Peppermint chocolate chip cookies are as festive as they are delicious. Loaded with dark chocolate chips and crushed candy canes, these holiday cookies are just as soft and chewy as your favorite chocolate chip cookie!
Chocolate and peppermint are the ultimate flavor duo (I’m looking at you mint chip cake!). A combination of a peppermint cookie and a chocolate chip cookie, they are soft, chewy, and stuffed with chocolate chips and candy cane pieces.
A family favorite Christmas treat, these peppermint chocolate chip cookies are super festive and begging to be included in your holiday cookie exchange, Christmas cookie boxes, or in a bowl on your lap this holiday season!
If you love peppermint desserts, try our mint chip macarons or Andes mint brownies!
Table of Contents
Why We Love Peppermint Chip Cookies
- Soft and chewy like our chocolate M&M cookies with tons of flavor and texture in every bite.
- Perfect make-ahead Christmas cookies; just make and chill the dough in advance. If you’re short on time, try butterscotch chip cookies, adding peppermint pieces instead of butterscotch chips.
- Great additions to cookie boxes or in a cookie swap- these peppermint chocolate chip cookies are always the first treats to go wherever they are shared!
- Just the right amount of peppermint flavor. Although you can always up the amount with peppermint extract!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Candy canes: Baker’s tip– put the candy canes into a ziplock bag and smash them into pieces with a mallet or rolling pin. If you can’t find any candy canes, peppermint candy like Starlight Mints or peppermint chips is a great alternative!
Chocolate chips: I love using finely chopped chocolate bars for gooey pools of chocolate (like in my chocolate thumbprint cookies). Feel free to use regular or mini chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or even white chocolate chips!
Brown sugar: The extra molasses adds chewiness. I use it in all of my best chocolate chip cookie recipes, like our chocolate chip pecan cookies.
Butter: An essential ingredient to these bakery-style cookies! Make sure you are using true room-temperature butter to avoid spreading problems!
Find the full list of ingredients, measurements, and instructions in the recipe card below!
Recipe Instructions
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugars. In a stand mixing bowl or with an electric hand mixer, cream together the unsalted butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
Step 2: Mix in the wet ingredients. Mix in the room temperature egg and vanilla extract until just combined.
Step 3: Mix in the dry ingredients. Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt until almost combined, then mix in the dark chocolate and candy cane bits until just combined.
Step 4: Scoop and bake! Scoop the cookie dough with a standard cookie scoop onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and freeze.
Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are set. Top your peppermint chocolate chip cookies with extra peppermint pieces and chocolate chips, then let cool on a wire rack before enjoying.
Professional Baking Tips
- Use a kitchen scale. Baking with a scale is much more accurate than cup measurements. To convert this recipe, click the “metric” button next to the ingredients title on the recipe card. If you do not have a scale, use a spoon to fluff the flour first, then spoon it into your measuring cup.
- Cutting the candy canes is hard to do without making a mess! Instead, put them in a ziplock bag and smash the peppermints with a heavy object. It’s a great holiday stress reliever!
- For best results, move any candy cane pieces from the edges or bottoms to prevent the cookies from sticking to the pan.
- For your peppermint chocolate chip cookies to be soft and gooey, do not overbake! The cookies should have little to no color on them; golden brown edges or tops will result in more crisp cookies.
FAQs
If you can’t find any candy canes, you can use peppermint baking chips, peppermint bark, or peppermint candies.
Definitely! If you think you need a stronger peppermint flavor, add 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract to the cookie dough with the vanilla extract.
You can replace them with colorful red and green M&M’s or leave them out completely.
This is likely caused by not measuring the dry ingredients correctly. Using too much flour can keep the cookies from spreading.
Store any leftover cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
Store the frozen cookie dough balls in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 1 month. After this time, the candy canes start to melt and disappear into the cookie dough.
We hope you love this recipe! If you need more Christmas dessert ideas, check out our easy-to-make gingerbread cake, sugar cookie cake, or Christmas cookie bars!
More Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you tried this or any other recipe on my website, please let me know how it went in the comments; I love hearing from you! Also, please leave a star rating while you’re there! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter, cool room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, *See notes below for measuring*
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate bar or chocolate chips, plus more for topping
- 1/4 cup candy canes, crushed in small peices, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugars. Cream together the butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.12 tbsp (168 g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- Mix in the wet ingredients. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.1 (50 g) large egg, 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Mix in the dry ingredients. Mix in the flour, salt, and baking soda until almost combined then fold in the chocolate chips and candy cane pieces until just combined.2 1/4 cup (270 g) all-purpose flour, 1 tsp fine sea salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 3/4 cup (90 g) chopped dark chocolate bar or chocolate chips, 1/4 cup (40 g) candy canes
- Scoop and chill the cookie dough. Scoop the cookie dough into 2 tbsp balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill the cookies in the freezer for a minimum of 3-4 hours, or until frozen solid. Overnight will yield the best flavor!
- Preheat the oven. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C. Bake the frozen cookies spaced at least 2 inches apart for 9-10 minutes. They will look pale and still underbaked when you pull them out but will continue to bake and firm up while cooling.
- Decorate with extra candies. Press more candy cane pieces and dark chocolate chips to the tops. Then let the tray cool completely on a wire rack before removing and enjoy!
- Store leftover baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Store the frozen cookie dough balls in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 1 month. After this time, the candy canes start to melt and disappear into the cookie dough.
Notes
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below & tag @cambreabakes on social!The calorie information provided for the recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
Delicious cookies. I am waiting on another batch to rest/harden. I’m excited for my boys’ cookie exchange tomorrow. Thank you 😊.
I had a hard time rolling the cookies. The dough was too dry. Any suggestions if what I did wrong?
Hi Kelsey! Sounds like you had too much flour in the dough, I recommend weighing your ingredients for accuracy. If you don’t have a scale, spoon measure the flour!
I am not really a fan of the chocolate -pepermint combo, but I enjoyed these and liked that the peppermint wasn’t hit-you-over-the head strong. Mine spread more than I would like, despite following the directions including chilling overnight and checking oven temp with not one but two thermometers. But since these are slightly underbaked, they were still chewy and not crispy.
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed them Claire! Next time I would check to make sure your butter wasn’t too warm and softened (which can cause them to spread more in the oven). I like to stick a thermometer into the center of the butter stick- it should be between 64-68F!
I use this recipe all year as my go to chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Yay! So happy to hear that Sarah!