On Tuesday I had the opportunity to go to Tatertots & Jello’s cookie exchange with my good friend Mandy from Baking with Blondie. I always love getting together with her, especially when it involves food- because we’re bound to have lots of fun! Anyway, we had a week or so to come up with a cookie to bring and it took me up until the day before to finally decide on one! I think it had something to do with the ease involved. I desperately needed a dough that I could make, refrigerate and bake once our little one went to bed for the night. These cookies were the perfect solution! The dough came together in a matter of minutes especially since there’s no chocolate melting involved (which is always a big time hog). Instead the dough gets all of its rich fudgy goodness from cocoa powder and chopped semi-sweet chocolate. After a few hours of refrigeration I rolled it out, cut the snowflakes and placed them onto a Silpat-lined sheet and then in to the oven to bake. They puffed up beautifully, nice and thick! With only a few minutes of baking time required, they came out smelling incredible and had perfectly crisp edges with a soft chewy inside- just like brownies. I whipped up some peppermint frosting to spread over top and then added peppermint candy cane sprinkles as a finishing touch. They were absolutely delicious… and such a fun little twist on a Christmas classic!
Peppermint Frosted Chocolate Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
Cookies
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter - room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate (I used half of a Ghirardelli baking bar) - finely chopped
Peppermint Buttercream Frosting
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter - room temperature
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
- 1-2 drops red food coloring
Garnishes
- peppermint candies
- baking chips
- sprinkles
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream, vanilla, and peppermint. With the mixing speed on low, add one egg, mix, then add the other.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powders, baking powder, and salt. With the mixing speed on low, gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing until no flour/cocoa pockets remain. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic and place it in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.*
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to approximately ¼” thick. Cut into desired shapes, place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are firm and the centers are soft and puffy. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- While the cookies are cooling, prepare the frosting by beating all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment for 2–3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Spread onto the cooled cookies and top with desired peppermint garnishes.
NOTES
Nutrition
Recipe source: adapted from Smitten Kitchen, Brownie Roll-out Cookies
I so want to make these for Christmas! These are gorgeous!
Thank you!