Get into the festive spirit with these Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies. Rich, fudgy peppermint chocolate cookies topped with pieces of Ghirardelli peppermint bark.
Why you'll love this recipe
These Chocolate Peppermint Bark cookies are fudgy and chewy, with rich chocolate flavour and a hint of peppermint.
They only require 10 minutes of chilling time.
Freeze the cookie dough to bake fresh cookies at a later time.
These cookies are not overly sweet, even though they have chocolate and crushed candy cane.
The addition of chocolate peppermint bark makes these cookies so festive, perfect for the holidays!
Ingredients you'll need
- all-purpose flour: if you prefer a chewier cookie, you can use bread flour
- baking soda: leavening agent
- baking powder: another leavening agent
- brown sugar: adds flavour to the cookies; you can use light or dark brown sugar
- granulated sugar: you can use regular white granulated sugar
- sea salt: balances out the flavour
- cocoa: use natural cocoa rather than Dutch-processed cocoa
- peppermint extract: use a culinary peppermint extract; a little bit goes a long way
- salted butter: slightly melted, I use salted butter to counteract the overall sweetness of the cookie
- egg
- chocolate peppermint bark: broken into small pieces; I used Ghirardelli but you can use any good quality chocolate that you like
How to make it
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, sea salt, cocoa, and peppermint extract.
Add in the slightly melted butter to the sugar mixture and whisk until combined.
Next, add in the egg to the sugar-butter mixture and continue to whisk until the mixture is thick and smooth.
Add the flour to the wet mixture in two parts, and fold with a spatula until a dough forms.
Note: the cookie dough will appear dry at first, but will become the right consistency.
Chill the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Use a small ice cream scoop to portion cookie dough and place mounds onto the prepared baking sheet, with 3" of space in between.
At this point, you can freeze the portioned cookie dough for baking at a later time.
Press chunks of chocolate peppermint bark into the cookie dough.
Bake the cookies at 350F/177C for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are slightly golden.
Note: For chewier cookies, it's best to leave the cookies slightly under baked.
Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to completely cool.
How to store & bake from frozen
Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
You can freeze the unbaked, portioned out cookie dough.
First, freeze the cookie dough on a flat baking sheet.
Once frozen, transfer the cookie dough from the baking sheet and store in an airtight container.
Bake the cookies from frozen at 325F/163C and add 2-5 more minutes of baking time.
Other cookie recipes you may like
Be sure to check out these recipes:
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies
Chocolate-Dipped Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies
Matcha White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Let me know if you try out this recipe -- tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment/rating below!
Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies
For accuracy and precision in baking recipes, use weight (metric) measurements when available.
Ingredients
- 136 g all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 132 g brown sugar
- 60 g granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 40 g cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract if you don't like it too minty, reduce to ¼ tsp
- 100 g salted butter slightly melted
- 1 large egg
- 8 pcs Ghirardelli chocolate peppermint bark broken into pieces
Instructions
- Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, sea salt, cocoa, and peppermint extract.
- Add in the slightly melted butter to the sugar mixture and whisk until combined.
- Next, add in the egg to the sugar-butter mixture and continue to whisk until the mixture is thick and smooth.
- Add the flour to the wet mixture in two parts, and fold with a spatula until a dough forms.
- Note: the cookie dough will appear dry at first, but will become the right consistency.
- Chill the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a small ice cream scoop to portion cookie dough and place mounds onto the prepared baking sheet, with 3" of space in between.
- At this point, you can freeze the portioned cookie dough for baking at a later time.
- Press chunks of chocolate peppermint bark into the cookie dough.
- Bake the cookies at 350°F/177°C for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are slightly golden.
- Note: For chewier cookies, leave the cookies slightly under baked.
- Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to completely cool.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided should be considered as approximate and is not guaranteed. Please use your best judgment to ensure food is safely prepared and/or a good fit for your diet.
David @ Spiced
That Ghirardelli peppermint bark is one of my favorite holiday treats! We always had a bag or two around the house as kids, so it carries good memories. Adding those peppermint bark pieces to chocolate cookies is just genius! I'll take one of these for a mid-afternoon snack, please!
Ben | Havocinthekitchen
Ooo these cookies have a terrific texture and exterior. And with the addition of chocolate bark and candy cane, they're super festive. Santa and Ben approve 🙂
Raymund | angsarap.net
Ohhh I really like this! Great textures for a cookie
Dawn
These look so so good!! I absolutely adore chocolate and peppermint so I know these would be a hit! Just need a tall glass of cold milk to go with!
Healthy World Cuisine
Need a half dozen of these straight away! Santa is going to love these along with a little of your Hojicha hot chocolate.
Tasia ~ two sugar bugs
Chocolate and peppermint is always a great choice and these cookies look so decadent and festive with that peppermint bark on top!
Gerri
When do you add the chocolate pieces. I see the ghiradelli in the ingredient list but not in the directions. Maybe I am missing something
Michelle
Hi Gerri, press the chocolate peppermint bark into the cookie dough prior to baking.