Giant Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Giant Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are your favorite holiday flavor combination in one, bakery-style cookie. These chocolate cookies with peppermint flavor are topped with a peppermint frosting and candy canes - happy holidays, indeed!
Oh man. If you're even slightly a fan of peppermint and chocolate together, you're going to NEED to make these Giant Chocolate Peppermint Cookies. I, myself, am a huge fan of peppermint (especially this time of year!) and am borderline obsessed with these cookies. I know bloggers get a bad rep for being "obsessed" with everything, but I don't use the term lightly.
How to Make Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
These cookies start with cold unsalted butter. The reason for this is so the cookies don't spread too much. These are BIG cookies and we want them thick AND large. I cut the butter into smaller pieces to make them easier to work with. To start, beat the butter for about 1 minute with an electric stand or hand mixer. Then add the sugar, beating until well combined.
Next, add the eggs and egg yolks, adding them one at a time and scraping down the edges as needed. Add the peppermint extract followed by the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Next, add the cake mix, flour, and cocoa powder and mix well to combine. Form the dough into ½ cup dough balls and place 3 on each parchment paper lined baking sheet. This usually gets me 6-7 cookies depending on how generous I am with my ½ cup. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 9-10 minutes. The edges will be set and the middle may seem a little underbaked still but that's okay - they will set up! You just don't want the middle to be shiny/doughy still. If they are, leave them in for 1-2 additional minutes.
Let them cool for 10-15 minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack to let them cool completely.
To make the peppermint frosting, beat together powdered sugar, butter, peppermint extract, and milk until creamy and smooth. Spread a thick layer of frosting on each cookies and then sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Enjoy!
Giant Chocolate Cookies FAQ’s
Why do I need to use cold butter?
Using cold butter in this giant chocolate cookie recipe will keep them from spreading out too thin. We want giant cookies, but not super thin giant cookies. These chocolate cookies are giant sized AND thick – the ultimate combination!
Why do I need to cool them completely?
I mean, you don’t HAVE to, but they will be much easier to eat if they are cooled. Straight from the oven, they will be quite difficult (impossible?) to pick up. These chocolate cookies are purposely baked until *just* done – and no more. This means the middles are still quite soft straight from the oven and they need the time to cool to keep their shape when handled.
How do you store Giant Chocolate Cookies?
These are best stored in an airtight container. I like keeping them in a 9×13″ covered baking dish so I can spread them out and they have room to sit on top of the other ones without being squished into a smaller tupperware.
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Giant Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter cold, cut into smaller chunks
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 box chocolate cake mix
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Peppermint Frosting
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2-4 tablespoon milk
- crushed candy canes, for topping
Instructions
Giant Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Beat until creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the sugar and beat until well combined, scraping down the edges of the bowl as needed.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the egg yolks, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Add the peppermint extract, beating to combine.
- Add the baking powder, baking soda, and baking salt, mixing to combine.
- Add the cake mix, flour, and cocoa powder, and beat until combined.
- Form the dough into ½ cup sized dough balls. I like to spray a ½ cup measuring cup with cooking spray to make the dough easier to get out.
- Place 3 dough balls onto one cookie sheet and slightly press them down.
- Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes. The edges should be set and the middle may still seem slightly underbaked. They will set up as they cool.
- Cool them on the cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. This is important since the cookies are so big!
- Repeat with remaining dough.
Peppermint Frosting
- In a large bowl, combine the powdered sugar, butter, peppermint extract, and 2 tablespoon milk and beat well to combine.
- Add additional milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed. The frosting should be easy to spread.
- Spread a thick layer of frosting on each cookie.
- Top with crushed candy canes.
- Enjoy!
These cookies are so very good. I will be making them again. Just a quick note ***if you are making more then one batch do each batch separately ***