Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookie Recipe

Published by Melissa on December 1, 2020 | Updated June 10, 2022 | 90 Comments

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These Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies are a rich,fudgy, dark chocolate, chewy cookie studded with creamy white chocolate chips and Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips.

Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookie Recipe | Barbara Bakes (1)

Whenever I’m at the grocery store, I keep my eyes open for fun baking ingredients. So when I saw Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips I grabbed a bag to make holiday cookies.

Peppermint and chocolate are a classic flavor pairing that always reminds me of the holidays. And these easy cookies are festive enough to bring cheer to any holiday dessert spread!

Update: The holiday season is here, so time to make more chocolate peppermint cookies! I’ve updated the post with new photos and tips for perfectly tender cookies every time.

Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookie Recipe | Barbara Bakes (2)

How to Make Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies

These cookies taste like a delightfully soft and chewy Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie. The dough is packed with dark chocolate flavor. And they stay nice and soft in the middle after baking, which to me is the sign of a perfect cookie. However, if you prefer a crisp cookie, simply bake them for a minute or two longer.

Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips are a mixture of peppermint candies (similar to candy canes) and white chocolate chips. They are a little crunchy, which adds a wonderful contrast to the chewy cookie.

Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookie Recipe | Barbara Bakes (4)

Ingredient Substitutions & Swaps

If you can’t find Andes holiday baking chips, no worries. You can also make chocolate peppermint cookies with a mixture of Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark and chopped candy canes for the same crunchy and minty effect.

The other important ingredient note with these cookies is to use unsweetened natural (not Dutch-processed) cocoa powder. My favorite cocoa powder is the Triple Cocoa Blend from King Arthur Flour which is a blend of three cocoas so it works in any recipe and has a rich flavor and dark color.

Tip: When baking cookies, use a scoop to portion out the dough and get perfectly round, even size cookies.

Here’s a tip many of your favorite food bloggers use to make their food look better for photos. If you add a few extra chips to the top of the dough after it’s been mixed and scooped onto cookie trays, those chips will stay on top and help your cookies look prettier.

Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookie Recipe | Barbara Bakes (6)

Make-Ahead Christmas Cookies

These chocolate peppermint cookies are a great make-ahead dessert recipe for the holidays. You can store the dough in the freezer for up to three months. To cook from frozen, just add 2-3 minutes to the baking time.

You can also keep the fully baked cookies fresh in the freezer for up to three months. Simply let the cookies thaw at room temperature for a few hours before serving.

Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookie Recipe | Barbara Bakes (7)

More Must-Try Holiday Dessert Recipes

Ir you’re a fan of seasonal flavors and festive decorations, these cookie recipes are for you:

White Chocolate Cranberry Orange Bars are perfect for the white chocolate lover in your life.
Almond Cookie Crisps are an elegant, wafer-like cookie that’s perfect for snacking all December long.
Mini Marshmallow Surprise Brownie Bites are a decadent upgrade to classic Christmas cookies, complete with red and green candy decorations.
Chocolate Marshmallow Pops with Candy Cane from Cookin’ Canuck are fun, customizable hand-held desserts that make great gifts.

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4.50 from 8 votes

Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies

Tender, soft chocolate cookies with peppermint crunch are perfect for the holiday season.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time11 minutes mins

Total Time21 minutes mins

Course: Cookies

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate peppermint crunch cookies

Servings: 3 dozen cookies

Calories: 139kcal

Author: Barbara Bakes LLC

Equipment

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line two cookie sheets with parchment or silpat liners.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Sift cocoa and add to flour mixture. (I like to use a fine-mesh strainer and sift the cocoa right over the bowl with the flour.) Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined.
Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Mix in Peppermint Crunch chips and white chocolate chips.
Using a medium cookie scoop, drop onto prepared baking sheets.
Bake for 9-11 minutes. Cookies will still be soft in the middle. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

High altitude changes: I reduced the granulated sugar to ¾ cup, add 1 tablespoon flour, and decreased the baking soda to 1 ½ teaspoons.

