I feel like this week is like the movie Groundhog Day for my blog. Because last week I posted recipes involving sweet potatoes and candy canes. And this week? More sweet potatoes and more candy canes. I was going to save this Chewy Chocolate Candy Cane cookies recipe for next week, but I want to post it in time for holiday baking. Because it's really good!
(And if you don't have candy canes on hand, you can use starlight mints too. I made these again to update the photos and they are just as good. Peppermint candy is peppermint candy, right?)
I am not a crispy cookie person. For me, it's all about the chewiness. And these cookies are the easiest, chewiest, yummiest cookies I make. The basic chocolate cookie is one of my go-to recipes (yup, it's the one I used in my Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches) and I add whatever I have on hand to finish them. Toffee pieces, peanut butter chips, dried cherries, chopped nuts—they're all great in these cookies. So since it's Christmas cookie season, I decided to try adding broken candy cane pieces. They're not the prettiest cookie, it's true, but they make up for it in taste—chewy chocolatey cookies dotted with crispy bits of peppermint.
Do you have a favorite recipe for holiday cookies? I would love to hear about it!
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup butter softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
- ½ cup crushed peppermint pieces about 6 candy canes
- cooking spray or oil mister
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and whisk until combined and any lumps are broken up.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together using a mixer on high speed. Add vanilla and egg and beat until combined.
- Set mixer to low speed and slowly add flour mixture. Beat until just combined and fold in chocolate chips and peppermint pieces.
- Drop tablespoons of batter two inches apart onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 12 minutes or until set. (Don't overbake or the cookies won't be chewy!)
- Cook on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then finish cooling on wire racks.
Those are my thing. I am nuts over peppermint and chocolate together!
I was JUST looking at recipes for these kinds of cookies! I thought about making fudge peppermint cupcakes last night (I will soon) but made gingersnaps instead, since they were quicker and I was having a not-good-very-bad day. (Which cookies totally helped to fix!)
I'm making little chocolate peppermint cakes this weekend--if they turn out well, I'm going to post them next week. 🙂 I hate to keep repeating myself with the chocolate and candy canes, but I have lots of candy canes to use!
I'm on a chocolate kick lately. I think it's about over, but then again I'm debating on making my smores tonight. Ugh... where is this sweet tooth coming from!?!?
Oh man, I really want one of these. Like right now. Yum.
Oh my goodness those sound amazing! I'm not big on eating candy canes by themselves but love the taste of mint in things! I'm drooling over your pic too!
I don't like candy canes alone (although I do like mints--I guess the candy cane is just a little too much of a good thing?), but I love them in/on things. Especially chocolate things. 🙂
Fantastic! You had me at chewy. Definitely making these as soon as I can.
YUM! Those look delicious!
Peppermint Bark is my favorite holiday treat! In a cookie, I think I'd be weak in the knees!
You know my "soft" spot....peppermint! Wow these sound really yummy!
What gorgeous pics you took of the food. Looks insanely delicious!
Those look so amazing! I really think they should sell candy canes year round!
Me too! Although I suppose you could use the little starlight mints they give you at restaurants if you're in a pinch. 🙂
Pinned this- they look AMAZING! I absolutely adore peppermint!
Thank you! I love these cookies because they're super easy--they're definitely one of my favorites for Christmas. 🙂
That looks good! I think I have all the ingredients too! Aw shucks, I don't have the mini chocolate chips. I can't keep those on hand since I would be snacking on them. lol I might have to make a trip to the store before I start making cookies!
I think they would be fine without the chocolate chips! I always eat chocolate chips too if we have them in the pantry...
Candy cane....something you must have during the holiday! These cookies look wonderful!
I made them. They turned out sort o crunchy and chewy at the same time. They are very sweet, but maybe because I used sweetened cocoa (I didn't have bitter one) and instead of candy canes I used a mix of nuts, raisins and sunflower seeds:)
Even though they are not perfect, I still love them:)
They definitely shouldn't have been crunchy--I'm guessing that the increased sugar content from the sweetened cocoa caused that. (Or maybe they were over-baked?) If you make them with sweetened cocoa again, definitely add less sugar!
Great recipe!
these cookies are so good & super easy to make . if you're like me and want to have a more minty flavor, add a tiny bit of mint extract. also if you want to be fancy, take your candy cane and shave it down to dust, then sprinkle that on the top to make it look like snow. (do this after they're cooled off)
Thanks for the tips! 🙂
My cookies came out as one, big, melted and burnt cookie! I followed the recipe exactly, except that I replaced the egg with 1 tbsp of flaxseed with 3 tbsp of water (which I usually do for any recipes calling for 1 egg. I have never had a problem before.) I'm not sure if this was the problem or not. They melted together in the first 5 minutes of baking (I noticed this with the 2nd batch). The baking soda and powder were not expired either. Any ideas as to what may have gone wrong?
Oh no! I'm sorry they didn't work out for you. I'm a little bit baffled because this is one of my tried-and-true recipes that I make year after year. I've never used flax egg replacer in it, but I'm familiar with it and have used it in a lot of other baked goods, so I'd be surprised if that was the reason. Was the cookie batter thick to begin with? It should be a very thick batter...
Hello,
Thanks for this recipe! I have to say I chose a bad day to do it as I just ran out of eggs but we just had to try it. I noticed the comment about the flaxseed replacement so I tried the 1/4C vegetable oil substitute. The batter was sandy and not thick however I was able to form them into balls. They taste yummy but they are very soft and delicate. It's a nice treat! I can't wait until I have eggs to try it again.
Thanks again!
Lillian