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Soft and chewy, just like a chocolate chip cookie should be–these Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies are your new favorite Christmas Cookie! Take these to the cookie exchange–or save them for yourself–loaded with candy canes and lots of chips, they will make Santa extra happy!
As soon as the holiday season hits, all I want is chocolate and peppermint–and I will take it just about any way I can get it. These are my top holiday cookie recipe on the site and once you make them, you will know why!
These chewy peppermint chocolate chip cookies, full of crushed up candy cane pieces have become a tradition the past several years, and it wouldn’t be Christmas without them.
Love peppermint treats and all the Christmas recipes? Try these as well: No-Bake Peppermint Oreo Cheesecake, Peppermint Dark Chocolate Pretzel Bark, Peppermint Bark Brownies and this simple Christmas Puppy Chow!
Why We Love These Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookes
These peppermint chip cookies have been a MUST MAKE cookie recipe over the holidays for almost 10 years now. They always get rave reviews and are the hit at every cookie exchange.
Make them once, and you will know why they are the best!
- They take a classic and give it a holiday kick! Who can resist a chocolate chip cookie? These chewy delicious peppermint chip cookies are the easiest way to take the classic CCC and make it extra festive. The peppermint flavor is a sure sign of the holiday season.
- These are super kid friendly. Get the kids in the kitchen. Oh what fun it is to CRUSH UP CANDY CANES! I can’t promise things won’t get messy though. My little guy loves helping make the crushed candy canes every time.
- They are delish! I mean, isn’t that the reason we bake cookies?? These are going to be the tastiest cookie at this year’s holiday cookie exchange–they fly off the dish every time I make them.
Ingredient Notes
See full list of ingredients with exact measurements below in the recipe card.
- butter: I use unsalted butter. Salted butter will work too, just half the amount of salt added later. Softened to room temperature, but not too soft that if you press into it, it is very mushy. Just enough to press a finger print into.
- flour: all purpose flour, if you can measure the weight, that is ideal. If not, stir the flour to aerate and then spoon and level into the measuring cup for best results. It is very easy to over measure flour especially if you scoop the measuring cup right into the flour.
- baking soda: make sure it is fresh. Expired baking soda can cause your cookies to be the opposite of a success!
- vanilla extract: You can also add a touch (1/4- 1/2 teaspoon) of peppermint extract for even more mint flavor.
- candy canes (or peppermint candies if not in season). You can also press small pieces of peppermint bark into the tops of the cookies from the oven or stir them into the cookie dough as well!
- dark and white chocolate chips: I prefer this combination, but you could use milk chocolate chips or bittersweet if preferred. You could also use the seasonal peppermint chips that are usually out around the holidays. You could also
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Cream the softened butter and sugars until light and fluffy with an electric hand or standing mixer.
Step 2: Make sure to do this for about 3 minutes for optimal lift in your baked cookies. You want the mixture to be light and fluffy.
Step 3: Add in the egg and vanilla.
Step 4: Beat to incorporate.
Step 5: In a separate bowl, whisk together the salt, flour and baking soda. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix only to incorporate.
Step 6: You don’t want to over mix at this point–that can cause the cookies to become tough, flat and very dense.
Step 7: Once the flour is incorporated, fold in the chocolate chips and crushed candy canes.
Step 8: Chill the cookie dough for about 30-60 minutes. You can use a cookie scoop or spoon and roll into approximately 1 1/2 inch balls and chill. I recommend chilling for at least 30 minutes or until ready to bake. If you chill longer than 2 hours, you may want to let the dough sit out a few before baking.
Step 9: Once chilled, arrange on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are slightly golden brown.
Step 10: When the cookies come out of the oven, use a biscuit cutter or wide mouth lid to shuffle them into nice round shapes (totally optional) and press a few extra chocolate chips and candy canes in to make them extra pretty, also optional.
Recipe Tips
- Too much candy cane near the edges of the cookie will run. Now this is the only issue I have with these cookies and I have been able to figure out a way for the most part to help keep the candy cane from running in all directions. When you scoop the cookies onto the cookie sheet, check around the edges to see if there are any big pieces of candy cane. If there are, either pull them out or try to press them into the dough. Having the candy cane run doesn’t ruin the cookie–it just doesn’t look quite as pretty!
- When in doubt, crush the candy canes REALLY SMALL. This will alleviate most issues with candy canes running. Just skip the big chunks–you will still love these!
