White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

With bits of candy cane and both white and dark chocolate, these white chocolate peppermint cookies are festive and flavorful. With a unique, chewy texture that comes from melted white chocolate in the cookie dough, they’ll be popular in cookie boxes or at your holiday parties.

White chocolate peppermint cookies are a holiday tradition at our house. It’s recipe that I grew up with, (just like cherry blossom cookies) and one my kids and I love making together every year. I melt the white chocolate, they smash candy canes with a mallet. It all works together beautifully.

And melting that chocolate? It makes these cookies so unique. The texture is chewy and soft, without a hint of gooeyness. They also stay fresh for a very long time.

The dark chocolate chips add a lovely hint of contrast to the sweetness of the white chocolate and the sharpness of the peppermint.

I hope these cookies become a Christmas staple for you too!

Ingredients

• 4 ounces white chocolate — This can be either a chopped bar of white chocolate, or about 2/3 cup of white chocolate chips
• 170 grams (3/4 cup, or 1 1/2 sticks) butter — You want the butter to be very soft, but not completely melted.
• 132 grams (2/3 cup) sugar — Use granulated white sugar.
• 1 large egg — This will combine with the other ingredients best if it’s at room temperature.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract — I always recommend using pure vanilla extract.
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract — This is optional if you’re going for a lighter peppermint flavor. There will still be peppermint flavor from the candy cane pieces.
• 270 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour — If your flour is lumpy, you can sift it, but it’s not necessary.
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder — This is the rising agent that keeps the cookies from being completely dense.
• 1/2 teaspoon salt — Fine grain salt, like sea salt or table salt, will work best.
• 8 full-sized candy canes — Unwrap the candy canes, put them in a zippered bag and smash them with a rolling pin.
• 2/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips — regular sized chocolate chips will also work, but since the cookies are small, mini chips work better.

Candy Canes vs. Peppermint Candies

While you can crush peppermint candies for this recipe, I find that candy canes work better. They are easier to break because they’re smaller, and have more of the red coloring, which makes for a prettier cookie.

If you like to avoid artificial food coloring like I do, here’s an option that is colored with fruits and vegetables instead of red 40!

How to Make White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350° and place a rack in the center of it. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Mix the Wet Ingredients

In a heat safe mixing bowl, melt half of the white chocolate. You can set the bowl over a small pot of steaming water, stirring occasionally to prevent the chocolate from burning as it melts. Alternatively, you can microwave it in 15-20 increments, stirring after each bit of time.

Add the soft butter to the melted chocolate and stir with a wooden spoon or hand mixer until it’s a smooth, cohesive mixture. Next, cream the sugar into the mix.

Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until just combined-it will be a fairly runny mixture.

Adding the Dry Ingredients

Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of wet ingredients until they are thoroughly incorporated.

Fold in the rest of the white chocolate chips or chunks, mini chocolate chips, and crushed candy canes.

Scooping the Cookies

Scoop out rounded balls of the dough. I like to use a small cookie scoop like this OXO one for efficiency and consistency.

Place them about 2” apart on the parchment lined cookie sheets. The dough doesn’t spread much on it’s own, so they can be placed fairly close together.

Take any large bits of candy cane from the edge of each ball of cookie dough and press them gently into the top of it. Any large pieces will melt and create ragged edges on the cookies. You can also add any extra bits of crushed candy cane to the top for a bit of added decoration.

Bake the Cookies

Place the tray on the center rack in the oven, and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden brown and the centers are set.

Take the trays from the oven and let the cookies for for 2-3 minutes before removing to a cooking rack. You will want to remove them fairly quickly, as any candy cane that melted during baking will glue them to the baking rack and make it really hard to remove them without breaking.

Recipe Tips & Notes

• Make sure your white chocolate isn’t old. White chocolate ages much more quickly than it’s milk and dark counterparts. If it’s old, white chocolate won’t melt, but will instead reduce to a thick, gritty paste when heated.
  
• Line your baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. This will prevent them from sticking to your baking sheet, and will make clean up so much easier!
  
• Use a cookie scoop. A small scoop works best, around 2 tablespoons, like this one from OXO.
  
• Don’t overbake the cookies. While you want the cookies to look set, they should be pale and barely golden around the edges.
  
• Place any large bits of candy cane on top of the cookie dough ball. After scooping each cookie dough ball, look for any large pieces of candy cane around the edge. These will melt and create an uneven edge on your cookies. Pull the large bits out and place them on top of the ball of cookie dough before baking.
  
• If the cookie are a wonky shape after baking, you can reshape them. Use a spoon to press the misshapen parts back into a circle.

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