These no-chill candy cane peppermint chocolate chip cookies are ready in just 30 minutes for scrumptious holiday treats worthy of your celebrations with no fuss, just flavor.
And if you enjoy this recipe, you'll love my family's favorite candy cane cookies or bourbon chocolate chip walnut cookies, too!
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❤️ Why You'll Love this Recipe
Quick and Easy - This candy cane and chocolate chip cookie recipe produces cookies with crispy edges and soft chewy centers, but you don't have to wait for the dough to chill, so it's possible to bake several dozen in under an hour--perfect for Christmas cookie exchanges!
Chocolatey Minty Flavor - Too much peppermint can make even the best baked goods taste like toothpaste, but my peppermint and chocolate chip cookies strike the perfect balance of rich chocolatey goodness, buttery brown sugar cookie dough, and cooling candy canes.
Putting unique twists on classic cookie recipes is one of my favorite holiday activities--and I've got variety for you. Check out my Christmas sprinkle cookies, tahini sugar cookies, chai spiced peanut butter cookies, pumpkin spice snickerdoodles, and sweet potato pie thumbprints!
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What You'll Need for this Recipe
Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar for soft, chewy texture with full-bodied sweetness. I use light brown sugar in this recipe, but you can use dark brown sugar if you want slightly stronger molasses flavor.
Chocolate Chips + Chocolate Chunks give a satisfying combination of gooey melted chocolate and firm chips. I recommend using bittersweet, dark or semi-sweet for a nice flavor balance with the sweetness of the cookie dough.
Crushed Peppermint and Peppermint Extract infuse refreshing flavor into the cookie dough and provide pops of peppermint crunch in every bite.
Check out the recipe card below for full ingredients list, measurements, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions!
Substitutions & Variations
Bars or Cookie Cake - Switch things up by pressing the cookie dough into a pan in one big piece, then baking into a cookie cake--or you can then cut it into peppermint chocolate chip cookie bars.
Vegan - You can make these cookies vegan or dairy free by using plant-based butter, egg, and chocolate products in the same ratios as the written recipe.
How to Make Crushed Candy Cane Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Step 1: Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Step 2: Mix together butter, sugars, eggs, and extracts until smooth.
- Step 3: Combine flour mixture to wet mixture then stir in crushed peppermint and chocolate.
- Step 4: Scoop cookie dough onto lined sheet pan and sprinkle more peppermint crunch over top.
Pro Tip
Gently press the crushed candy into the cookie dough balls but don't press the dough down so that the cookies don't turn out too flat.
- Step 5: Bake until cookies are golden brown and set around the edges.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can bake the cookies up to three days in advance with good results.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to two weeks. I don't recommend refrigerating because they will become hard. Beyond that time, you can freeze them.
To freeze the cookie dough, scoop the dough into balls onto a parchment lined sheet pan and flash freeze until solid (about one hour). Transfer the frozen dough into an airtight, freezer-safe container. To freeze the cookies after baking, cool them to room temperature then place in freezer on parchment lined sheet pan and flash freeze. Transfer the cookies to an airtight, freezer-safe container. Keeps for up to 4 months.
How to Serve
Peppermint extract chocolate chip cookies are best served warm with milk or a mug of holiday hot chocolate! They will be all gone if you leave them out for Santa on Christmas Eve and are a big hit in Christmas cookie boxes with peppermint bark brownies and frosted Christmas cookie bars.
The serving size is one cookie, and this recipe makes almost three dozen, so you would be set for a holiday party or Christmas movie marathon, too. Full nutrition information is in the recipe card below, if you need it!
More Festive Cookie Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
I hope you'll enjoy these chewy chocolate chip peppermint cookies soon and very soon. And sharing is caring, so be sure to pin this recipe for later and follow me over on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
📖 Recipe
Peppermint Candy Cane Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- 1-3 cookie sheets to bake multiple batches simultaneously
- 1 whisk
- 1 silicone spatula or kitchen spoon
Ingredients
- 3 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt or table salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 cups dark, semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup dark, semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate bar roughly chopped
- ½ cup crushed peppermint plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper then set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.3 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- In another mixing bowl, vigorously mix together butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract until smooth (about 1 minute), using silicone spatula or kitchen spoon.1 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup light brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- Add flour mixture to butter and sugar mixture and stir until a uniform dough forms. Stir in chocolate and peppermint bits until incorporated. Do not over mix.2 cups dark, semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, 1 cup dark, semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate bar, ½ cup crushed peppermint
- Use cookie scoop to portion dough onto lined cookie sheet(s), leaving at least two inches between each scoop of dough. Sprinkle more crushed peppermint over top then transfer pan to oven and bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are set and golden brown.
- Allow cookies and melted candy cane to cool and set on pan(s) for about 5-10 minutes before handling. If using one cookie sheet, remove baked cookies then repeat baking process with remaining cookie dough.
Fun Auntie says
So easy! I made these cookies with my niece and nephew for Christmas. They are three and five years old and were in charge of the mixing so everything wasn’t perfectly smooth but the cookies still came out amazing! Nice flavors and not overly sweet. We used semisweet chocolate chips and decorated with red and green sprinkles before putting them in the oven. It was a blast! Thank you for making this so easy!
Jazzmine Woodard says
I'm so glad you could enjoy these cookies with little ones! That's what this time of year is all about.