- Chilling cookie dough is always a great idea. It helps to solidify the fats in the cookie so that when baking it takes longer for them to soften. No time to chill? Not the end of the world, but there will be a difference in the chewiness of the cookie.
- Always, always ALWAYS make sure that your baking soda is fresh. Old or expired baking soda can make your cookies flat. No one wants a flat cookie!
- I tried to make these simple to double the batch if you are wanting to make more to share with the people you love! I have made double the batch several times with great results!
- All the chips! The key to the best chocolate chip cookies is extra chips, right? Add whatever you like! I like to add more to the tops of the cookies fresh from the oven to get that melty chocolate look.
Storage
Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They will be at their best texture within the first 2 days.
To freeze these cookies, transfer them to a freezer safe container, adding a layer of wax paper or parchment paper between layers and freeze for up to 2 months. You can also freeze cookie dough. I suggest rolling into cookie dough balls first and then lining them on a plate or sheet pan and freezing them for about an hour or so before transferring to a freezer bag or container.
You can bake the cookie dough from frozen by adding about 2-3 minutes to bake time or bring to room temperature and bake from there!
Check out some of my cookie baking tips and FAQs here before you start baking these cookies!
Are Your Cookies Flat?
Flat cookies are often a result of one of the following:
- Not enough flour. I like to test one cookie in the very beginning. If it comes out too flat, I add a couple tablespoons into the cookie dough to help give them more lift and less spread.
- The dough is too warm. If you think you have the right amount of flour, the dough just might need to be chilled for a bit. Roll into balls and pop in the fridge for about 30 minutes before baking. It is also possible the the butter was too warm from the beginning and the creaming process was not the ideal temperature to really get lots of air into the butter and sugar mixture. This can also cause things to turn out a bit off.
- Cookie dough was over mixed. Over mixing cookie dough can cause dense, flat cookies. When adding the dry ingredients, only mix until it is incorporated and then stop.
- Your butter was too warm. Softened butter should still hold shape fairly well. If it becomes overly warm or soft, it can cause the cookies in the end to be not only a bit flat but also look somewhat greasy. When softening your butter, test it by pressing your finger into it. There should be a slight indentation, but it should not fully give and easily just press right through.
- Leavening agents are old. it’s possible that your baking soda is old or expired. Sometimes it can still be within the date range but had too much air exposure. In this case, you may just have to enjoy some flat cookies, sad but true.
Other Holiday Treats:
- Nutella Stuffed Ritz Cracker Cookies with Peppermint White Chocolate
- Cream Cheese Snowball Cookies
- One Bowl Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Christmas Golden Oreo Truffles
- Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Stuffed Crescent Wreath
- Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Pretzel Bark
- Dark Chocolate Peppermint Puppy Chow
- Individual Cranberry Orange Crisps
- Maple Vanilla Spiced Pecans Recipe
- Nutella Crumble Bars
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Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened*, 1 stick
- ½ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, packed firmly
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ cups flour** (204 g) see note!!, **If doubling the recipe, please see notes for grams!!
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ cup white chocolate chips
- ¾ cup dark or regular chocolate chips
- 5 candy canes, crushed into fine pieces, about 1/4 cup plus a tablespoon
Instructions
- Using a hand or standing mixer, cream butter, sugar and brown sugar until nice and creamy. (Mix for at least 3-4 minutes –don't skip this part!*) Add in vanilla and egg and beat until incorporated. You don't want to over do this part or cookies will be stiff. Just enough until the egg is mixed in (about 20 seconds.)
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, sea salt and baking soda. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips and candy canes.
- Chill the dough for about 30-60 minutes, seal tightly and chill up to 3 days before baking. (Allow to sit out 10-15 minutes before you bake them if you chill longer than about 2 hours.)
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Roll dough into balls or use a cookie scoop and line on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes or until cookies look slightly golden. When cookies come out of the oven, you can "pull them together" by putting a circle cookie cutter or biscuit cutter around each cookie and gently scoot them to form nice round cookies. Do not overbake your cookies–pull them out just before you think they are done.
- Allow to cool for several minutes before transferring to your mouth–er, a cooling rack.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I just finished making these cookies and they turned out awesome, instead of using candy canes I used Brachs crushed candy canes just measured the amount to use and was easy. Thanks for sharing this recipe
What a great idea! Going to do the same when I make them later this week!
Cooking time inaccurate. Not impressed. 🙁
Sorry to hear—would love more info! Not all ovens heat quite the same so there could also be some sort of issue with that even possibly?
