Peppermint Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
The best peppermint chocolate crinkle cookies, a minty twist on the Christmas cookie platter classic! Packed with dark chocolate, cocoa, brown sugar, vanilla, and peppermint, and rolled in both cane sugar and powdered sugar for extra crinkly tops, these decadent, flavorful chocolate cookies are sure to become a holiday favorite!
Peppermint chocolate crinkle cookies
Popping in to wish you a very Merry Christmas! However you celebrate, I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday filled with love, laughter and lots of good food.
We’re currently at my parent’s house in Santa Barbara, visiting with family, soaking up the California sunshine, eating our weight in Christmas cookies and the best local Mexican food, and loving being home. My mom and I have been doing some Christmas baking – richly spiced pumpkin bread, powdered sugar-dusted pecan praline cookies, classic chocolate chip cookies, frosted sugar cookies for Santa (decorated by Henry), melty peanut butter blossoms, and these minty chocolate crinkle cookies. To name a few!
I’m sneaking away from the family festivities for a few minutes to share this last decadent holiday recipe with you. Since resolutions, and kale smoothies, and veggie-laden salads stand poised to take over in January. Thank you for your support this year, and I look forward to cooking and baking together again in 2020! Wishing you and your family a cozy, wonderful holiday! xoxo, Laura
why you’ll love these peppermint chocolate crinkle cookies
These chocolate crinkle cookies have become a yearly Christmas tradition since I first found the recipe in Cook’s Illustrated about five years ago. Nearly foolproof and always a hit, I love these craggy black and white cookies for several reasons.
Taking deep caramel and molasses notes from dark brown sugar, they’re more complex and less saccharine than many versions of chocolate crinkle cookies that you’ll find languishing atop a holiday cookie platter. That being said, they’re still rolled in a generous amount of both granulated and powdered sugar, so there’s no worry about lack of indulgence here.
The combination of sugars outside helps to develop deep, and importantly, distinct cracks and fissures, making for a really pretty Christmas cookie.
But looks aren’t everything. While this recipe does produce nicely consistent, round cookies with perfectly crackly tops and soft and fudge centers, they’re also packed with tons of flavor from dark chocolate, rich cocoa, dark brown sugar, and fragrant vanilla and peppermint.
Because they don’t require chilling, you can also whip up a batch fairly quickly and relatively last minute, if the mood strikes or extra guests are arriving.
The original recipe calls for espresso powder – always a friend of chocolate – but I usually opt for a few drops of pure peppermint extract in addition to vanilla, instead. You can always add both (for a peppermint mocha inspired flavor profile).
The results are decadent and delicious and perfect for the holidays (or for any dark chocolate lover!).
what you need to make chocolate crinkle cookies
If you bake often, you probably have all the ingredients you need to make these minty chocolate cookies on hand, right now:
- dark chocolate: Look for a pure, unsweetened chocolate baking bar (100% cacao). Because these cookies are chocolate-focused, I like to use the good stuff.
- butter: adds flavor, and makes for super glossy melted chocolate.
- flour: we’re using traditional all-purpose flour. Be sure to measure by weight or spooning and leveling for the best results!
- cocoa powder: we add both melted chocolate and cocoa powder for double the dark chocolate flavor. I’ve always used natural unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Hershey’s), but Dutch-processed (like Rodelle baking cocoa) will work too.
- baking powder and soda: we combine both for the perfect amount of both lift and spread. This produces consistently round, gently puffed cookies.
- kosher salt: intensifies all of the flavors (I always use Diamond Crystal.)
- eggs: Add moisture, lift, bind the dough together, and gives us chewier cookies.
- dark brown sugar: adds sweetness with a more complex flavor than granulated sugar thanks to its natural molasses content.
- vanilla: always and forever.
- peppermint extract: adds a minty, holiday touch!
- cane sugar: helps to develop defined cracks on the outside of the cookies as they bake.
- powdered sugar: provides a pretty “snowy” contrast to the chocolate.
Find all the exact measurements and recipe instructions below.
how to make the best chocolate crinkle cookies:
We start by melting chocolate and butter together until smooth and glossy. Don’t the best recipes start with good dark chocolate?
