baking scale for the flour and other dry ingredients to minimize variation. I saw the reviews others shared and I don’t like cornstarch so I adjusted the cornstarch down to 20grams.
The results were sandy, dry cookies. The cookies fell apart if you pressed on them too hard (made frosting more challenging).
I put the frosting on a different sugar cookie and it was DELICIOUS!
These are solid cookies and look beautiful especially as part of a Christmas cookie tray. I’m giving 4 stars because I think some of Sally’s other cookies taste better and I find myself leaving these meltaways when there are other, better cookies around. They’re still deliciously and I get compliments on them.
These are totally not what I expected based on description and pictures. I was so excited to try these, but they are dry and crumbly and don’t have much taste. I’m an experienced baker and used food scale and timer 🙁
Can the frosting be made ahead of time and refrigerated?
Hi Julie, yes that’s fine! It will just be stiff and harder to spread, but you can let it come up to room temperature and beat a little more milk or cream into it to soften it up again.
these did not turn out well? the dough was very dry i could not get it to stick together so i added 2 tbsp milk and every cookie cracked around the edges. Plus the buttercream looked like it was lumpy but it could not have been the powdered sugar because i beat it forever? i think i needed to use melted butter? my kitchen is cold and dry? im disappointed
Hi June, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. How did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t overmeasured, which can dry out the dough and baked cookies. If your confectioners’ sugar is lumpy, it will help to sift it. You’ll also want to make sure your butter is properly creamed so that you don’t end up with butter lumps in your frosting. We hope these tips help for next time!
These are the cookies that got me into baking! I was so intimidated by cooking and baking that I never did it and would always buy treats from grocery stores instead. Then on one extra cold Alaskan winter day I found this recipe and decided to give it my best shot! They were amazing!! My family now requests them constantly and I branched out and now I am a full-fledged home baker looking into starting my own business! It all started with these minty wonderful cookies! They hold a special place in my heart now
These had a lovely texture and just the right amount of peppermint flavor.
If I were to double this recipe would you recommend two separate batches or simply double the recipe. I know for your sugar cookies you don’t recommended doubling
Hi Sarah, these should work just fine for doubling. Enjoy!
I have even made the dough x3 and it worked out fine. I needed them for a cookie swap and they were a huge hit. I don’t do that for many recipes though.
I made these cookies twice last year and LOVED them! This year, I tried to make them again and the dough was too crumbly to even form into balls. I followed the recipe the same way as I did last year (brought everything to room temperature, scooped/leveled the flour, chilled the dough, etc.) but it was the wrong texture (almost sandy and hard to form and keep its form). Any tips for making the dough come together better?
Hi Cary, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. When you say scoop and level, did you scoop the flour with the measuring cup and then level off? That could be the culprit here. You’ll want to spoon and level (rather than scoop) to avoid packing too much flour into the dough. That will give it a dry, crumbly texture you mention. Hope this helps for your next batch!
Thanks! I did spoon and level. I mixed only until just combined. Would it help to mix it longer? I may try weighing the ingredients in the future for this recipe.
Absolutely delicious!! The light, meltaway cookie and the buttery, sweet, lightly peppermint flavor of the frosting is perfection. Everyone loved them. I’ll definitely be baking them again through the holidays!
Would it be possible to substitute cocoa powder for some of the flour? A chocolate cookie with peppermint frosting sounds heavenly.
Hi Andrea, Unfortunately cocoa powder is not an even swap with flour, so it would take some testing for us to give you a confident answer. If you try anything, please let us know!
love these cookies sm. however, even though i followed the recipe to a t (and even weighed my dough balls!) i only got 24 cookies. any idea what went wrong?
The flavor and texture is perfection! I made these for a girls night secret Santa party and thought they looked adorable, too!
made these yesterday and they were delish 🙂 Love ALLLL your recipes! But, I do have a question. Every Christmas I make tins of assorted cookies for neighbors, and the problem is when I have ones with strong flavors/aromas l(like these, peppermint) they overpower the other cookies and everything either tastes like mint or gingerbread or orange, etc. I tried wrapping these separate in little baggies, but that doesn’t really seem to help, AND it looks tacky. ANY suggestions about how to solve this??? TIA
Hi Ellen, we’re so glad these were a hit! Yes, that can definitely be tricky with strong flavors like peppermint. You may find it best to use very small boxes or tins to separately package those cookies with different/strong flavors.
I usually make about 4 to 6 diffferent batches xmas cookies to distribute to neighbors…freezing ahead of time before laying out. Do these hold up ok after freezing? I have found so many of these type crumble upon thawing…TIA
Hi Ellen, You can freeze the unbaked flattened cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding a minute or two to the baking time. Read our tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough. We do not recommend freezing the baked cookies; the texture is not the same after freezing and thawing.
I made these this weekend for my church family. I love peppermint! Great recipe!
My mother-in-law LOVED these cookies over Christmas! I wanted to make them for Easter and was wondering if you think lemon extract would make them more “spring-y” than peppermint?
Hi Amanda! We haven’t tested these with lemon extract but would love to hear how it goes if you do. You could also leave out the peppermint for a plain meltaway cookie.
Oh my god this recipe is so good. I made them without peppermint and made a plain glaze. They were heavenly, melt in your mouth cookies that had the perfect amount of sweetness. Another amazing recipe Sally, thank you!!!
This was amazing! They remind me of those powdery sugar cookies you get at grocery stores around different holidays- made these with my little siblings and we laid them out for Santa on Christmas Eve. LET ME TELL YOU, Santa was a fan