Soft, brownie-like cookies are sandwiched around a fluffy cream filling with a refreshing peppermint touch. They’re chewy but not cakey, and the sweetness is just right when paired with that creamy center. A quick melt-and-mix method makes them easy to whip up, and the double-layer look gives them a bit of polish without any extra drama. These are great for sharing, holiday trays, or packaging as a festive treat.
I looked for a long time for the perfect non-cake mix version of the “Homemade Oreo” cookie, and I found it on America’s Test Kitchen. (We do have a great cake mix version if you’re looking for that!) There’s tons out there and I’ve tried many and haven’t found exactly what I was looking for. They were often cakey or too crispy, or too whoopie-pie-ish. I wanted soft, but chewy with a sweetness that wasn’t overwhelming when sandwiched with frosting. The cookies are not only adorable (I made mini cookies) but they have the perfect almost brownie-like texture and flavor, with a slightly chewy outside and soft center.
Ingredients Needed
Cookies:
- flour
- baking soda
- table salt
- semisweet chocolate chips
- light brown sugar
- butter
- water
- egg
Filling:
- butter
- powdered sugar
- peppermint extract
- milk
- red or green food coloring, sprinkles, or crushed candy canes
How to Make Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies
This is a simple overview of the recipe, you’ll find a full printable recipe below!
- Cookies: Preheat oven to 350°F; line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt chocolate chips, brown sugar, 5 Tbsp butter, and water; stir until smooth (sugar will still be grainy).
- Transfer to a large bowl, beat in egg, then stir in flour mixture until just combined.
- If dough is too soft, let sit or chill briefly. Do NOT add more flour!
- Roll into balls (1 tablespoon for large cookies, ½-inch for small) and place 2″ apart on baking sheets.
- Bake: 8–9 min for large, 5 min for small, rotating pans halfway. Cool briefly on sheets, then transfer to rack to cool completely.
- Filling: Beat frosting ingredients with peppermint extract to taste. Add milk as needed for spreadable consistency; add food coloring if desired.
- Pipe frosting onto a cookie, top with another, and roll edges in sprinkles or crushed candy canes if desired.
Storage & Other Tips
Dough: It’s really important when making sandwich cookies to make the cookies a uniform size. You can measure out the dough, or use a cookie scoop. When I make sandwich cookies, I like to make them small. I figure you’re already getting 2 cookies in there, so giant ones can be kind of overwhelming. If I want small cookies, I use my cookie scoop and then just cut the dough so it’s even. For these cookies I cut a scoop from a standard cookie scoop into four. That’s pretty tiny! But the finished cookies were about the size of a silver dollar, which is where I wanted them.
Baking: The most important thing about these cookies is that you don’t over-bake them. In fact, you want to under-bake them. It can sometimes be hard with chocolate cookies because you can’t use color for a visual clue. Instead look at the texture. The cookies should be puffed up, and the edges just barely set but the centers still soft. The cookies in the above picture have been sitting on the pan for a minute cooling so they’re starting to crack. Once they cool completely, they flatten out and crackle.
Frosting: Here’s my tip for frosting; keep it on the thick side. Like, just a little thicker than you think it should be. With sandwich cookies, you don’t want it to smoosh out when you bite into them, so if you keep the cookies extra soft and the filling just a tiny bit firm, then it usually ends up being a pretty good match. I also go a little strong on the peppermint extract because it mellows out once it’s combined with the cookies.
Assembly: Don’t spread frosting on each one. Put your frosting in a ziplock bag and cut the corner off. Place cookies that are close in size (because they’ll all be a little different) next to each other and pipe on the frosting, staying close to the edge. It’s soooo much faster than spreading it on, especially if you’re doing a ton of little cookies like I did. There should be enough to be generous, but don’t go too crazy or it will all just squish out.
Sprinkles: It’s easiest to pour some sprinkles in the palm of your hand and roll the cookie through them.
Or try white frosting with cute blue sprinkles for a winter or Hanukkah look.
