Cute and Easy Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cookies
These Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Tree Cookies are the easiest way to bring the look, taste, and smell of the Holidays into your home. They're crunchy on the edges, chewy in the center, full of chocolate and peppermint flavor, and fun to decorate!
Equipment
- Hand Mixer * or *
- Reusable Baking Mat (optional)
- Reusable Piping Bag (optional)
Ingredients
Cookies
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened ¾ cup usually = 1 ½ sticks
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup dark cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Peppermint Icing (Optional)
- 2 large pasteurized egg whites
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 to 2 ½ cups powdered sugar aka confectioner's sugar
- green food coloring for decoration
- round sprinkles for decoration
Instructions
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Preheat your oven to 325°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to cream your butter and sugar together until smooth and aerated (2-3 minutes).¾ cup unsalted butter, softened, 1 cup granulated sugar
- Add your egg and peppermint extract and mix to combine.1 large egg, 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- Add your flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt and mix again to form a thick dough. Make sure to use a spatula to scrape all the powder down the sides to integrate it into your cookie dough.1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ¾ cup dark cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Place your dough between two pieces of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to flatten it until it is about ½ inch thick.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out your Christmas tree shapes and place them on a lined baking sheet, leaving two inches in between each cookie.
- Take the leftover dough and use clean hands to form it into a ball. Use your rolling pin to roll it out again to cut more cookies. Repeat until all the cookie dough is used up.
- Bake for ten minutes. Remove from the oven and keep your cookies on your hot baking sheet for at least ten more minutes. They will continue to bake on the hot sheet until they cool. Make sure they cool completely before you ice them.
Peppermint Icing
- With hand or stand mixer, whip egg whites and peppermint extract until white and foamy—about 2-3 minutes.2 large pasteurized egg whites, 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and continue to whip until you've added 2 cups.2 to 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- Assess the consistency. It should be sticky and drip slowly off of a spoon. If it's too loose, slowly add more powdered sugar until the desired consistency is reached. Then, add up to 10 drops of green food coloring until you achieve a green you like.
- Transfer to a piping bag and store your piping bags in the refrigerator until the cookies are completely cool and ready for decoratinggreen food coloring for decoration
- If necessary, cut the very bottom tip of your piping bag, and add icing in horizontal lines. Start at the top and zigzag across as you go down, the lines getting wider as you go.round sprinkles for decoration
- Then, drop the sprinkles on sporadically to represent ornaments. Allow to dry and enjoy!
Notes
- For the icing, make sure you whip your egg white and extract until they are smooth, white, and frothy before adding in the powdered sugar.
- The icing consistency should be thick and sticky, but still able to slowly drop off your spoon. You may not need all four cups of powdered sugar, so add it slowly.
- Make sure you set the cut cookies in the refrigerator for two whole hours before baking to ensure they keep their shape.
- Do not remove the cookies from their baking sheet until they have completely cooled.
- Cookie monsters are always happy at my house with this delicious selection of my best cookie recipes to choose from! Nom nom nom!
- Speaking of cookies, don't waste those leftover egg yolks! They can be used in these Margarita Cookies, Candy Cookies, or Rosemary Shortbread.