Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Tree Cookies

Want to make cute cut-out cookies, but sick of the same old sugar cookies every year? These Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cookies both look and taste like the Holidays, without the overdone sugary-sweet taste.

The cute Christmas tree cookie shape and green color is so festive! They are crunchy on the edges, chewy in the center, and are chocolate-forward with just the right amount of peppermint.

And as someone who struggles with shape-able cookies, I promise these are do-able. Because as a busy mom and joyful baker, I will always choose the foolproof recipe that requires no chilling time, for a quick, reliable recipe that’s fun to bake with the whole family!

I absolutely love the dynamic duo of chocolate and peppermint, especially around the Holidays (see next: Chocolate Peppermint Blossoms), and this festive cut-out cookie recipe is an annual favorite!

Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Tree Cookies Ingredient Highlights

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For the cookies, I prefer salted butter, but you can use salted and just omit the added salt. Regardless, make sure the butter is softened. For more info, see How to Quickly and Easily Soften Butter.

I use dark cocoa powder for the deepest color and most intense chocolate flavor.

For the icing, we are using egg whites. They won’t be cooked, so make sure you are using pasteurized eggs.

I like to add a few drops of liquid food coloring (you can also use gel!), but you can also opt to keep your peppermint royal icing white.

Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cut-Out Cookies Tips & Tricks

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How to Make Festive Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Once your butter is softened, use a hand or stand mixer to whip it with your granulated sugar to aerate it. It should take 3-5 minutes for your butter and sugar to cream together.

Add the peppermint extract and egg and whip again with your hand or stand mixer until smooth. Try to whip only as much as you need to, not more. We don’t want to overbeat the dough.

That candy cane peppermint smell is synonymous with the Holidays for me. And you better believe as soon as you pour in your peppermint extract it’ll be wafting through your whole house.

The peppermint extract is very concentrated and has a bold taste. There’s a fine line between making your cookies taste like festive peppermint-y and reminiscent of toothpaste.

1 teaspoon is more than enough extract in the cookie dough to get you that pleasant peppermint taste without going overboard.

It’s always best practice to crack your egg into a separate dish or bowl first and then transfer it to your creamed butter and sugar.

This just makes it easier to extract any accidental bits of eggshell that may fall in and means if you have a bloody egg that you won’t have to waste the other ingredients.

Lastly, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Mix again to combine. Make sure to use a spatula to scrape any powder that sticks into the dough to allow it all to integrate.

At this point, you should have a super thick cookie dough.

Place your dough in a ball on a piece of parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment paper on top and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out, until it’s about 2 inches thick.

The shape of the rolled-out dough should be roughly rectangular but does not need to be uniform by any means. It’s more important that it is all the same thickness.

Use a cookie cutter to cut out as many Christmas trees as you can, placing them on a lined baking sheet. Leave a couple of inches between each cookie. I used the Christmas trees from this Christmas cookie cutters set.

To avoid extra waste, try these reusable baking mats! They are great for nonstick and super easy to clean.

After getting as many trees as you can cut out, fold the remaining dough back over itself and roll it out again. Continue to cut the cookies out, re-rolling out, and cutting more until the dough is used up.

You should be able to get pretty close to using all the dough, but you may have a tiny bit leftover. You can add whatever is left over to the cookie sheet and bake it just so it is not wasted. It can be your little taste tester 😉.

Once your cookies are cut, bake them and allow them to cool completely before icing them.

How to Make Green Peppermint Royal Icing for Christmas Cut-Out Cookies

While the cookies are cooling, get started on your icing.

It’s really easy to separate your egg whites from the yolks. Just crack your eggshell in half over a bowl and transfer the egg yolk back and forth between either half of the shell, allowing the egg white to fall into the bowl.

Once all of the whites have fallen into the bowl, simply place the yolk in a separate bowl and repeat with your second egg.

Now your yolk and whites are in separate bowls. For the icing in these Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, you only need the whites, but don’t toss the yolks!

Pro tip: Don’t waste the yolks! Use them for these Candy Cane Shortbread Cookies.

As for the whites, add them to a large mixing bowl with the peppermint extract and use a hand or stand mixer to whip on high. Beat the whites and extract for 2-3 minutes until stiff peaks form.

Half a cup at a time and whisking in between, add two cups of the powdered sugar. Asses the consistency of your icing, adding more sugar as needed, up to 2 ½ cups.

We want a loose icing that slowly drips off a spoon. It should be sticky and thick but still have movement.

Then, add up to 10 drops of green food coloring (depending on your desired color of green). Whisk again with the hand mixer to evenly integrate the green color. I like to keep it a light pastel green, I think it’s more whimsical, so I use about 5 drops.

Add your icing to a piping bag to easily decorate your cookies. The easiest way to do so is by placing your piping bag in a tall glass and folding the top of the bag down around the glass.

Use a spatula to transfer the icing into the bag. Then, remove it from the glass. If need be, cut a hole in the bottom. If you’re using a reusable piping bag, make sure it’s one with a small round opening.

Then, remove it from the glass and squeeze the icing down.

Creating this simple but effective Christmas tree decoration is as easy as drawing on horizontal lines, starting at the top of the tree and zigzagging across back and forth, getting bigger as they make their way down.

Then, add your round sprinkles sporadically across the icing. Make sure to add your sprinkles right after applying your icing, it’ll stick better before your icing dries.

Making Ahead and Storing these Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Both the cookie dough and icing can be made ahead of time. If you’re making them the day before you plan to bake them, store them both in the refrigerator overnight.

The cookie dough will need to come to room temperature before you can roll it out and shape it— it’ll be an uphill battle to roll it out while it’s ice cold.

My suggestion would be to make the dough and shape it, then store it in the refrigerator overnight. That way you can just pop them straight in the oven from the refrigerator!

Once they are made, these cookies will last in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.