These Peppermint Cookies combine the classic sweetness of traditional cookies with the refreshing, festive flavor of peppermint! The addition of white chocolate and crushed candy canes adds a burst of minty flavor with the perfect balance of decadent sweetness.
More holiday flavors right this way! You’ll melt over this 3-Ingredient Peppermint Bark, Double Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies, Thumbprint Cookies, Gingerbread Cake, Easy Homemade Eggnog (non-alcoholic), and Soft and Chewy Gingersnaps.
Why This Recipe Works
Festive for the Holidays: This best peppermint cookie recipe features both peppermint extract and crushed candy canes for the ultimate minty holiday treat! The peppermint flavor is perfectly balance by a sweet sugar cookie dough and a white chocolate topping, making these one of my favorite cookies during the holidays!
Easy to Make: White chocolate peppermint cookies are extremely simple to make! Simply make a quick cookie dough, chill, and bake. I will admit that these cookies take some more time since you need to chill the dough overnight. However, this just takes a little bit of planning! Plus, you can double the recipe and keep some of the dough in the freezer for when you have a mint cookie craving!
Ingredients
- Butter: Make sure to soften the butter to room temperature!
- Sugar: A bit of regular, granulated sugar is needed to make these nice and sweet.
- Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar makes these peppermint cookies extra chewy and tender!
- Egg Yolks: All you need are egg yolks here, so carefully separate them from the egg whites!
- Peppermint Extract: This is the key to perfectly flavored peppermint cookies!
- Flour: All-purpose flour works well here. For gluten-free peppermint cookies, make sure to use a gluten-free flour that is a 1 to 1 replacement flour.
- White Chocolate: Melted white chocolate is an easy way to decorate these cookies and have the crushed candy canes stick!
- Candy Canes: Use up those leftover candy canes from Christmas, or make these around the holidays! Simply use a rolling pin to crush the candy canes in a zip bag! You only need about 1-2 candy canes here.
Here’s How to Make It
Step by Step Instructions
- Start the Dough: With a wooden spoon, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth. Then beat in the powdered sugar, followed by the egg yolks and peppermint extract. (photos 1-3)
- Add Flour: Stir in the flour until a dough has formed without any flour streaks. (photos 4-5)
- Shape & Chill: Place a large piece of baking parchment on the countertop and shape the dough into a log, approximately 2 inches in diameter. Roll the log in the parchment, twisting the ends to seal it and chill overnight. (photo 6)
- Preheat: The next day, preheat the oven to 350 F and line a large baking sheet with more parchment paper. (not pictured)
- Slice: Trim the rough ends from the cookie dough log and slice into approx 3/4 inch wide rounds. Transfer these to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 14-15 minutes, until just golden. Cool on a wire rack. (photos 7-10)
- Melt White Chocolate: While the cookies are cooling, melt the chopped chocolate. Do this either by gradually melting it at 10 second intervals in the microwave, or in a heatproof glass bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl!). (photos 11-12)
- Decorate: Spread the melted chocolate over the top of each cookie, finishing each with a sprinkle of crushed candy cane. (see below)
Expert Tips
- Don’t over mix the batter! These white chocolate peppermint cookies will turn out chewy and tender as long as you don’t over mix the batter. Just mix until everything is combined!
- You must chill the dough! This dough needs to be chilled overnight, or else it will spread too much in the oven.
- You can use white chocolate, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate to decorate these cookies. White chocolate will be the prettiest, though!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can store undecorated peppermint cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. If they are already decorated, the candy cane pieces will melt. So I recommend only decorating the amount of cookies that you know you will be eating! Then, decorate the rest of them about an hour or so before serving.
It is best to freeze the cookie dough log or freeze these cookies undecorated. Allow the dough to thaw in the fridge and store for up to 3 additional days before baking and decorating as directed in the recipe. If you freeze already baked cookies, allow them to thaw in the fridge, then decorate and serve at room temperature.
More Cookie Recipes to Try
- Shortbread Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Snowball Cookies
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Did you make this recipe? FANTASTIC. Please rate the recipe below and be sure to tag me on social when you share a photo on social – I love seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!
Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients
- 6 oz butter - softened
- 2 oz sugar
- 2 oz powdered sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tsp peppermint extract
- 11 oz flour
- 2 oz chopped white chocolate
- crushed candy canes
Instructions
- With a wooden spoon, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth. Then beat in the powdered sugar, followed by the egg yolks and peppermint extract.
- Stir in the flour until a dough has formed without any flour streaks.
- Place a large piece of baking parchment on the countertop and shape the dough into a log, approximately 2 inches in diameter. Roll the log in the parchment, twisting the ends to seal it and chill overnight.
- The next day, preheat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with more parchment paper.
- Trim the rough ends from the cookie dough log and slice into approx 3/4 inch wide rounds. Transfer these to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 14-15 minutes, until just golden. Cool on a wire rack.
- While the cookies are cooling melt the chocolate. Do this either by gradually melting it at 10 second intervals in the microwave, or in a heatproof glass bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl!)
- Spread the melted chocolate over the top of each cookie, finishing each with a sprinkle of crushed candy cane.
Total beauties! I can just see how SOFT they are!
thanks for sharing this! I’ve never made peppermint cookies before, so this looks like a great recipe to start! Cream cheese based frosting looks wonderful too!
I made these tonight. They are amazing even without the frosting. Thanks for posting an easy cookie recipe that I can keep for years to come!
These look GREat. I just made the almond cookie Recipe, not iced. How far ahead can the frosting be made and stored for the all one and the peppermint cookies?
Honestly I’ve kept the frosting in an airtight container in the fridge for at least a week and it’s still great!
These are good but hold cow, the servings were way off. Did you mean 1 batch makes 58 cookies instead of 28?