Soft and chewy cookies packed with peppermint pieces and speckled with chocolate chips in every bite. These chocolate chip peppermint cookies are a seasonal delight.
These candy cane chocolate chip cookies are perfect winter treat. Made with the best chocolate chip cookie recipe as a base and then packed with peppermint candies, every bite is sweet and refreshing.
If you still have peppermint candies leftover, make sure to check out my White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn and Peppermint Shortbread Cookies. They're two holiday favorites that we cant seem to get enough of!
Why This Recipe Works
- The recipe is simple. The steps for making these cookies is very simple and easy. Measure, mix, scoop, bake, no long chilling times are required! From start to finish you can have a batch of cookies ready to eat in just minutes.
- The ingredients are basic. We don't use anything too fancy for these chocolate chip mint cookies, in fact you'll find most of what you need already in your pantry.
- The cookies are perfect. These are the kind of cookies that will have Santa leaving nicer gifts under the tree. Seriously, grab your cup of hot chocolate (We love this Butterfingers Hot Chocolate) or a cold glass of milk and enjoy!
🥘 Ingredients
All-purpose flour- Flour is the structural base needed for the dough.
Cheesecake Jell-o Instant Pudding- Add in a box of pudding mix (just the dry stuff), and be amazed at how well these cookies turn out. The added flavor and chewy texture are incredible.
Cornstarch- Adding in a little cornstarch will make our cookies softer.
Leavening agents- You will need baking powder and baking soda to help these cookies puff up and spread nicely as they bake.
Salt- This is a natural flavor enhancer.
Unsalted butter- Butter will give the dough more fats needed to stay moist. While unsalted works best, you can use salted butter instead.
Sugars- For the perfect amount of chewiness, crisp edges, and soft middles, you'll need both brown sugar and granulated sugar.
Vanilla extract- This is another flavor enhancer.
Peppermint extract- Add in a little peppermint extract for a stronger peppermint taste in every cookie.
Eggs- These are binding agents meant to help the cookies from crumbling apart. The egg yolks also make the cookies taste richer.
Semi-sweet chocolate chips- To contrast with the sweetness, semi-sweet chocolate chips work really well, but don't be afraid to try dark chocolate or even white chocolate chips instead!
Crushed peppermint candies- See my note below on what type of peppermint candies work best and why.
For specific quantities, see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make chocolate chip peppermint cookies with these simple step-by-step instructions:
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cheesecake pudding dry mix, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add in the vanilla and peppermint extract. Mix to distribute.
And in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of egg mixture and mix until well combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips and peppermint candies.
Scoop the dough into 2 tablespoon sized scoops and place on a parchment lined baking sheet at least 2 or 3 inches apart.
Place the sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Alternatively, you can let the dough chill in a covered bowl in the fridge for a few hours. Let unused dough sit covered in the fridge to avoid getting too warm as it waits.
Place 6 chilled cookie dough balls onto your baking sheet, evenly spaced.
Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes until the edges look set. Let cool for 10-30 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to the cooling wrack.
Continue until all cookies have been cooked and cooled.
📖 Variations
If desired, you can swap out the chocolate chips for any other type of chocolate chip such as semi-sweet, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate. White chocolate chip candy cane cookies would be incredible!
🍴 Recipe Tips
DO NOT use actual candy canes for this recipe.
The candy canes are made of sugar and will melt while the cookies are baking, leaving you with hard crunchy sugar bits all over your baking sheet and cookie. They may even leave holes in the cookies if you move them too quickly.
We want to use Bob's Sweet Stripes candy because they will not melt or dissolve, and they will leave you with a great texture that isn't too hard to bite into. They're pretty perfect and still pack a delicious amount of peppermint in every bite.
💭 FAQs
These cookies can be left in an airtight container at room storage for up to 5 days. If desired you can chill the cookies in the fridge, but they have the best texture when room temperature.
These cookies can be frozen once they have been baked and cooled completely. Place them into an airtight container and free for up to 3 months.
You can make this dough up to 1 day in advance and keep it covered in the fridge before scooping and using. I do not recommend freezing the dough for more than the requested 10 minutes though because that will change the texture of the cookies when baking.
More great cookie recipes to check out soon
- Lucky Charms Cookies
- Valentines Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies
- Elf Sized Cookies
- Honey Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Giant Sprinkle Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies with Potato Chips and Pretzels
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Chip Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour ($0.24)
- 1 box (3.4 ounce) Cheesecake Jell-o Instant Pudding ($0.98)
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch ($0.01)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder ($0.02)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda ($0.01)
- 1 teaspoon salt ($0.10)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened ($1.50)
- 1 cup brown sugar ($0.35)
- 1 cup white sugar ($0.22)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla ($0.04)
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract ($0.01)
- 2 large eggs, room temp ($0.16)
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips ($0.98)
- 1 cup crushed peppermint candies (preferably Sweet Stripes) ($2.24)
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cheesecake pudding dry mix, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add in the vanilla and peppermint extract. Mix to distribute.
- And in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of egg mixture and mix until well combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and peppermint candies.
- Scoop the dough into 2 tablespoon sized scoops and place on a parchment lined baking sheet at least 2 or 3 inches apart.
- Place the sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Alternatively you can let the dough chill in a covered bowl in the fridge for a few hours. Let unused dough sit covered in the fridge to avoid getting too warm as it waits.
- Place 6 chilled cookie dough balls onto your baking sheet, evenly spaced.
- Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes until the edges look set. Let cool for 10-30 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to the cooling wrack.
- Continue until all cookies have been cooked and cooled.
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