Chocolate Peppermint Cookies with Vanilla Buttercream is a soft, chewy chocolate cookie base with a creamy vanilla buttercream topped with crushed peppermint candies. The combination of flavors is so rich and festive! This will make a great addition to any Christmas or Holiday cookie platter!

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies- Everyone’s Favorite Christmas Cookie!

First, I have to say WELCOME TO THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES! (Wahoo!) This series has been a long time coming- I started nearly 2 months ago!! I am so excited to bring to you my absolute FAVORITE Christmas cookie for the first day of this series. The Chocolate Peppermint Cookie!

This cookie stole my heart the very first time I put it in my mouth.. nearly 10 years ago! 10 years ago, I was an artist.

Okay, fine you caught me. Not that kind of artist. I was a Sandwich Artist. At Subway. (But look at how far I’ve come since then!) I remember the day clearly, It was almost Christmas time, the store was PAINFULLY slow thanks to a major snow storm happening outside.

My Boss, Sharon, and I had done everything we needed to and some. We decided to get creative with the broken cookies (Yes, all broken cookies are, in fact, consumed by the workers! Best perk, ever!).

One of the combinations is what you see above. We took one of the Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, spread the Sugar cookie icing on it and then crushed up some of our ‘thank you’ mints. DE-LISH-US!

It was so good, that we actually made some for a few of our regulars and they would request them whenever they came back! Look at me developing and creating ‘recipes’ way back then.

How to make Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

This chocolate cookie is a very basic recipe that yields such a chewy, rich cookie time after time! To start, Brown sugar, white sugar and butter are first creamed together. It is important to cream until it is light and fluffy.

This process will take a couple of minutes but you will see that the color and texture actually changes if you cream it long enough! The ‘light’ in the phrase ‘light and fluffy’ is referring to the color of the mixture. The mixture should not be grainy at all.

Next, the eggs and vanilla go in. Mix those until well combined.

The flour, cocoa powder, soda, salt and cornstarch are then mixed in. Mix thoroughly until all the flour is combined.

Scoop the cookie dough, roll in sugar and arrange on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies are no longer glossy. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

While the cookies are cooling, Make up a batch of my favorite Cookie Frosting! It is a crusting Vanilla Buttercream and ABSOLUTELY delicious.

The Buttercream consists of butter, crisco, powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. More info and all of your questions answered over on my Sugar Cookie Frosting post.

Spread the frosting onto the cookie and immediately top with crushed peppermint candies. I like to toss the peppermint candies into my blender and let it do the work. You could also crush them by hand if needed.

YIELD: 3 DOZEN

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies with Vanilla Buttercream

(Printable Version Below)

Ingredients

1 cup butter room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
Vanilla Buttercream
crushed peppermint candies

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together for 2-3 minutes or until light (in color!) and fluffy.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and then add in the eggs and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Add the flour, cocoa, soda, salt and cornstarch and mix together. Start mixing slowly, gaining speed as the flour incorporates. Mix until the dough has come together.
Scoop the dough and arrange it onto a cookie sheet.
Use the back of a drinking glass to flatten the cookies.
Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes or until the cookies are puffy and no longer glossy.
Let the cookies rest on the hot cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring the a metal cooling rack.
Frost the cookies with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and sprinkle the tops of the cookies with the crushed peppermint candies.

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Chocolate Peppermint Cookies with Vanilla Buttercream

Name: Chocolate Peppermint Cookies with Vanilla Buttercream
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 7 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 3 dozen
Ingredients: 1 cup butter room temperature; 3/4 cup granulated sugar; 3/4 cup brown sugar; 2 eggs; 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract; 3 cups flour; 3/4 cup cocoa; 1 1/2 tsp soda; 3/4 tsp salt; 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch; Vanilla Buttercream; crushed peppermint candies

Yield: 3 dozen

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 7 minutes

Additional Time: 13 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup butter room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
Vanilla Buttercream
crushed peppermint candies

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together for 2-3 minutes or until light (in color!) and fluffy.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and then add in the eggs and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Add the flour, cocoa, soda, salt and cornstarch and mix together. Start mixing slowly, gaining speed as the flour incorporates. Mix until the dough has come together.
Scoop the dough and arrange it onto a cookie sheet.
Use the back of a drinking glass to flatten the cookies.
Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes or until the cookies are puffy and no longer glossy.
Let the cookies rest on the hot cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring the a metal cooling rack.
Frost the cookies with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and sprinkle the tops of the cookies with the crushed peppermint candies.