Nutrition

« Braised Beef Short Ribs

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About Melissa & Barbara

As of June 2022 Melissa Griffiths now is the one adding recipes. So think of it as Barbara Bakes, and Melissa too! Melissa and Barbara have been blogging friends for over 10 years and when Barbara was ready to retire and spend more time with her family, Melissa took over the site. Read more...

Reader Interactions

Comments

Linda. Lou
December 26, 2021 at 4:19 pm

Excellent cookies. Gave to neighbors as Xmas gift and had a few left over for my family. Thank you for a great, easy recipient.
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 26, 2021 at 6:08 pm
  
  Thanks Linda – glad they were a hit!
  Reply
Megan
December 21, 2020 at 2:40 pm

Do you think it would be ok if chilled overnight?
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 21, 2020 at 2:44 pm
  
  Hi Megan – yes, it will just need a little longer bake time. Enjoy!
  Reply
Arien
May 22, 2020 at 11:53 pm

Is it unsweetened cocoa?
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  May 23, 2020 at 8:09 am
  
  Hi Arien – yes, unsweetened cocoa. Enjoy!
  Reply
  - Arien
    June 18, 2020 at 6:16 pm
    
    Thanks. Also, if I use dutch processed, do I use the same amount of baking powder as baking soda?
    Reply
    - Barbara Schieving
      June 18, 2020 at 6:58 pm
      
      Since the cookies use baking soda, Dutch cocoa isn’t recommended. Here’s more info https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2014/01/10/the-a-b-cs-of-cocoa
      Reply
      - Arien
        July 03, 2020 at 2:34 pm
        
        You misunderstand. If I use dutch processed, I’d be using baking powder. So if the recipe says natural cocoa, and 1/2tsp baking soda, do I use dutch process and 1/2tsp baking powder in its stead?
      - Arien
        July 03, 2020 at 2:39 pm
        
        Your recipe says 1 and 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 2 tsp baking soda. So if I want to use dutch instead of regular, is it still 2 tsp but baking powder instead?
  - Arien
    July 03, 2020 at 2:49 pm
    
    Never mind! I found the substitution. Thanks!
    Reply
Brenda
December 29, 2019 at 6:45 pm

Just realized what I did wrong. I used 1 stick of butter instead of 2
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 29, 2019 at 6:52 pm
  
  Thanks for the follow up 🙂
  Reply
  See Also
  Healthy Pecan Date Bars Recipe | Not Enough Cinnamon
- Bryan
  January 09, 2023 at 8:01 pm
  
  Yep, did the same thing 2nd time I made these…lol.
  Maybe since many recipes call for 1\2 stick, putting in parenthesis by 1 cup (2 sticks) would just reaffirm overlooking that measurement 🙂
  Reply
Brenda
December 29, 2019 at 6:18 pm

Made these but mine stayed the shape of balls, they didn’t spread out into a cookie shape. Any idea what I might of done wrong?
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 29, 2019 at 6:30 pm
  
  Hi Brenda – maybe how you’re measuring your flour? https://www.barbarabakes.com/how-to-measure-flour/
  Reply
  - Brenda
    December 29, 2019 at 6:47 pm
    
    Thank you for this helpful tip
    Reply
Lisa
December 15, 2019 at 4:56 pm

Love these – 2nd year in a row making them. Any idea on calories ? Only because I track
Reply
Mary
December 15, 2018 at 7:44 pm

Oh my goodness!!! These chocolate peppermint crunch cookies are awesome!!! Turned out perfectly!!!! I had to substitute the Ghiradelli peppermint chips because I couldn’t find Andes but this recipe is a keeper for sure! Thank you so much!!! I’m now following you on Facebook & Instagram!!!
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 15, 2018 at 9:07 pm
  
  That’s awesome! Thanks so much for the rave review Mary.
  Reply
Lisa Guernsey
November 11, 2018 at 2:51 pm

Just made these cookies as I love peppermint! Are they suppose to be flat? I used all ingredients to the measurements! Was hoping for a puffy mint cocoa cookie. Taste wonderful- just flat!
Thanks for any suggestion.
Lisa
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  November 11, 2018 at 6:07 pm
  
