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Big, chewy cookies are packed with white chocolate and crunchy candy canes for a delightful winter bite. These white chocolate peppermint cookies are sure to become a holiday favorite!
I am really, really into Christmas cookie recipes this year. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I always love cookies during the holiday season. But this year, I’m really all about them.
I can’t get enough of gingersnaps and Oreo truffles (part candy but also part cookie!) and almond crescents and raspberry linzer cookies and…the list goes on.
And now I’m adding these big, chewy white chocolate peppermint cookies to the list.
In fact, I think these would be the perfect cookies to bake for Santa.
Chewy white chocolate peppermint cookies
I know that peppermint can be kind of a controversial ingredient, and people have a lot of big feelings about it.
Some people can’t get enough of chocolate and peppermint together, other people can’t stand the combo. Some people only like the two together at Christmastime.
Personally, I’m a big fan of peppermint recipes and love it on its own (like in peppermint marshmallows) or paired with chocolate (like in peppermint bark).
And as much as it goes well with dark chocolate, I think it absolutely belongs with white chocolate. Especially in big, chewy white chocolate peppermint cookies.
For these cookies, I used the base of the New York Times chocolate chip cookies. Then I added in white chocolate chips, crushed candy canes, peppermint baking chips, and a bit of peppermint extract.
The combo makes more a cookie with tons of flavor, a bit of crunch, and a lot of chewiness that absolutely screams Christmas. Anyone who is a fan of my white chocolate macadamia nut cookies is going to love these.
How to make my white chocolate peppermint cookies
If you’ve made my salted caramel chocolate chip cookies or my giant s’mores cookies, you’ll be familiar with this cookie dough already!
Ingredients you’ll need
To make my white chocolate peppermint cookies, you will need:
- 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
- 1 2/3 cups bread flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cups softened unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract (optional)
- 1 (11-ounce) bag white chocolate chips
- ¾ cup Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips
- ½ cup crushed candy canes
I know that the combination of cake flour and bread flour sounds weird, but I promise it results in a cookie with the most perfectly chewy texture. It’s worth using two different flours for this!
These cookies are packed full of peppermint flavor thanks to a combo of peppermint extract, peppermint baking chips, and crushed candy canes.
If you don’t have peppermint extract on hand, feel free to omit it. You’ll still get tons of flavor from the baking chips and the candy canes.
I grabbed a package of Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips from Target, but they also carry them at my local Jewel Osco. If you can’t find them, any peppermint baking chip will work!
Just make sure you get peppermint and not mint. They’re slightly different flavors and you don’t want to mix them!
This time of year, you can usually find bags of already crushed candy canes at most grocery stores. If not, you can crush your own using a rolling pin or a food processor.
Making these cookies
Get started by sifting together the dry ingredients: both flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set this aside.
Now use a stand mixer or electric hand mixer to cream the butter and both sugars together until very light and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Add the eggs one at a time. Mix well after each addition, then stir in the vanilla.
Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the dry ingredients until just combined. Mix in the white chocolate chips, peppermint baking chips, and crushed candy canes.
Now it’s time for the hardest part: waiting while you let the dough chill for a full 24 hours.
I know, I know, it’s a long time! But letting the dough chill for at least 24 hours helps give it the best flavor and unbelievable texture. Your patience will be worth it!
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, let the dough sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes so it’s just soft enough to scoop.
Divide the dough into 2-ounce mounds (about the size of golf balls). Place 6 cookies on a lined baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 14-16 minutes, until golden but still soft.
The cookies will spread a bit, but you can use a drinking glass to make perfectly round cookies if you’d like.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
You can bake off all of the dough at once or keep it in the refrigerator for up to 72 hours.
Helpful resources
- Your butter needs to be softened before you can cream the butter and sugar together. If you forget to set it out ahead of time, learn how to soften butter quickly.
- Before you get started, make sure you know how to measure flour correctly. This will help your cookies turn out perfect every time.
- If you don’t keep cake flour on hand, try using this simple cake flour substitute instead.
- Out of brown sugar? Throw together an easy brown sugar substitute using just 2 ingredients.
- If your brown sugar hardened in the pantry, check out my post with several ways to soften brown sugar and savor yourself a trip to the store.
Storage tips
Store your white chocolate peppermint cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. You could also store them in a zip-top freezer bag in the freezer for up to a month.
If you want to make the dough and enjoy freshly baked cookies any time a craving hits, try freezing the cookie dough! I like to divide it into balls and freeze it so I can bake as many cookies as I want.
For all the details, check out my guide on how to freeze cookie dough.
Frequently asked questions
For smaller white chocolate peppermint cookies, use a heaping tablespoon and bake them for about 12 minutes. But keep in mind that I have found with this recipe that bigger cookies actually do have a better texture!
You don’t have to, but I really suggest that you do! I have tried baking these before the 24-hour mark and I promise, they just aren’t as good.
You could definitely use all-purpose flour and you’ll get a cookie that still tastes great. But in my experience, using all-purpose flour in this recipe doesn’t give the cookies the same awesome chewy texture.
White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
- 1 ⅔ cups bread flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter softened
- 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract optional
- 11 ounces white chocolate chips 1 bag
- ¾ cup Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips see notes
- ½ cup crushed candy canes
Instructions
- Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
- Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
- Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds.
- Add in white chocolate chips, Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips and crushed candy canes and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
- When ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
- Scoop (6) 2-ounce mounds of dough (about the size of golf balls) onto a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown but still soft, 14-16 minutes. The cookies will spread a bit, but you can allow them to cool for a minute or two and then use this trick to make perfectly round cookies. It works like a charm!
- Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more.
- Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day.
Notes
- Before you get started, make sure you know how to measure flour correctly. This will help your cookies turn out perfect every time.
- If you don’t keep cake flour on hand, try using this simple cake flour substitute instead.
- Out of brown sugar? Throw together an easy brown sugar substitute using just 2 ingredients.
- If your brown sugar hardened in the pantry, check out my post with several ways to soften brown sugar and savor yourself a trip to the store.
- Your butter needs to be softened before you can cream the butter and sugar together. If you forget to set it out ahead of time, learn how to soften butter quickly.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
