I felt like it was time for me to start making some Christmassy things….so here we are, triple chocolate peppermint cookies!
Peppermint flavour is not usually my go to flavour. Sometimes I feel like peppermint can be overwhelming on its own, so I usually don’t love it. But peppermint with chocolate is amazing.
These 2 flavours work so well together, in terms of taste but also smell….THE SMELL OF THESE COOKIES WAS SO GOOD. Peppermint and chocolate is just a great combo!
Video Tutorial
Ingredients for these peppermint cookies
Most of the ingredients for these cookies are your basic ingredients. Here is what you’re going to need:
- Unsalted butter – I like to use unsalted so that I can control the amount of salt in the recipe.
- Cocoa powder – this is the 1st part of the ‘triple chocolate’.
- Sugar – I’m using a mixture of both brown and white sugar. The white sugar gives the cookies some crispiness, whereas the brown sugar gives you moist, chewy cookies.
- 1 egg and 2 egg yolks – I like to add 2 egg yolks into these, as well as a whole egg. The extra egg yolks gives you softer, chewier cookies.
- Peppermint extract – for the peppermint flavour.
- Plain flour – also known as all-purpose flour.
- Salt – to enhance the flavours.
- Raising agents – I use both baking soda and powder. The baking soda helps the cookies spread, the baking powder helps them rise.
- Dark and white chocolate – for the 2nd and 3rd part of the ‘triple chocolate’. You could use any chocolate you want.
- Crushed Candy canes – just a few, for extra flavour and chewiness.
The peppermint extract
To get a peppermint flavour in these cookies, we’re using peppermint extract. This is the easiest way to get a good flavour.
In this recipe, I used 1 teaspoon of it.
For me, I felt like this was a good amount to get a nice flavour…and smell, without the flavour being overwhelming. These cookies have more of a mild peppermint flavour.
However, if you wanted a stronger flavour, you absolutely could add more. But just keep in mind that peppermint extract is a lot stronger than vanilla. So don’t add it in the same way you would add vanilla, a little bit goes a long way!
The candy canes
As well as adding chopped chocolate into these cookies, I also added 4 crushed candy canes. This was for flavour but also it helped add some extra chewiness to the cookies.
To crush them you can use a food processor and pulse it until you get small pieces of candy cane. Or you can do what I did and just put them into a food bag, and then hit them.
If you’ve watched my video, you might have heard me say that the reason why I didn’t add a lot of candy canes to this is because I don’t really like them that much.
I do lie a lot, but this not a lie. However, even if you love candy canes, I still don’t recommend adding more than 4.
As the cookie bakes, if they have too many candy canes in them, the candy canes will just melt and make the cookies too sweet and too chewy.
Instead if you want to add more, I recommend crushing them and sprinkling them on top of the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven!
Common questions
I make a lot of cookies. A little too many actually. At this point it might be an addiction, I should seek help.
But because of this, there are a lot of common questions I get, so here are some answers!
Do I have to use unsalted butter?
I always use unsalted butter because I like to be able to control the amount of salt in whatever I’m making
But with that being said, salted butter would work too. Just make sure not to add the extra 1/2 teaspoon of salt that is in the recipe.
Why do you mix the cocoa powder in with the butter and not the dry ingredients?
Ok to be honest, I’ve only ever been asked this twice. But let me explain anyway.
Hydrating cocoa powder with a liquid just gives you a more chocolaty flavour, so I like to hydrate it with the melted butter. That’s all, there’s no other reason.
Do I have to leave the cookie dough balls to chill?
YES. This is important.
These cookies will spread too much if you bake them straight way, giving you very flat cookies.
Make sure to give them time to chill before baking. For most of my cookies, 30 minutes is enough but for these, leave them for an hour.
The wait will be worth it I promise!
Why do you slam your tray down halfway through baking?
With a lot of my cookies, half way through the baking time, I take the tray out of the oven and slam it down on my counter a few times.
I love doing this, it just helps them spread a little more and it’s also a little fun!
Making these peppermint cookies ahead of time
If you want to make the cookie dough ahead of time for these, you could!
Once you make your cookie dough balls, you can leave them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Or instead you could leave them in your freezer for up to 3 months.
When it comes to baking them, just pre-heat your oven and then bake them straight out of the fridge or freezer.
Just a heads up, if you freeze them, they might need a few extra minutes of baking time and also they might be a little thicker.
I personally don’t see a problem with thicker cookies though!
Here are some other cookie recipes I think you should also try!
Triple Chocolate
Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients
Makes: 8
120g unsalted butter
50g cocoa powder
150g brown sugar
50g granulated sugar
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
200g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
85g dark chocolate, chopped
85g white chocolate, chopped
4 candy canes, crushed
Directions
- Start by melting your butter, then pour this into a large bowl. Add the cocoa powder, brown sugar and granulated sugar into this. Whisk until combined.
- Add the egg, egg yolks and peppermint extract into this mixture and whisk.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add this into the other bowl and mix just until a dough forms. Now fold in the chocolate and crushed candy canes.
- To make the cookie dough balls, get 100g of the dough, roll it into a ball and place this onto a tray or plate. Repeat this until you've used all of the dough.
- Leave these to chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- About 10 minutes before baking, pre-heat your oven to 180c/350f.
- To bake, place your cookie dough balls on a large baking paper lined tray, making sure to leave gaps between them so they have room to spread. I recommend baking these in 2 batches, if you add them all onto one tray they will just become 1 big cookie.
- Bake for 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, take the tray out of the oven and slam it down on your counter a few times, then let it bake for the remaining time.
- Once baked, leave them on the tray for 10 minutes before trying to pick them up, they will be too soft at first so they need time to set. But then you can enjoy!
