Chocolate Coated Peppermint Cookies

 

The past few weeks I've been busy busy busy making an obscene amount of Christmas cookies. If you happened to stop by my house you were probably greeted with a desperate "Help eat these cookies!" followed by "No! Not that one, or that one, or that one! Those are for photos! Only eat the ugly ones" (only the very best for my guests..)

The result of my cookie bake-a-thon were three Christmas cookie recipes:

1. Cinnamon shortbread with eggnog glaze: quick and easy for all those Christmas cookie emergencies

2. Painted sugar cookies: sugar cookies flooded with royal icing and painted with food colouring. Perfect for hosting a cookie decorating party. Who doesn't love little pieces of edible art?

3. Chocolate coated peppermint cookies: these were the most popular cookie of the bunch. I made batch after batch after batch and they have all been eaten up.. so I felt that it was only fair to share the recipe.

 

 

The cookies require a couple of extra steps but they are so, so worth it.

The first step is baking thin, crispy chocolate wafers. The wafers are similar to the ones used in homemade oreos but with the ratios of egg, flour, and sugar changed up.

Next, a creamy peppermint filling is made out of condensed milk, butter, icing sugar, and peppermint extract. This is pressed onto the little chocolate wafers and then the whole thing is coated in melted chocolate.

 

The semi-sweet chocolate coating won out over dark chocolate and milk chocolate because it let the peppermint flavor shine through without being overly sweet.

Although the majority voted for semi-sweet, there were a few people who preferred the dark chocolate. If you are a dark chocolate lover then just replace part (or all) of the semi-sweet chips with the dark chocolate chips.

 

 

The result is a cool minty chocolate treat that's creamy and crunchy at the same time. It's something a bit different and unexpected to add to a cookie platter. These disappeared at an alarming rate from my table, fridge, and freezer. Definitely the most popular cookie at any party.

You can find my recipes for the Cinnamon Shortbread with Eggnog Glaze and the Painted Sugar Cookies on the Globe and Mail website.

Chocolate Coated Peppermint Cookies

Makes 40-45 cookies

Chocolate Wafers

1 ¼ cups (125g) all-purpose flour

1/3 cup (35g) cocoa powder

2/3 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

2/3 cup (135g) sugar

¼ cup + 1 TBSP unsalted butter at room temperature

1 egg

½ tsp. peppermint extract

1 tsp. water

Preheat the oven to 375 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In your mixer’s bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. 

Add the butter to the bowl and turn the mixer on medium. Scrape down the bowl and then add the egg, mint extract, and water and mix until well combined. The dough will look crumbly but will stick together when pinched.

Take a teaspoon measure and fill with the crumbly dough. Squish the dough until it is level in the teaspoon and then place on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Use the heel of your hand to flatten the dough into a thin round cookie (approximately 1.5 inches across). Repeat with the remaining dough leaving a half inch between cookies.

Bake  for 4 – 5 minutes at 375. After you remove the tray from the oven, slide the entire sheet of parchment paper onto a wire rack.  The cookies are fragile at this point and it’s easier to move the paper than it is to move the cookies individually with a spatula.  The cookies will be soft at this point but will become crispy as they cool.

While the cookies are cooling, make the peppermint filling.

 

Peppermint Patty Filling

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 TBSP butter

2 ½ tsp. peppermint extract

3 drops of red food colouring (optional)

3 cups (380g) icing sugar plus extra if needed

Combine the condensed milk, butter, extract, food colouring, and one cup of icing sugar in your mixer’s bowl and stir on low until combined. 

Mix in the remaining icing sugar a ½ cup at a time until a dough forms. If the peppermint filling is still too sticky add additional icing sugar one tablespoon at a time until it is smooth enough to handle.  

Press approximately a teaspoon of peppermint filling on each cookie. Once the cookies all have peppermint filling on them, place in the fridge or freezer to chill while you prepare the chocolate coating.

Chocolate Coating

4 ¾ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 tsp. vegetable shortening

In a deep microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and shortening together in the microwave for one minute intervals. Stir after each interval until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

To coat the cookies, carefully dip the peppermint side of the cookie into the chocolate. Use a fork to both flip the cookie over and lift it out of the chocolate onto a piece of parchment paper.  Repeat with the remaining cookies.

Place the dipped cookies in the freezer to harden for an hour before serving.

Serve the cookies within a day or two and store the remaining cookies in the freezer. They will last up to two months when frozen.

 Recipe Alternatives:

Peppermint Patties: Do not make the chocolate cookies.  Make the peppermint filling and form into 35 small patties. Chill in freezer  then dip in chocolate coating

Peppermint Oreos: Make the chocolate cookies and peppermint filling (but not the chocolate coating). Double the amount of peppermint filling on each cookie then top with another chocolate cookie and serve.

Comments

[Mardi (eat. live. travel. write)]

These are SO pretty Stephanie! Your article was stunning!

[Mary at n00bcakes]

Ooo, these look minty and delightful! Because I am a lazy baker I may be inclined to skip the cookies and go for straight-up peppermint patties, but I love these as a great gift or party idea. :) When it comes to dipping in chocolate, though, how do you handle melting issues after freezing? Do you just assume they'll all get eaten before they start defrosting? :D

[Clockwork Lemon]

Mary: They actually stay really solid at room temp! I was able to package them up nicely and give them away no problem. The reason I suggest storing them in the freezer (beyond trying to hide them from yourself) is to prevent the chocolate from blooming (getting those light brown marks). Chocolate chips from the grocery store aren't always fresh and if you use a batch that has 'bloomed' then your patties might get light brown marks on them after 5 days or so. Keeping them in the freezer prevents that.

[jaime @ sweet road]

Aw, these look like cookies my grandma used to always get around the winter holidays. The flavors are so festive! I should try and make some for her... she loves the color pink so I'm sure that will add a nice personal touch as well.

[Diana @ Appetite for China]

I love how festive your cookies look! Bookmarking your cinnamon shortbread to try!

[Amanda @ Once Upon a Recipe]

A chocolate and mint lover's dream! And I am most definitely and chocolate + mint lover. They're so pretty too! I'm definitely going to give these a try this year.

[Melissa@EyesBigger]

Christmas cookie emergencies. Yes. One always needs to be prepared.
But I have a horrible horrible weakness for anything peppermint and chocolate. And I really don't need to be eating any cookies. Sigh... the dangers of food blogging! They all look amazing!

[Rigel_p]

Mint awesomeness! Pink peppermint is a nice touch. These would be the first ones I'd grab up if i saw them on a table with ten other plates of treats. Of course all your cookies look divine. I've yet to try cinnamon shortbread...must correct that!

[Barbara]

I Had some trouble getting the wafer dough to stick together. I ended up adding quite a bit more watermto get it to work but I don't think that was the answer. I'd love to see a video of you amking the dough so I could make sure I know what it should really llok like.

They taste amazing anyway but they don't look as pretty as yours!

[Lisa @ The Gonzo Gourmet]

I would happily eat the ugly cookies - these look fantastic. I need to adapt the chocolate wafer recipe for gluten-free - we make a holiday dessert in my family that we call cookie-lert, which is basically chocolate wafers smothered in peppermint cream, left to soak overnight. If anything would tempt me back to gluten, it's that dessert.

[Vanessa]

Hi Stephanie, I'm from Australia and was just wondering what the difference in cocoa % was between your semisweet and dark chocolate? We only have dark chocolate here but it generally starts from 45% and goes up from there.