Hi! I just made these with mini holiday baking chips (red and green) and Hershey chocolate chips. I doubled the recipe and the amount of the candy cane didn’t change so I doubled it from the first amount. Was that correct?
Even after pulling back on the amount of chips I put in there (only 3/4 c of the holiday chips v 1.5 c) it seemed like a lot of stuff for the structure of the cookie. They tasted good and my kids loved them but I also found them a bit greasy coming off the trays. Any thoughts?
I chilled the dough for about 20 minutes and that seemed to be a good amount as I couldn’t have scooped them out otherwise.
Very festive recipe and one I’d like to perfect!
Hi Brenda! I just hit the 2x on the recipe for doubling and the candy cane amount doubled so I assume it could have been a glitch. I think I may need to test these again for a double batch as it could just be a matter of a bit too much candy cane. The melting of the the candy while baking can cause the cookies to run a bit around the edges and can be the cause of the greasiness. I try to make sure no big pieces of candy cane are close the the side of the balls of cookies that could run. I am going to test these with 3/4 the amount of candy cane for a double recipe and see what happens. Also, I wonder if the red and green morsels were an issue. I read some reviews on the Nestle site and many said they ruined their cookies–not sure if that may be part of it??
This is a keeper of a recipe- following the recipe exactly resulted in soft, chewy bites of cookie with chewy candy cane and bites of sweet, savory and creamy white and dark chocolate chips. Love, love, love this recipe! thank you for sharing! I look forward to sharing with friends and family!
Yay!! So happy you enjoyed these so much! We make several batches every holiday season and they are always a huge hit!
I made these 2 times this week. The first time I melted the butter and only used semi-sweet chips. They turned out perfectly! The second time I made them I used white and semi sweet chips. I also just softened the butter to room temp, rather than melted. Both times I chilled the dough for about 10-15 minutes before baking. The second batch flattened into greasy flat cookies! I’m not sure if it was the white chocolate chips, or some other strange phenomenon, but they were a totally different cookie. Any thoughts? Thanks!
Hi Emily! That is so so interesting! One of the biggest things that can make a big difference without you really knowing is flour measurement. Even just a touch too little flour can flatten things out. The difference in using the melted butter versus the softened butter likely impacted it some as well but it surprises me the softened butter turned out so flat. Unless the butter was a bit too soft? I am hoping this was just a random fluke of some sort!
Outstanding. Some of the best cookies I have ever made or even eaten. I think they possibly taste better on the second day when all the flavors have had a chance to meld together. My only change was to skip the candy canes and use Andy’s creme de menthe baking chips in their place. My taste testers were swooning. And, the baker (me) had to stop sneaking more samples. Thank you, thank you.
So so glad to hear this! Where did you find the Andes chips?? I was looking for them not long ago and could not find them anywhere. Maybe I need to look now that the holiday season is over.
In the process of baking these right now! These are absolutely wonderful. I saw were the dough can be frozen dough. Good to know! Will the baked cookies also freeze well?
Celebrating a late Christmas and was going to wait til my grandsons (11 & 9) were here…glad I’m not! They would have just eaten the dough!!! Thanks so very much and Happy New Year!!
I freeze the baked cookies all the time. They last a couple months for us—well when we don’t eat them first! So happy to hear you all enjoyed them!
Hi Lorie!
These are amazing, and will be a Christmas cookie staple from now on!! These are better than Trader Joe’s Peppermint Chocolate Cookie mix.
I’m sure it’s not your recipe but an error on my part. Why are my cookies coming out flat, and not like the cookies pictured? This will not keep me from making them again, I’m just wondering what I did wrong????
Oh wow! Better than Trader Joe’s?!! That is huge. So here are a couple of things. First, chill them for an hour and see if that helps. Warm dough is the biggest culprit. Also, make sure your butter is not too soft when you start out. It should not easily press down like play-do, but rather still have a bit of firmness to it. Check to make sure your baking soda is super fresh as that can cause any baked good to flatten. If all else fails, try adding an extra tablespoon or two of flour. Hope all of this helps!
These are absolutely fabulous! I’ve made them twice and they turned out great! They didn’t last long with my family. We only had mini candy canes, so I used 10 of them. Cooked up really well both times. Thanks!
Thanks so so much Teresa! Just pulled a few from the freezer tonight! Can’t get enough!
Hey I was just wondering, I don’t have big candy canes, how many small ones would u say?
Hi! I would aim to do enough to get about 1/3-1/2 cup. I think about 10 or so should be fine!