Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cookies

Peppermint hot chocolate is big at our house. I love it at the holidays. My kiddo loves it year-round. In fact she loves it so much, I ended up having to buy a bottle of peppermint syrup since we are not making as many coffee-shop runs these days.

This weekend my nieces are visiting and I found out that they love peppermint hot chocolate as much as my daughter. In fact, after a good play outside in the brisk sunlight, they all came in for a cuppa to warm up.

That got me thinking about an afternoon snack for them and I decided to take inspiration from that morning mug of goodness. I decided to make a peppermint hot chocolate cookie that is perfect for the holidays or any winter’s day.

I played with making these cookies a couple different ways. I first tried rolling the dough balls in crushed peppermint and then baking. However, I quickly found out that the candies melt before the cookie is set. They didn’t look as pretty as they did in my mind, but they still tasted great.

The second method I tried was sprinkling the crushed candy on immediately after the cookies came out of the oven. With the cookies piping hot, this worked well. The candies started to stick to the cookies nicely. It added a TINY bit more peppermint flavor. They looked cute as well.

The last method I tried was rolling the dough balls in no-melt sugar and then baking. This method created a bit of a crackle look to the cookies. They still had plenty of peppermint flavor from the cookie itself, and also had a bit of a “fresh snow” look to them.

I honestly couldn’t decide which look I liked best–the peppermint candies or the sugar–so I provided options for both in the recipe. You can give them a try and see which works best for you. You may even choose to skip the rolling or sprinkling all together–and they would be just as delish!

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cookies

Recipe by Kacey Baxter, Oven and SpiceCourse: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

28

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

8

minutes

The flavors of a peppermint hot chocolate shine through in these fun and festive cookies. They are perfect for the holidays or any winter’s day. This recipe includes two finish options: crushed peppermint candies or a fresh snow crackle. Whichever option you choose, they are sure to be a new hfavorite!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 cup 2% milk

• 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies -OR- 1/3 cup no-melt sugar

• 28 Hershey’s Kisses, Ghiradelli Thumbprint Drops or chocolate buttons

Directions

• Beat butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and peppermint extract in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add alternately with milk, beating until well blended. Cover and refrigerate dough until firm enough to handle, 30-60 minutes. Remove wrappers from chocolates if they are wrapped and set aside.
• Heat oven to 375° F. Measure out 1 tablespoon of dough and shape dough into a ball.
• If using the no-melt sugar, roll dough ball in sugar until covered and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• If using the crushed peppermint cookies, roll dough into ball and placed on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. If using the sugar, push chocolate into the cookie immediately after removing from the oven. If using the peppermint candies, sprinkle crushed candies over cookies while hot, then push chocolate into the cookie. Cool 1 minute, then remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Enjoy!

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