Chocolate Peppermint YiaYia Cookies
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This festive holiday cookie is a take on the classic Greek cookies my YiaYia made growing up. These Chocolate Peppermint YiaYia Cookies are buttery, sweet, melt in your mouth mint chocolate cookies that are covered in powdered sugar.
If you're looking for more holiday cookies, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like my Frosted Gingerbread, Peppermint Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies, or my Cranberry Orange Thumbprint Cookies.
Table of Contents
What is a YiaYia cookie?
YiaYia means Grandma in Greek, so this is like saying Grandma's cookies! I'm one quarter Greek and my dad's mom, we called YiaYia as she was 100% Greek. You pronounce it like Yiy-Yiya.
Growing up, my YiaYia made traditional Greek cookies, Kourambiethes (pronounced KorUm-bI-ethies) cookies. But, all the kids could not pronounce them, so we just called them YiaYia cookies. While my Cinnamon Pecan YiaYia Cookies are more similar to the traditional Kourambiethes (pronounced KorUm-bI-ethies), these mint chocolate cookies are a delicious holiday version!
I have my traditional recipe for Kourambiethes in my book Cookies for Everyone. But, because it is the holidays, I thought a mint chocolate cookies would be absolutely amazing — and they is! These organic cookies are similar to an Italian wedding cookie or a snowball, but they are so much better! These are not dry like those cookies can be, and they just melt in your mouth. I hope you love these Greek cookies as much as I do!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Greek Inspired: This recipe is inspired by my YiaYia's cookies growing up. The traditional Greek cookies Kourambiethes are the inspiration for this recipe. While the traditional Greek cookies don't have chocolate or peppermint, the texture and essence of the recipe is the same. If you want to try a more traditional take on them, check out my Cinnamon Pecan YiaYia Cookies.
Melt In Your Mouth: These are melt in your mouth! While many wedding cookies or snowballs can be dry and crumbly, these are a melt in your mouth experience.
Holiday Cookies: These are holiday inspired with the chocolate and peppermint! Making these organic cookies perfect for the holidays.
Ingredients
- Butter: I use Organic Valley Salted Butter. Be sure to use a high quality butter you like as there is a ton of butter in these organic cookies!
- Powdered Sugar: I use organic powdered sugar.
- Peppermint Extract: I use organic peppermint extract to give these mint chocolate cookies a cool peppermint flavor.
- Milk: Traditionally these Greek cookies have whiskey in them, but since these are mint chocolate cookies, I'm using milk instead. Be sure to use whole milk.
- Eggs: You'll just need a large egg yolk. You can save the egg white for another baking project, cook it up for your dog, or add it to your morning scramble.
- Cake Flour: I use my homemade organic cake flour, store bought also works. But, cake flour is key for these cookies, do not substitute it for all purpose as you need the lower protein content for a light, melt in your mouth cookie!
- Dutch Cocoa Powder: I use organic Dutch cocoa powder which gives these Greek cookies a rich chocolate flavor.
- Salt: Use a fine sea salt.
Tools Needed
- Scale: Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- Stand Mixer: I use my stand mixer for this recipe, which I highly recommend as there's so much butter.
- Baking Sheets: You'll need two half sheet pans to bake the cookies.
- Parchment Paper: I always use nontoxic parchment paper for ease and cleanup.
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Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, peppermint extract, and egg yolk. Mix on low until combined but chunks of butter remain visible.
Add the cake flour, cocoa powder, and sea salt, and mix on low until combined into a smooth dough; it should feel like play dough in your hands.
Step 3
Using your hands, form the dough into 48 balls and place them close together on the prepared cookie sheets (they won’t spread while baking, so 24 should fit on each cookie sheet). Flatten each ball slightly. They should look like disks that are about 2 inches in diameter.
Step 4
Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until set and dry. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets. Sift powdered sugar generously over the tops of the cookies.
Baker's Tips
- Make sure your butter is soft. It should be soft enough that if you squish it, it squishes easily. I like to leave butter out on the counter overnight to let it soften at room temperature. But, if you are going to soften butter in the microwave, do not do more than 30 seconds per 1 pound of butter.
- Cake flour is essential for these cookies. So, this is definitely needed and don't replace it with all purpose flour or anything else. I make my own organic cake flour because it's so easy and it's the only organic option! Try my recipe for Homemade Cake Flour.
- It's important to wait until these cookies cool before covering them in powdered sugar. If you put the powdered sugar on and they are too warm, it will just melt in. You want the powdered sugar to be a complete coating on the cookies, because it's the best part!
FAQ's
Yes, just add 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt to the recipe.
Store in a cool dry place. They are best if just left out on a platter on the counter.
Craving More?
Chocolate Peppermint YiaYia Cookies
Ingredients
Dough
- 454 grams salted butter (softened)
- 142 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 large egg yolk
- 567 grams cake flour
- 71 grams Dutch cocoa powder (sifted)
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attach ment, add the butter, powdered sugar, peppermint extract, milk, and egg yolk. Mix on low until combined but chunks of butter remain visible.
- Add the cake flour, cocoa powder, and sea salt, and mix on low until combined into a smooth dough; it should feel like play dough in your hands.
- Using your hands, form the dough into 48 balls and place them close together on the prepared cookie sheets (they won’t spread while baking, so 24 should fit on each cookie sheet). Flatten each ball slightly. They should look like disks that are about 2 inches in diameter.
- Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until set and dry. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets.
- Sift powdered sugar generously over the tops of the cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
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These chocolate cookies melt in your mouth! The addition of peppermint makes these a festive cookie for the holidays!