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In case you’re attending a “cookie exchange” party this year or just want to switch things up from the typical holiday sugar cookie cut outs…I have a recipe for you! This is an oldie, but goodie that I have been making for many years. They are made completely from scratch and therefore light years beyond any of those packaged cookie dough rolls or boxed cookies you’ll find for sale these days. So for that reason alone – I think these are a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth this holiday season!
Disclaimer: This recipe contains refined white sugar, which means it doesn’t technically follow our real food rules…so only enjoy in moderation!
How To Make Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Now I did make these cookies into cute little shapes with the help of my cookie press (that I’ve had forever and love). I also tried this recipe without using the press for those of you who may not have one, and while they came out just fine, our preference (mainly for texture reasons) is definitely to make this recipe with the press. They just come out a lot more crisp with the press, which I think is best with these flavors. Plus, aren’t they just adorable in all these fun shapes? And bonus – if you wanted to dip these cookies in melted chocolate (and let them harden of course) you’d have yourself some homemade Thin Mints. Yum! Check out this Baking Resource for help with conversions!
Try these Almond Flour Cookies too!
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter (unsalted and softened (but not melted))
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (100% cacao)
- 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large bowl mix the butter and sugar with an electric whisk or beaters until well combined. Drop in the egg, vanilla, peppermint, and salt and continue mixing. Reduce the speed to low and add in the cocoa powder and flour until well blended. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Pack the dough into the cookie press and fit it with your desired design plate. Press the dough onto ungreased cookie sheets (if the dough is too cold it won’t “release” from the press onto the cookie sheet very easily). Continue pressing out cookies using as many different design plates as you’d like (that’s the fun part!) spacing the cookies about 1″ apart.
- Bake until firm to the touch, about 10 minutes. Cool on drying racks and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Alternatively you could freeze them for later!
I made them replacing all the sugar with raw maple syrup and they turned out great as well.
How much maple syrup did you use?
I just used the same measurement – 3/4 cup sugar for 3/4 cup maple syrup.
I made these using 1/2 honey and 1/2 coconut sugar in place of the white sugar. They turned out so yummy!! :) Thank you for the recipe!!
We followed the recipe as written and they were so easy. The kids loved using the press. It worked perfectly. The batter was perfect, but the kids thought that the cookies werent sweet enough. I like the whole wheat flavor and texture. Thanks for sharing!
Has anyone tried these with melted chocolate? I was wondering if milk chocolate or dark chocolate would taste better.
Hi Carly. We love dark! :) ~Amy
Made these for our daycare cookie exchange, they turned out great! Easy recipe, ours made only about 36 each batch, but I doubled it. Thank you for sharing!
What would you use to make the melted chocolate to make them into “thin mints”? Thanks!!
Hi Sara. Just dip them in melted dark chocolate. :) ~Amy
Can I sub Vegan Butter? Can’t do the lactose.
Hi Barbara. We typically sub for butter with coconut oil. Here is some info on cooking with it: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/02/07/how-to-cook-with-coconut-oil/. ~Amy
What type of chocolate would you dip them in? I have bad luck with melting chocolate and wonder if I’m missing something!
Hi Karissa. We look for the “cleanest” dark chocolate chips we can find at Earth Fare or Whole Foods-like stores. As far as method goes,this might help: http://www.bhg.com/recipes/desserts/chocolate/chocolate-melt-dip-or-drizzle/. ~Amy
Like Little Green Pouch
Whoops! Wrong page…
I am only getting maybe 2 1/2 dozen using a cookie press. Am I doing something wrong, or does it depend in the disk you use? I was really hoping to get 4 dozen, but not anywhere close.
Hi Amy. It should yield about four dozen. You might just be pressing out too much dough. ~Amy
Has anyone tried this with crushed peppermints? Just curious because I’m looking forward to making these and I’m out of peppermint extract. Thanks :)
Hi Brittany. We have not. Let us know if you try. ~Amy
I have made many batches of these this week. I did make a batch with coconut sugar and all oat flour for the flour. The taste came out great but I couldn’t get that mixture to work with my press. I scooped out small balls and once cooked they were a flat crispy round cookie that tasted great, but looked boring. I am drizzling chocolate over them to give them a fancy look. :)
Each year I bake hundreds of cookies to send to friends and family for the holidays.
I was super jazzed to try this recipe today, as I love your blog.
Unfortunately, the first pan ran all over. The spritz wreath design totally lost, though they remained mostly discrete large circles. The good news is, I think they might make some of the best ice cream sandwiches, ever. The other two sheets are pressed and chilling in the fridge. Hopefully after chilling they will keep together and make adorable wreaths.
P.S. I did used softened (not melted) butter.
How about with Stevia, Truvia or others like that? I wonder how it would be. I think I might try it; we try not to use sugar either. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Erin. Here is a little information about stevia: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/04/25/stevia-food-babe-investigates/. ~Amy
Just took the first pan from the oven of the second batch I made! These are oh so good!!! Preferred them the next day rather than straight from the oven. Trying this batch with melted chocolate. Thanks for this and SO many other recipes. :)
Has anyone tried these with honey or raw maple syrup instead of sugar?
I would love to know if it worked. We don’t eat white sugar but I want a alternative cookie recipe for Christmas.
I wonder how many drops of peppermint essential oil can be used to substitute the peppermint extract. I love using my essential oils!
Thank you for posting this recipe. In the past I have made chocolate covered Oreos for the holiday and my kids loved them. I had wondered what I could substitute for the Oreos (I won’t buy them any more) and this will totally work! Thank you!!
