If you love the combination of chocolate and peppermint, these festive and fun cookies are for you! Chocolate Peppermint Blossoms boast the perfect chewy chocolate cookie base with a seasonal red and white candy cane peppermint kiss pressed right into the center.
In just 30 minutes, you will whip up an easy and decadent cookie dough that requires no chilling time. Then, when they are fresh out of the oven and still hot, you’ll press the peppermint kiss into the center to bring you a beautifully colorful blossom cookie!
These, along with my Christmas M&M Cookies, are among one of my favorite things to bake for friends and family during the Holidays!
As a busy mom with a gourmet palate, I’m always trying to bring the most flavor with the fewest number of ingredients and in the least amount of time! Keeping this in mind, I’ve kept this recipe simple, requiring just one bowl, only 9 ingredients, and the dough requires no chilling time before baking.
Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies Ingredients
Here’s everything you need:
- Butter. Preferably unsalted butter, but you can use salted and omit the added salt.
- Granulated sugar.
- Egg.
- Vanilla extract.
- All-purpose flour.
- Cocoa powder. I use dark.
- Baking soda.
- Salt. Table salt for inside the dough and optional flaky sea salt for on top.
- Peppermint kisses. It’s best that they are cold so that they don’t immediately melt when you press them into your hot cookies.
How to Make Chocolate Blossom Cookies with Peppermint Kisses
Make Your Simple Chocolate Cookie Dough
Start by creaming the butter and sugar together. To do so, simply use a hand mixer to beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy and well-combined. This will aerate the fat in the butter, making for the best chewy cookie dough.
Creaming the butter and sugar can only be achieved if your butter is softened. Set it out on the counter and allow it to come to room temperature, until your finger leaves an indent in the butter when you poke it.
Quick tip: For tips and tricks on achieving perfectly softened butter in a jiff, check out my article on how to quickly and easily soften butter.
Next, add the egg and vanilla extract to your butter and sugar mixture and whip again until well-combined.
Finally, add the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Beat one last time until you’re left with a smooth, thick dough. You may need to use a rubber spatula to integrate any dry ingredients that clings to the inside or bottom of the bowl.
Shape & Bake Your Cookie Dough
You want to keep these chocolate cookies on the smaller size, so when you press the candy cane kiss into each one, you have the perfect chocolate to peppermint and cookie to candy ratio.
Roughly 1 ½ to 2 tablespoon of dough makes for just the right sized cookie. Line them up on a baking sheet with parchment paper or a reusable baking mat. Leave about an inch of space between each cookie to allow for some spreading.
Bake the cookies on the top rack at 350°F for 12-14 minutes, until the top begins to crack, and the edges are crispy to touch.
While the cookies are baking, unwrap your candy cane kisses and place them in the freezer until you are ready to use them. This will just keep them from melting into a messy puddle when you press them into your hot cookies.
Pro tip: For perfectly round cookies, use a round cookie cutter or a glass jar to scoot the cookies in a circular motion when they are just out of the oven and still hot.
While the cookies are still hot, push the peppermint candy cane kisses into the center, pressing down so the bottom of the kiss is enveloped by the cookie.
How to Properly Store Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies
At room temperature, these chocolatey cookies will last for 5-7 days when covered or stored in an airtight container. In the refrigerator, they’ll last even longer– up to three weeks.
Pro tip: Storing your cookies with a piece of bread will keep them softer and chewier. Moisture from the bread prevents them from drying out—the perfect use for that end piece!
You can also opt to freeze the cookies for up to a year, but I recommend freezing the unbaked cookie dough instead (more on that below!).
How to Freeze Cookie Dough For Later
If you want this delicious dough on hand for when those cookie cravings hit, I highly recommend only baking the number of cookies you want in the moment and freezing the rest of the dough for later.
Shape all of the dough into cookie-sized balls and bake as many as you want. Then, store the rest in a freezer safe storage bag (consider reusable storage bags for a more sustainable option!) for up to 12 months!
You can freeze the proper amount of peppermint kisses in the bag with them, but you won’t press them into the cookies until after they are baked.
When you’re ready to bake your cookies, you can do so straight from the freezer. You’ll likely need to add a couple extra minutes to the baking time.
You’ll also notice the frozen dough will not spread out much (if at all) when you bake it, but adding the peppermint kiss will help with that!
The 3 E’s of Chocolate Peppermint Blossoms
- Easy: This cookie recipe requires just one bowl and less than ten ingredients.
- Efficient: The chocolate cookie dough requires no chilling time, meaning these cookies come together in less than 30 minutes from start to finish.
- Elevated: Seasonal candy cane kisses add the perfect touch of festive peppermint to your decadent chewy chocolate cookie.
30-Minute Chocolate Peppermint Blossoms Cookies
SAVE RECIPE TO COLLECTION PIN PRINT RATEEquipment
- Reusable Baking Mat (optional)
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter (½ cup = 1 stick)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used dark)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 24 candy cane kisses
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a reusable baking mat.
- To a large mixing bowl, add softened butter and sugar. Use a hand mixer on high to cream together until light and smooth (about 2-3 minutes).
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and use your hand mixer on low to combine.
- Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda and mix to combine, careful not to overbeat. Use a spatula to scrape any flour off the sides of the bowl and integrate it into your dough.
- Use clean hands to shape about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough into a ball and place it on your lined baking sheet. Leave a couple of inches in between each cookie for the dough to spread. I usually do 8 cookies on a large baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are crispy to touch. While the cookies are baking, unwrap the candy cane kisses and put them in a bowl. Place them in the freezer until you're ready for them.
- Immediately, while the cookies are still hot, press one cold peppermint kiss into the center of each cookie.
Pro Tips
- You can freeze excess cookie dough before baking it to give you fresh baked cookies every time when the craving hits! Just bake them as normal straight out of the freezer.
- If you prefer fewer, larger cookies, you can use 3 tablespoons of dough each to yield 12 cookies total. You can press up to 3 candy cane kisses into each of these larger cookies.