The chocolate is whisked together with the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and peppermint. Then we fold in the dry ingredients, and a thick, somewhat sticky dough is formed.
Instead of chilling like many cookies require, this chocolate crinkle cookie dough takes the unusual step of resting for ten minutes at room-temperature, before the cookies can be rolled and baked.
The second surprising step is rolling the cookie dough balls in two kinds of sugar. The first layer, granulated sugar, dries out faster in the oven, producing defined cracks and crevices over the surface of the cookie. It also helps to hold the second layer (confectioners sugar) in place, revealing the chocolate dough beneath.
The result – a festive black and white contrast and gorgeous holiday cookie. Thank you, baking science! 😉
Happy baking!!
If you make these peppermint chocolate crinkle cookies, be sure to tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #forkknifeswoon and leave a comment and rating below letting me know how you liked them! ★★★★★ Star ratings are especially helpful because they help others find my recipes too. xo, Laura
Print
Peppermint Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 22 Cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The best peppermint chocolate crinkle cookies, a minty twist on the Christmas cookie platter classic! Packed with dark chocolate, cocoa, brown sugar, vanilla, and peppermint, and rolled in both cane sugar and powdered sugar for extra crinkly tops, these decadent, flavorful chocolate cookies are sure to become a holiday favorite!
Ingredients
- 4 oz unsweetened chocolate (100% cacao), chopped
- 4 Tbsp (55g) unsalted butter
- 1–1/4 cup (150g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (40g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 3 (150g) large eggs
- 1–1/2 cups (298g) dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 tsp (5g) pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp pure peppermint extract ¹
- 1/2 cup (99g) granulated sugar, for rolling
- 1/2 cup (60g) confectioners (powdered) sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325℉. Line two large rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Melt the chocolate and butter together in either a double-boiler over gently simmering water, or in a heat-proof glass bowl in the microwave. If using a microwave, heat in bursts of 30 seconds on medium power, stirring well and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula after each increment, until completely smooth and glossy. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined. Set aside.
- In another large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs until well-combined. Add the brown sugar, vanilla, and peppermint extract, and continue whisking until smooth and creamy.
- Stir in the melted chocolate, and mix until smooth. Fold in the flour mixture until just combined and no dry streaks remain. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes at room temperature.
- Meanwhile, place the granulated and powdered sugars in two separate shallow bowls.
- Use a 2-Tbsp cookie scoop (I used a #26) to scoop the dough into equal portions directly into the granulated sugar, about 4 at a time. Then gently roll into balls until completely coated, using the sugar to keep your fingers from sticking.
- Transfer to the powdered sugar and gently roll again until completely coated. Place on the prepared sheet pans, about 2-inches apart.
- Bake each sheet individually for 11-13 minutes, until the cookies are gently puffed and the tops are crackled. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the baking sheets. Enjoy!
Notes
¹ Start with 1/8 tsp of peppermint extract. If you like your cookies very minty, use up to 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp total. Any more and your cookies may become a little tooth-pasty!
Leftover cookies can be stored for 2-3 days. Place in single layers between parchment or wax paper in a tightly-covered container and keep refrigerated or at room-temperature.
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated.
Keywords: peppermint chocolate crinkle cookies, best peppermint cookie, mint, dark chocolate, no chill, with butter, powdered sugar
Originally published on December 26, 2015. Updated recipe and instructions.
I’m sorry, but this recipe is flawed. The egg, butter, flour ratios are off.
The batter is brownie batter consistency. Time in the fridge does thicken the batter, but batter and dough are different, and bake different. These have too many eggs, and not enough flour. There is no structure. Compare this recipe to others and you will notice the difference
★
Hi Vanessa – I’m sorry you feel that way. While it’s true that this is a softer/stickier cookie batter/dough, when the flour is measured correctly, preferably by weight (150g), the ratios are exactly where they should be. Also, this recipe calls for resting the dough at room-temperature, not in the fridge, and doing so also helps it thicken up, making it sturdy enough to scoop into the sugars and shape into cookie balls.
