Candy Cane Crunch Dark Chocolate Cookies
These Candy Cane Crunch Dark Chocolate Cookies combine a soft and chewy cream cheese cookie with dark chocolate bars that are filled with candy canes for the perfect holiday chocolate chip cookie!
If you're looking for more perfect holiday cookies, make sure to check out Eggless Sourdough Molasses Cookies, Eggless Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies, Mexican Hot Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Peppermint Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies, or Gluten Free Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Candy Cane Crunch Dark Chocolate Cookies
- Ready In: 25 minutes
- Makes: 24 cookies
- Main Ingredients: butter, cane sugar, all purpose flour, candy cane crunch chocolate bars
- Flavor Profile: cool mint with dark chocolate crunch in every bite
- Dietary Info: no seed oils, gluten free swap available
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: like peppermint bark and chocolate chip cookie had a delicious baby
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Chocolate + Candy Canes: These chocolate candy cane crunch cookies cookies are incredibly easy to make! They come together in minutes, they don’t require any chill time, and they are basically like candy cane and dark chocolate cookies had a baby together.
- Soft & Chewy: These Candy Cane Crunch Dark Chocolate Cookies use cream cheese in addition to eggs, but the added cream cheese makes these extra soft and chewy! These holiday dark chocolate cookies are ones that you will want to make again and again.
- Crowd Pleaser: This is a fun twist on holiday cookies! Even Delaney, who is not as much of a fan of peppermint as I am, is obsessed with these. He was upset that I gave some to our neighbor! We ate the rest of them in just two days, and the next day he asked me when I would make them again!
Using a flavored chocolate bar in cookies is one of my favorite baking hacks. It allows you to bring loads of flavor into cookies with one single ingredient. I'm using Lake Champlain Candy Cane Crunch Dark Chocolate Bars in these cookies, which provide dark chocolate as well as peppermint flavor and a subtle crunch!
I use this technique in other cookie recipes like Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies, Crunch Bar Cookies, and Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies!
Ingredients
- Brown Sugar: I use my homemade light brown sugar in this recipe, but store bought also works!
- Eggs: I use organic large eggs, be sure to get large so you have the right size. Eggs that are too small (medium) could result in dry cookies. Eggs that are too large (like extra large) can result in flatter cookies with more spread.
- Cream Cheese: This gives these cookies a slight tang and makes them extra soft and chewy!
- Baking Soda: I use baking soda because these cookies have brown sugar. For more into on the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder, read my post!
- Chocolate Bars: I use Lake Champlain Organic Candy Cane Crunch Dark Chocolate Bars in these cookies. This gives these cookies rich dark chocolate, cool peppermint flavor, and a little crunch with just one ingredient!
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- If you don't have the specific candy cane chocolate bars I use, you can use a mix of chocolate chips and crushed candy canes.
- If you want to add white chocolate into these cookies, you can do that as well.
- If you want a thicker cookie, refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 1 hour before baking.
- I like to round these cookies out after baking using a cookie cutter (you can also use a glass) for perfectly round cookies.
- Be sure to store in an airtight container so these stay soft and chewy.
- Gluten Free — Replace the all purpose flour with 269 grams (1 ¾ cups) gluten free flour blend.
- High Altitude — Bake at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottoms.
How to Make Candy Cane Crunch Dark Chocolate Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Mix on low until combined and there are no chunks of butter. Add the cream cheese.
- Continue to mix on low to medium until the butter is light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the eggs, flour, baking soda, and sea salt in that order.
- Mix on low until combined.
- Roughly chop the chocolate bars and add into the cookie dough.
- Mix on low until combined.
- Using your hands, form the dough into 24 balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets spacing at least 1-inch apart.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottoms. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheets. (Be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe if you are baking at high altitude).
Candy Cane Crunch Dark Chocolate Cookies FAQ's
This is a mild peppermint flavor because the peppermint is just coming from the chocolate bars. If you want more mint flavor, you can replace the vanilla extract with peppermint extract for even more peppermint flavor.
Absolutely! These cookies are an easy cookie to make ahead of time. Just be sure to store them in an airtight container like a Tupperware or airtight cookie jar.
