Wednesday, November 30, 2022
HomeCakeFestive Peppermint Bark Cookies | Life Love and Sugar

Festive Peppermint Bark Cookies | Life Love and Sugar


These Peppermint Bark Cookies are festive, enjoyable, and completely scrumptious. This recipe takes the thought of conventional peppermint bark and turns it right into a enjoyable cookie! A chocolate cookie base, white chocolate peppermint topping, and crushed sweet canes create certainly one of new favourite Christmas cookies!

Festive peppermint bark cookies in a stack

Festive Christmas Cookie Recipe

These cookies are such a enjoyable and distinctive solution to take pleasure in vacation flavors in cookie kind. I fell in love with them after my first chunk, and I do know you’ll too!

We begin with a chocolate cookie base that has a flippantly cakey texture. The white chocolate topping is clean and completely balanced. To get this end result, we pair vanilla extract with peppermint to maintain it from tasting like toothpaste. Belief me – with out the vanilla, the chocolate reminds you of toothpaste as a substitute of sweet canes. Not superb!

I additionally wished to have the ability to retailer these sweet cane cookies at room temperature. This requirement eradicated the thought of utilizing a white chocolate ganache however was an ideal software for barely softened white chocolate. To get that impact, we add a little bit of shortening to make sure the chocolate doesn’t get too agency.

The crushed sweet canes are a enjoyable contact and make these cookies actually festive. You can even use crushed peppermint candies that are available jars. Both approach works nice!

Ingredients for peppermint bark cookies

What You’ll Want

Since there are two layers to this Christmas cookie recipe, you’ll discover a barely longer ingredient record than regular. Don’t fear! All of the components come collectively in a easy approach and create unbelievable taste. The one factor you might not have already got in your pantry is peppermint extract, which you will discover within the baking aisle of your grocery retailer. Scroll right down to the recipe card for the precise quantities of every ingredient.

For the Cookies

  • All-Objective Flour: I like to recommend utilizing a meals scale to make sure accuracy, however it’s also possible to use the spoon and stage technique.
  • Cocoa Powder – I like utilizing darkish Dutch cocoa powder for a richer chocolate taste.
  • Baking Soda
  • Salt
  • Unsalted Butter – Set the butter out on the counter for about an hour to convey it to room temperature.
  • Darkish Brown Sugar – To deepen the flavour of the cookie and add extra moisture.
  • Sugar
  • Egg – A big egg.
  • Vanilla Extract

For the White Chocolate Peppermint Topping

  • White Chocolate Baking Bars – I like to recommend both Baker’s or Ghirardelli.
  • Shortening: I used vegetable shortening.
  • Peppermint Extract – You’ll find this within the baking aisle of your grocery retailer for those who don’t have already got some at house.
  • Vanilla Extract – Be sure you use the vanilla extract within the white chocolate topping. It helps soften the peppermint taste, so it doesn’t style like toothpaste.
  • Sweet Canes – Crushed sweet canes add unbelievable taste and texture to those cookies!
A tin full of peppermint bark cookies

The right way to Make Peppermint Bark Cookies

These Christmas cookies are a showstopper each visually and in relation to taste. They’re certain to face out at any vacation gathering and make a festive addition to your cookie tray. Right here’s easy methods to make them.

To Make the Cookie Base

  • Put together for Baking. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Put together a 9×13 inch pan with parchment paper that sticks up above the perimeters of the pan on the lengthy facet so you possibly can take away the cookie base later.
  • Mix the Dry Elements. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk every little thing collectively and set it apart.
  • Cream the Butter and Sugar. Add the butter and each sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium-high pace till the combination is gentle in shade and fluffy. This could take between 2 and three minutes.
  • Add the Egg and Vanilla. Add the egg and vanilla extract to the creamed butter and beat till they’re absolutely included. 
  • Add the Dry Elements. Add the dry components to the moist and blend them by hand till the batter is mixed. You wish to keep away from over-mixing right here, otherwise you’ll lose all the sunshine airiness you developed when creaming the butter.
  • Press the Cookie Dough into the Pan. Spoon out the cookie dough into the ready pan. Press it evenly into the underside together with your fingers or an off-set spatula till you could have a pleasant even layer. The dough might be very skinny, so it helps to drop spoonfuls across the pan earlier than spreading it.
  • Bake. Bake the cookie base for 10-Quarter-hour or till the dough is now not shiny on prime. It ought to have a pleasant golden brown shade however shouldn’t look crispy.
  • Cool. Take away the cookie from the oven and permit it to chill fully within the pan. As soon as cool, take away and set it on a chopping board or a big flat plate. When you transfer the cookie when it’s nonetheless heat, it’s extra prone to break, so take care! Use a pointy knife to trim any edges that look barely raised, so every little thing is even and flat. These additional bits are yours to take pleasure in!

To Make the White Chocolate Peppermint Topping

  • Soften the White Chocolate. Add the white chocolate and shortening to a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl and warmth it in 30-second increments, stirring between every. You wish to warmth solely sufficient that the chocolate melts and combines easily with the shortening. Take care to not scorch the chocolate by heating it an excessive amount of or too rapidly.
  • End the Topping. Add the peppermint and vanilla extracts to the melted chocolate combination and stir to mix. You’ll discover the combination will thicken, however it shouldn’t seize. 
  • Add the Topping to the Cookie. Unfold the white chocolate combination evenly over the cookie base, all the way in which to the sting. Sprinkle items of crushed sweet cane excessive for a festive end.
Cutting peppermint bark cookies into triangles
  • Lower and Serve. Give the white chocolate time to set and agency up earlier than chopping. As soon as the topping has arrange, lower it into bars. I made triangles by chopping the cookie into 12 squares after which chopping these in half diagonally. This left me with 24 cookies.

The right way to Retailer Peppermint Bark Cookies

Leftover cookies may be saved at room temperature for 3-4 days. When you want these to last more, wrap the cookies in plastic or foil and place them in a freezer bag or hermetic container. They’ll keep recent for a few months.

To serve after freezing, let the cookies come to room temperature and retailer them on the counter.

A stack of 4 peppermint bark cookies

Extra Christmas Cookie Recipes

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Festive peppermint bark cookies in a stack