Yum – we made these today for a holiday cookie exchange, and they were delicious! The dough worked great – it was a little sticky and needed to be handled gently as it rolled in the sugar, but it was more forgiving than I expected and the cookies looked beautiful. I added a tsp of espresso powder to amp up the chocolate flavor, and I wish I’d used at least 1/4 tsp mint extract; the mint flavor was very subtle with 1/8 tsp. I baked both sheets at once and I switched them top to bottom halfway through baking, and dropped each pan once on the counter when I took them out to flatten the cookies a little and make them nice and dense. The texture was to die for – nice and fudgy, like a brownie in cookie form. And they looked just beautiful. We had some leftover holiday nonpareils, so I pressed one in the center of each cookie while they were still warm, kind of like a peanut butter blossom, and they looked adorable
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Rachel!! So happy they were a hit! And I love the idea of adding the nonpariels 🙂
These cookies are perfect every single time! Follow the recipe – the batter is quite soft at first, give it ten minutes to thicken as written in the instructions. It will thicken. If you’ve doubled or tripled the recipe it will take longer to thicken. I split it up into two or three bowls to speed up the process(only if I’ve doubled or tripled). As with anything, best results if you use a kitchen scale. 🙂
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Nicole!! And yes, firm believer in baking with a scale 🙃
Sooooo good, we loved the peppermint chocolate crinkle cookies, we will definitly be making them again with your recipe <3
★★★★★
Yay! Thanks so much, Savannah!
We love this recipe and they turned out amazing!
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Kayla!!
This cookie tasted very good. But the recipe doesn’t prepare you for the messy dough. I followed the instructions and though it was sticky after 10 min rest, it was too messy. So I refrigerated it for about 5 min. Then instead of scooping, I used 2 spoons. It dropped into the sugar ok, and I was able to roll it into a ball once it was coated with granulated sugar. They turned out fluffy and perfect. Just more of a mess than I would have liked.
★★★
When I glance at the recipe, having 3 eggs as well as the melted chocolate and butter combined with just 1 cup of flour seems off.
I followed it, but the batter is definitely more like a brownie batter and there’s no way it’s going to form up to be rolled.
Trying to figure out where I went wrong. I even ended up adding another 1/2 cup of flour to try and get a thicker dough but it’s still more like a brownie batter.
I weighed everything using my scale and my batter is too runny. There is no way I can roll into balls. It’s like raw thick brownie batter. How can I fix this? Add more flour? I’m not sure what to do now.
Hi, Jody! I’m sorry to hear the batter turned out so thin! It *should* be thick enough to scoop after the resting period, especially if you followed the gram measurements, so I’m not sure exactly what is off. It sounds like based on your comment below that you were able to make things work by adding extra flour (that would be my first suggestion) and chilling the dough, so I’m glad about that! Hope they still tasted delish 🙂
This recipe did not work for me either even though I used a scale. I added a bit more flour at the end and then chilled the bowl of dough in the fridge. I looked up the original Cooks Illustrated recipe and the recipe there calls for 5 oz of flour, according to my scale that is 160 g of flour. So the gram weight conversion here is too low and that may be the cause of all our cookie-making angst.
What if I don’t have chocolate, only cocoa?
Hi, Jody! You’ll need both chocolate and cocoa for these cookies to work.
I can’t wait to make these for Christmas! Is just regular brown sugar ok?
Hi! I like dark brown sugar because it adds a little more moisture and caramel flavor, but you can use light brown sugar too. Enjoy!!
Looking forward to all your delicious recipes in 2016!
★★★★★
Thanks so much for following along!! Happy Holidays!!
I weighed everything using my scale and my batter is too runny. There is no way I can roll into balls. It’s like raw thick brownie batter. How can I fix this? Add more flour? I’m not sure what to do now.
Update: I just made these by adding a bit more flour and refrigerating dough s few min. The first tray i baked they turned pretty flat. Therefore with the second tray I placed the balls in the fridge for 15 min and then baked at 340 degrees for 13 min. They stayed fluffier and did not flatten so my result was better with baking cold balls over room temp
These peppermint cookies are such a nice twist on the classic! I love the flavour!
Thanks, Katrina! Merry Christmas!!