Cream cheese makes these cookies incredibly soft baked texture!
If you can’t get the Lake Champlain Candy Cane Crunch Bars, then you can add in dark chocolate chunks and candy cane bits into the cookie dough instead. But I would highly recommend getting these chocolate bars, as it makes these so much easier than chopping up candy canes!
You can, but the chocolate bar I am using is a peppermint crunch chocolate bar, so we're getting not only just dark chocolate flavor, but also peppermint and crunch, which is what makes these cookies special. If you are just going to use chocolate chips, you won't have a peppermint crunch cookie at all. If you only have chocolate chips, you can use peppermint extract in place of vanilla extract and add in some peppermint crunch or chopped candy canes to mimic the flavor.
Yes, if you want to add white chocolate chips to these cookies as well it would make them more like peppermint bark flavor! Replace about one-third of the dark chocolate bar pieces with white chocolate chips. Or, you can even melt white chocolate in a large mixing bowl and drizzle the melted white chocolate on top of the baked cookies.
Yes, of course, you can always use a cookie scoop for any cookie recipe I say to roll by hand. I just don’t use cookie scoops because they drive me nuts, ha-ha! If you are using a cookie scoop, you should use about a 1 1/2-tabelspoon cookie scoop. Just be sure that you get the right number of cookies that the recipe calls for, this way the baking times will be accurate. If you use a larger cookie scoop and get less cookies, you will have to bake them longer.
If you underbaked them then they can be too soft. All ovens are a bit different, so if you like a more crispy edge, be sure to bake until golden brown, even if you need a few more minutes.
If eggs are too large, it can cause cookies to spread too much as there's too many wet ingredients compared to dry ingredients. Large eggs should weigh 50 grams each, there's 2 in this recipe, so you only need 100 grams of beaten eggs. You can crack, beat and weigh eggs. Save extras in an airtight container in the fridge. You can cook them up with a little olive oil for your dog or use in your breakfast.
Look for dry edges that are golden brown and the middle will look set.
Yes, these will be incredibly soft when they come out of the oven, eve if they are done. Be sure to let them cool completely on the baking sheets.
Store in an airtight container so they stay soft and chewy. They'll last at room temperature for up to 7 days, but are best when eaten immediately.
Yes, store in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
Holiday Cookie Box Inspiration
I use these cookies in DIY Christmas Cookie Box as they are perfect for gifting around the holidays! I also include Sourdough Jam Thumbprint Cookies, Simple Christmas Shortbread Cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies, and Peanut Butter Pretzel Christmas Crack.
Other holiday favorites include Dark Chocolate Peppermint Pretzel Bark, The Best Gluten Free Frosted Gingerbread Cookies, Easy Vegan Peanut Brittle Without Corn Syrup, Gingerbread Biscotti, and Mint Meltaways.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
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Candy Cane Crunch Dark Chocolate Cookies
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Stand Mixer
- Half Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper Sheets
Ingredients
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 113 grams cane sugar
- 57 grams light brown sugar (packed)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 28 grams cream cheese
- 255 grams all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 Lake Champlain Candy Cane Crunch Bars
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined and there are no chunks of butter. Add the cream cheese and continue to mix on low to medium until the butter is light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the eggs, flour, baking soda, and sea salt in that order. Mix on low until combined
- Roughly chop the chocolate bars and add into the cookie dough. Mix on low until combined.
- Using your hands, form the dough into 24 balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets spacing at least 1-inch apart.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottoms. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheets.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Video
Notes
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- If you don't have the specific candy cane chocolate bars I use, you can use a mix of chocolate chips and crushed candy canes.
- If you want to add white chocolate into these cookies, you can do that as well.
- If you want a thicker cookie, refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 1 hour before baking.
- I like to round these cookies out after baking using a cookie cutter (you can also use a glass) for perfectly round cookies.
- Be sure to store in an airtight container so these stay soft and chewy.
- Gluten Free — Replace the all purpose flour with 269 grams (1 ¾ cups) gluten free flour blend.
- High Altitude — Bake at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottoms.
Nutrition
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If candy canes and chocolate chip cookies had a baby, it would be these! So good!