My favorite though, is crushed candy canes. You only need one or two for a whole batch of cookies.
Pop them in some cute containers and you’re all set for giving (or munching!)
Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 ½ cups flour lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled (don’t scoop!)
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup brown sugar light, packed
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
Filling
- ½ cup butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ -1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- milk as needed for consistency
- red or green food coloring, sprinkles, or crushed candy canes optional
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Heat chocolate chips, brown sugar, 5 tablespoons butter and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and smooth (there will still be grains of sugar though).
- Transfer mixture to a large bowl and beat in egg. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Don’t over-mix!
- If dough is too soft to work with, let it sit at room temp for a few minutes to firm up, or place in the fridge for a few minutes. Do not add flour.
- Gently roll balls, either 1 tablespoon full for large cookies, or about 1/2 inch balls for silver dollar sized cookies. See recipe notes for an important tip about yield amounts.
- Place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies until just puffed in the middle and edges are set but centers are still soft. About 8-9 minutes for large cookies, and about 5 minutes for small ones. If using 2 cookie sheets, rotate them half way through baking. Cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
Filling
- Beat all filling ingredients together, adding peppermint extract to taste. Add milk by the teaspoonful until a spreadable, but not too soft consistency is reached. Add food coloring if desired.
- Place frosting in a zip-top bag and cut off a corner. Pipe onto one side of cookie and place another on top. Roll edges in sprinkles or crushed candy canes if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Questions & Reviews
Have you ever tried using peppermint ice cream and then freezing them for a yummy cookie ice cream sandwich?
oh perfect! I am so making this for a cookie exchange I am going to next week! I had been having a tough time figuring out what i was going to make and then I saw this..thank you!
How perfect was this post! We totally love “homemade oreos” and I was thinking of doing this exact thing for my husbands work…I hadn’t thought of using peppermint extract though, I will have to try that. Thanks!
thanks so much for sharing all of your recipes 🙂 this website is a great resource. love the creativity.
I’m assuming not since there’s only 2 c powdered sugar and 1/2 c butter, but thought I’d ask.
Thank you, once again, for introducing my computer keyboard to drool! These look so yummy AND I’m SO SO SO happy the cream in the middle doesn’t have cream cheese in it (I was worried for a second). Best part – I have all the ingredients already! YAY!
Lifesaver! Hurray, you read my mind. This is exactly what I was looking for. Like you, I have a ton of different sprinkles waiting to be used. Bingo!
When you say you used a cookie scoop and then cut that in fourths, did you use the small one (about the size of a walnut? Mine says 50 on it)?
Ah, I just found the answer to my question. Yep, that’s the right scoop.
My site is the same way…it seems like the recipes I make the most never make it to the blog!! I think I must like creating extra work for myself 😉
These sound great, we love chocolate/peppermint combos!!
I’m looking for a fun cookie to make with my 3&5 y olds. I don’t do cut outs or any kind of rolling out dough so that leaves out the obvious. Would the decorating part of this be too hard for little kids if I put the candy canes/sprinkles in ramekins? I’m thinking if I tell them to drive the wheel in the sprinkles, they should be able to make it work…
Also, is this recipe already quadrupled or do I still need to quad the frosting as you’ve stated???
Yeah, as long as you frost them all, and put plenty in and close to the edges so they can roll them. And yes, the frosting is already quadrupled from the original.
Thanks, Sara!
You, Sara, are a problem. You have caused the most ridiculous peppermint/chocolate obeseeion in me. Just in the last week and a half i’ve made peppermint brownies (though I believe we can blame your Mom for that one?), peppermint kiss cookies, peppermint bark popcorn and I’ll be making these cookies tomorrow night. Also, I am so addicted I have made myself peppermint hot chocolate every single morning for the last two weeks because I just can’t get enough. I’m blaming you for the holiday weight gain! 🙂 I’m really not complaining though.
Obsession. I am so obsessed I can’t spell obsession.
Woo hoo! I drink peppermint hot chocolate just about every morning, haha. Glad to have another addict around here!