Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies
If you’re looking for chocolate holiday cookies, look no further than these Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies! Soft and chewy chocolate cookies are filled with organic peppermint crunch bars for a festive cookie that’s just as much delicious!
If you’re looking for more Christmas cookies, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like Gluten Free Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies, Mexican Hot Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Sourdough Jam Thumbprint Cookies, or Holiday Sugar Cookies with Icing.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies
- Ready In: 30 minutes
- Makes: 12 cookies
- Main Ingredients: salted butter, light brown sugar, Dutch cocoa, all purpose flour
- Flavor Profile: rich, fudgy chocolate peppermint cookies with bursts of crunch
- Dietary Info: eggless, no seed oils, vegan swap available
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: crunch bar cookies + chocolate peppermint
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Soft and Chewy: These Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies are soft and chewy!
- Subtle Crunch: I love the subtle crunch that the peppermint crunch chocolate provides in this recipe. It strikes the perfect balance of soft and chewy cookies with a tiny crunch in each bite.
- Festive Enough: I love this recipe for chocolate holiday cookies because they’re just festive enough without being difficult or time consuming. The flavor speaks for itself, and they taste like Christmas when you bite into them, but they’re so easy to make!
- Sweet and Salty: I add a flaky sea salt on top (shocker guys am I right?!). This part is optional, but you know I love a sweet and salty cookie!
- Flexible: I'm using pumpkin as an egg replacer here, as this recipe is a wonderful way to use up leftover pumpkin from Thanksgiving. No eggs are needed for soft and chewy cookies, which makes this recipe super flexible if you want to make them vegan, you can just use vegan butter. If you don't have the chocolate peppermint crunch bars, you can also use puffed quinoa for the same effect!
Christmas cookies are my favorite thing ever, but I’m not super into decorating sugar cookies. I like holiday cookie recipes that are festive without being fussy. And these double-chocolate peppermint crunch cookies check all the boxes.
When you want to bake cookies with holiday cheer, the best paring is hands down chocolate and peppermint. The combination of rich dark chocolate combined with cool peppermint really takes you into a moment of holiday bliss. So when I got Lake Champlain Organic Dark Chocolate Peppermint Snack Bites from my friends at Lake Champlain, I just knew I’d be making cookies with them! If you love my Crunch Bar Cookies, you’ll swoon over these Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies!
This recipe is part of my series, turning leftover pumpkin into holiday treats. I love reducing food waste, and after Thanksgiving you may have extra pumpkin laying around. But, it's incredibly easy to use it for Christmas desserts so it doesn't go to waste. Be sure to check out the other four recipes in this series, Eggless Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies, Festive Gingerbread Snack Cake Without Frosting, Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Tree Cupcakes and Cranberry Pumpkin Dog Cookies.
Ingredients
- Brown Sugar: I use my Homemade Light Brown Sugar, but you can also use store bought. Brown sugar makes these cookies chewier and a little more rich in flavor than just cane sugar.
- Pumpkin: I’m using organic pumpkin puree here to use up leftover pumpkin to create delicious holiday cookies! I especially love it in chocolate cookies as they are never dry when you use pumpkin!
- Dutch Cocoa Powder: I use organic Dutch cocoa powder for a rich and deeper chocolate flavor.
- Baking Powder: I use baking powder in these cookies. Check out my post Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder for more info on leavening agents.
- Salt: Make sure to use a fine sea salt.
- Peppermint Extract: I use peppermint extract in place of vanilla to ensure these cookies have a cool, minty flavor.
- Peppermint Chocolate Snack Bites: I use Lake Champlain Organic Dark Chocolate Peppermint Snack Bites. These little mini medallions have decadent dark chocolate flavor with peppermint and crunchy quinoa. This adds a crunch texture to the cookies that’s so good! If you don't have these, you can also use puffed quinoa in its place along with a chopped up dark chocolate or even white chocolate bar for peppermint bark vibes.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker’s Tips
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- Make sure your butter is soft. I like to leave butter out on the counter to let it soften naturally.
- If you want to make these vegan, just use your favorite vegan butter. I recommend Miyoko's.
- I use Dutch cocoa powder as I think it has a sweeter more rich chocolatey flavor. If you want to use natural, you can also do that.
- If you don’t have the Lake Champlain Organic Dark Chocolate Peppermint Snack Bites you can double the chocolate chips and add in 1/2 cup puffed quinoa too for the crunch!
