Chewy Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies ready to eat in one hour!
Ingredients
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, COLD, roughly chopped
- 135 grams (1 cup) brown sugar
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1 large egg, cold
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 40 grams (1/2 cup) cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 150 grams (1 cup) dark chocolate block (50-70% cocoa), roughly chopped
- 80 grams (1/2 cup) white chocolate chips
- Sea salt flakes, for decorating
- 2 peppermint candy canes, finely chopped, for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line two baking trays with baking or parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add cold butter, brown sugar and caster sugar. Beat on low speed, then turn up to medium speed until combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add peppermint extract and egg and beat on low speed just until combined.
- Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and beat on a low speed until soft cookie dough forms. It might look dry at first (see notes below) but keep mixing and it should come together to form a chocolate cookie dough within 30 seconds.
- Add chopped mint chocolate and white chocolate chips and beat briefly. Scoop out cookie dough, roughly 80 grams or 1/4 cup of dough per cookie, and piece together into rustic balls. I like to pinch and squeeze the dough together to form a ball rather than roll it smooth – this will give you a more lumpy, bumpy cookie with a textured finish.
- Place the cookie dough balls on prepared oven trays, leaving room for the cookies to spread.
- Bake cookies for 12-13 minutes. Leave cookies to cool completely. They will firm up as they cool.
- Sprinkle cooled cookies with sea salt and candy cane pieces.
Notes
Peppermint extract: You can usually find peppermint extract in the baking aisle near the vanilla and almond extract. If you can’t get hold of it, you can use vanilla extract instead but the cookies won’t be quite as minty.
Mint chocolate: As mentioned above, I tested this recipe using a few different types of mint chocolate. Chocolate that has a mint filling will likely melt and spill out of the cookies. I preferred a solid block of mint chocolate (I used Lindt).
Candy canes: Instead of crushing the candy canes and placing them in the cookie, I prefer to just sprinkle some on top. You can also leave these out if you prefer.
Dry cookie dough: The cookie dough might look a little dry at first but it should come together within 30 seconds. If your cookie dough is dry, it might mean you added too much flour/cocoa powder – even just a tablespoon more flour will make the cookies dry and tough. If you end up here though, just add 1 tablespoon of milk and carry on.
Hand mixer: If using cold butter is too hard for your hand mixer, use softened butter. Then just chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes before baking to ensure the cookies don’t spread too much as they bake.
Storage: Keep baked and cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They’re also nice in the fridge – they go extra fudgy! To enjoy them warm and gooey again, pop them in the microwave for 10 seconds or so.
Make-ahead: You can make the cookie dough ahead of time. Roll into balls and place the cookie dough balls on prepared trays. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for 24 hours or until you are ready to bake.
Alternatively, you can freeze the cookie dough. Roll the cookie dough into balls and then place them into a sealed ziplock bag or an airtight container. Pop into the freezer until you are ready to bake them. Let them thaw at room temperature for 15 minutes or so before baking. If they are still a little frozen, you might need to add a minute or two to the baking time.