We always make spritz cookies but this was the first time we tried this variation as well and they are delicious!! They smell so good and taste like a peppermint pattie! Thanks for the recipe!
Cute cookies Lisa. I’m always looking for a reason to pull out my cookie press. :)
I make spritz cookies every year and was thrilled to try this variation. I had a really hard time getting the dough out of the press to stick to the parchment. It seemed to be really sticky dough. Am I the only one with this problem? The ones that I got to come out were so delicious. Instead of dipping in chocolate, I added 6ish mini chocolate chips on top of each cookie before baking. I’m sure some crushed candy cane would make them look even more festive. YUM! Excited to add these to my holiday repertoire.
Hi Dana, the instructions for the Kuhn Rikon cookie press say that you should not use parchment or non-stick cookie sheets, or greased cookie sheets, as the dough needs to stick to the surface of the cookie sheet in order to release from the press. Hope this helps! Btw, great idea to add the mini choc chips before baking — wish I’d read this before making them this morning! :-)
Used about 1/3 tsp peppermint oil since I was out of extract and they turned out amazing. :)
Do you have a gingerbread cookie recipe? I love gingerbread but would love a whole-wheat recipe with non-refined sugar (honey?). Thanks!
No, Emily, sorry. I did a quick search and found several recipes that include honey but not any without some sugar. ~Amy
Do you think you could use peppermint essential oil?
Hi Christie. I assume yes, but do not know how to convert the amount of extract vs oil. ~Amy
I made these this morning and the are wonderful! I used the white whole wheat flour. For those of you wondering, substituting the white whole wheat flour for whole wheat is not usually a problem. I usually have trouble when I sub white whole wheat flour for all purpose. I usually have to add a little extra liquid with those substitutions. Dipping these in chocolate sounds wonderful! I would increase your peppermint extract amount if you are trying to replicate Thin Mints. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Lisa!
My grandsons do not get any artificial flavors/colors. Was wondering if peppermint extract is made with natural flavor or artificial? If natural, these will be fantastic, and I’ll be making them after I can run to the grocery store!
I checked out a couple options for peppermint extract at the grocery store the other day. No artificial colors or flavors. The generic store brand had alcohol, water, and peppermint oil. The Simply Organic brand has just sunflower oil and peppermint oil. Hope that helps!
Is there a certain type or brand of chocolate that you would dip these in? They sound delicious!
Hi Amy. We would look for a dark chocolate with a short/clean ingredient list. There is not one brand Lisa recommends but you can find better varieties at stores like Whole Foods and Earth Fare. ~Amy
Lisa,
I’ve definitely also made Christmas cookies WITH SUGAR this holiday season! However, I just love these Skinny Mints which are sugar-free, butter-free, gluten-free, and also deeelicious! They are a no-bake Larabar-ish cookie :) Happy weekend :) http://fresh-you.blogspot.com/2011/10/calling-all-girl-scout-thin-mint-fans.html
Colleen :)
can’t wait to try these.
cookies sound yummy, love chocolate and peppermint ;)
To those without cookie presses: my grandmother has always pressed her cookies with the bottom of her crystal glasses (they happen to make sort of a star/snowflake pattern because of their fancy bottom)! No need to fret…or spend money if you don’t want to, just pull out a container with an interesting bottom and press away! :-)
Can you clarify? Do you do a little blob of dough and then smash it down with the glass?
I believe so, Bethany. I googled it real quick and saw this: http://www.thekitchn.com/tip-press-vintage-glassware-on-135196
I don’t have any glasses but I do have a little crystal bowl that might work
Yes! My grandma rolls the dough into little balls and then smashes them down. :-)
Easy, quick, and all the ingredients were in my pantry. Kids enjoyed pressing them. Surprised how many cookies this recipe made. We will dip a few in chocolate tomorrow. I used sprouted flour. Next time I will use sprouted flour and maple sugar. These would be easy and inexpensive to share with neighbors.
These sound delicious! I would definitely dip them in chocolate to go the thin mint route ;)
Novice baker here! I have whole wheat white flour on hand – can I use that instead of regular whole wheat flour? Thanks!!
Hi Beth. White wheat should work fine. ~Amy
This batter is to stick to roll. It is best to use the press. They are very affordable.
This cookie are so good.
You could put them in the refrigerator overnight and then roll them out. I put my cookie dough in the frig for a couple of days (waiting for my press to arrive in the mail) and then had to set the cookie dough out on the counter for about an hour or so to warm up in order to use in the press.
Can I use white wheat flour?
Hi Jennifer. You can. :) ~Amy
I know you are not gluten-free, but do you have any thoughts on good GF replacement flour(s), and whether or not a binding gum should be used? I’ll try them one way or the other, they look delicious! I even have an ancient cookie press that I picked up at a garage sale a few years ago! I scrubbed gluten-free, but have only used it once!
Stacy, I cooked gluten-free for my daughter for over 20 years, and just made some gluten-free cut-out sugar cookies for my grandson. One of the things I have learned is that the best recipes for gluten-free baking are “regular” recipes, just substituting a gluten-free flour mix. I used to make my own, using Gluten-free Pantry’s recipe, but I just bought a box of the Gluten-free Pantry baking mix, which contains guar gum as a binder, and it worked perfectly.
Thanks Sandy!
Totally making these! Cannot wait. Thanks for sharing!
Are these cookies soft/chewy or crunchy? Sound delish!
Crunch if they are thin like the cookie press makes them.
Can you make these by rolling out dough and using cookie cutters? I don’t have a cookie press but would love to make these
I have not tried that, but I do think it would work. I would roll the dough out to about 1/8″ thick (or so).