- Be sure to store these in an airtight container.
- You can freeze these, I like to store in a Tupperware in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- You can leave off the flaky sea salt if you don’t like a sweet and salty cookie.
- High Altitude — Bake at 375°F for 13 to 15 minutes or until the tops and edges are dry.
How to Make Chocolate Peppermint Crunch 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, light brown sugar, and peppermint extract.
- Mix on low until combined and there’s no butter chunks.
- Add the pumpkin.
- Next, add the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and sea salt in that order.
- Mix on low until combined into a smooth dough.
- Chop 1 bag of Lake Champlain Organic Dark Chocolate Peppermint Snack Bites into small pieces. Add the chocolate peppermint pieces and mini chocolate chips to the cookie dough.
- Mix to combine completely.
- Using your hands, or a cookie scoop, form the dough into 12 balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Space them evenly apart, there will be 6 cookies per sheet.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops and edges are dry. (If you're baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions). Sprinkle with flaky sea salt immediately after coming out of the oven (optional). Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheets.
Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies FAQ’s
No, they are not overly minty as they have a rich chocolate flavor too, the mint is a secondary, more subtle flavor. You can adjust the peppermint extract if you want more or less.
Yes, just add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the recipe.
You can, but the cookies won't have as rich of a chocolate flavor. Natural cocoa powder can be more bitter and not as smooth, which is why I don't prefer it for baking.
I'm using pumpkin as an egg replacer, so these cookies are naturally eggless. They do not taste like pumpkin, but the pumpkin adds moisture which helps keep these chocolate cookies super soft and fudgy!
You can double the chocolate chips and add in 1/2 cup puffed quinoa for the crunch element!
You can, but I personally don't love the texture of baked candy canes very much! I would rather have the added chocolate chips and quinoa for crunch combined with the peppermint extract for minty flavor. But, you can do either option.
Incorrect measuring or over baking. If you have too much flour (or not enough pumpkin) then these cookies will be dry. Be sure to use a digital food scale to measure properly. And, ensure you are not over baking cookies. The best thing about these chocolate cookies as they are naturally eggless, so there's no worry of under baking them. Always start at the lower end of the time frame and check cookies as all ovens are a bit different.
Make sure to store in an airtight container so they stay soft and chewy.
You can if you would like to. You can store the made dough in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also roll out the cookie dough balls and place on a baking sheet and freeze. Then transfer to an airtight container or freezer safe bag and freeze the dough balls. Then, just thaw and they are ready to bake.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. You can also freeze them in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
More Holiday Dessert Recipes
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Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Stand Mixer
- Half Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper Sheets
Ingredients
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 170 grams light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 113 grams pumpkin puree
- 170 grams all purpose flour
- 57 grams Dutch cocoa powder (sifted)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 99 grams Lake Champlain Organic Dark Chocolate Peppermint Snack Bites (1 bag)
- 113 grams mini dark chocolate chips
- Flaky sea salt
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, light brown sugar, and peppermint extract. Mix on low until combined and there’s no butter chunks.
- Next, add the pumpkin and dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and sea salt in that order. Mix on low until combined into a smooth dough.
- Chop 1 bag of Lake Champlain Organic Dark Chocolate Peppermint Snack Bites into small pieces.
- Add the chocolate peppermint pieces and mini chocolate chips to the cookie dough and mix to combine completely.
- Using your hands, or a cookie scoop, form the dough into 12 balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Space them evenly apart, there will be 6 cookies per sheet.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops and edges are dry.
- Sprinkle with flaky sea salt immediately after coming out of the oven (optional). Allow the cookies 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.
- Make sure your butter is soft. I like to leave butter out on the counter to let it soften naturally.
- If you want to make these vegan, just use your favorite vegan butter. I recommend Miyoko's.
- I use Dutch cocoa powder as I think it has a sweeter more rich chocolatey flavor. If you want to use natural, you can also do that.
- If you don’t have the Lake Champlain Organic Dark Chocolate Peppermint Snack Bites you can double the chocolate chips and add in 1/2 cup puffed quinoa too for the crunch!
- Be sure to store these in an airtight container.
- You can freeze these, I like to store in a Tupperware in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- You can leave off the flaky sea salt if you don’t like a sweet and salty cookie.
- High Altitude — Bake at 375°F for 13 to 15 minutes or until the tops and edges are dry.
Nutrition
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Yum yum in my tum 😋
Love it, thanks Dana!