  Hi Lisa – no they’re not suppose to be a flat cookie. Glad they tasted good. Did you cream you butter and sugar well? Maybe try adding a little more flour?
  Reply
Jessica
December 23, 2017 at 4:09 pm

Do you sift the cocoa and then measure? Most recipes that call for this say “sifted” in the ingredients but I just wanted to make sure. Thanks!
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 23, 2017 at 4:50 pm
  
  Hi Jessica – typically I measure first and then sift the cocoa. Enjoy!
  Reply
lucy
December 08, 2017 at 2:36 pm

made this recipe and absolutely loved it!! i always make my cookies pretty large so added 1-2 minutes baking time and got about 22-24 cookies. very chewy and soft, the perfect cookie. i will definitely be making these again next holiday season!!
Reply
Cynthia
December 21, 2016 at 10:59 am

Made these with my daughter yesterday and they turned out dry and crumbly. Any suggestions as to why this happened? We followed your recipe to the tea and used your high altitude suggestions since we are at 6,500 ft. I was really hoping for that chewy, chocolate cookie and would love to make it work. Thanks.
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 21, 2016 at 4:52 pm
  
  Hi Cynthia – 6,500 ft. is really high altitude – you’ll need to make even more changes. Here’s a guide I like https://cityhomecountryhome.blogspot.com/2010/08/high-altitude-baking-and-candy-making.html. Also, how you measure your flour makes a big difference https://www.barbarabakes.com/how-to-measure-flour/. You may also need to reduce your cook time or check your oven with an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is cooking at the correct temperature. Good luck! 🙂
  Reply
Heather
December 20, 2016 at 8:49 pm

Made these for the second year in a row! I think they’ve eclipsed gingerbread as my favorite Christmas cookie. 🙂
Reply
- Heather
  December 20, 2016 at 8:50 pm
  
  Also – used Andes last year but couldn’t find them this year so I just chopped up a bag of peppermint kisses.
  Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 21, 2016 at 5:50 am
  
  Thanks for taking the time to let me know. Merry Christmas Heather!
  Reply
Jennie
December 26, 2015 at 9:44 am

Love these cookies! They are definitely not dry at all. I love the consistency and have made them a number of times. The whole family loves them!
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 26, 2015 at 10:07 am
  
  Thanks Jennie! I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know your family loves them and that you’ve made them several times.
  Reply
Wendy B.
December 24, 2015 at 5:06 pm

The batter was a little dry, which had me worried. But these made a really great fudgy and — more importantly — easy cookie to go along with more time-intensive decorated sugar cookies for the cookie platters we give to our neighbors. Thanks!
Reply
Kathy
December 11, 2015 at 7:25 pm

These are HORRIBLE!!!!!! DRY!DRY!DRY!! Ruined a lot of great ingredients and wasted a lot of precious time.
Reply
- Kathy
  December 11, 2015 at 7:26 pm
  
  Oh..you only post positive comments?
  Reply
  - Barbara Schieving
    December 11, 2015 at 7:55 pm
    
    I review comments before they’re published to avoid offensive comments.
    Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 11, 2015 at 7:54 pm
  
  Hi Kathy – sorry you had troubles with the recipe. I’m not sure what went wrong for you, but these are definitely not a dry cookie. Did you make any changes? Or maybe you left out an ingredient?
  Reply
  - Kristy
    December 23, 2018 at 4:50 pm
    
    Sometimes it could be the type of cocoa your using. If I use an intense dark cocoa, the. It makes a dry cookie dough.
    On another note, this is the first time I’m making these tonight. Can’t wait to bring them to my cookie swap.
    Reply
    - Barbara Schieving
      December 23, 2018 at 7:01 pm
      
      Good point – thanks Kristy! How fun to have a cookie swap.
      Reply
Diane
November 18, 2014 at 2:43 pm

Just made these cookies (with the help of my 2 1/2 year old grandson) and they are delicious! Diane
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  November 18, 2014 at 8:51 pm
  
  What a fun way to spend time with your grandson. Glad you enjoyed the cookies.
  Reply

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Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookie Recipe | Barbara Bakes (2024)