One of the most popular recipes on Our Best Bites are our Sugar Cookies. Way back in the beginning years of this blog I posted a tutorial for Glace Icing. Iced sugar cookies usually require quite a bit of time and effort. These days I’m all about the drop-sugar-cookie. All the buttery goodness of a traditional sugar cookie and none of the annoying rolling and cutting and re-rolling and re-cutting. This recipe adds a festive touch of peppermint for the most amazingly simple, delicious holiday cookie that’s crispy on the edges and soft and chewy in the center.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Unsalted butter – I only use real butter here.
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Peppermint extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Peppermint candies or candy canes
- Chocolate for drizzling
How to Make Peppermint Sugar Cookies
- First, mix up your dough. Combine your flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Beat some butter and sugar, add a couple of eggs, followed by the vanilla, and peppermint extracts. Mix in your dry ingredients.
- Then use a cookie scoop to create uniform size balls. Roll each until nice and round, and give them a quick roll in some additional sugar.
- Place the balls on a cookie sheet and press down just a little bit. If you flatten the cookies too much, they will turn out super flat and won’t have much shape. You just barely want to tap them down enough to get a bit of a flat surface on top so you can then sprinkle them with crushed peppermint candies.
- Then it’s into the oven. As the cookies bake, the peppermints melt into pretty little speckled pools of goodness.
- If you really want to pull out all the stops- give them a little drizzle of chocolate. Too much would overwhelm the delicate flavors, but just a thin drizzle is absolutely perfect and makes them taste like peppermint bark.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within 5-7 days for best results.
- You can eat these cookies warm, or let them cool completely. These cookies stack well and work perfectly in little containers for gifting.
- These cookies are great sandwiched with peppermint or chocolate ice cream, too!
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely. Feel free to make them all the way through a day ahead of time, or make the dough, roll the balls, roll in sugar, and then store the dough balls in the fridge for a day or two. When ready to bake, simply let them sit at room temperature for a few minutes, then flatten each ball, top with candy cane pieces, and bake.
You can! Pack finished cookies between layers of parchment in an airtight, freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Be aware that freezing and thawing can slightly affect the texture of the candy canes.
While I have not personally tried it, cookie recipes in general translate fairly well when using a quality 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Peppermint Sugar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups sugar plus more for rolling
- 2 eggs large
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup peppermint candies or candy canes crushed
- chocolate for drizzling melted, optional
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350℉. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
- Using a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla and peppermint extracts and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low, slowly add flour mixture, and beat until combined.
- If dough is extra soft, refrigerate for 30-60 minutes until firmed up. Place about ½ cup extra sugar in a dish. Use a cookie scoop to make uniform size balls and roll them in the sugar and place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Using a buttered and sugared bottom of a flat-bottomed drinking glass, flatten each ball just slightly (about ¾-inch thickness) and sprinkle with with peppermint candies.
- Bake until edges are set and beginning to barely brown but centers are still soft and puffy, 10-12 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheet for 10 minutes. Serve warm, or transfer to wire rack and cool completely. If desired, drizzle with a little chocolate.
Notes
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within 5-7 days for best results.
- You can eat these cookies warm, or let them cool completely. These cookies stack well and work perfectly in little containers for gifting.
- These cookies are great sandwiched with peppermint or chocolate ice cream, too!
Questions & Reviews
Could you add chocolate chips to the cookie dough ?
I’ve never tried that, but go for it!
Such a great recipe. Just the perfect amount of peppermint and sugar cookie. A crowd favorite.
Can I use these with my cookie cutters?
No, sorry this is a drop cookie, it won’t hold a shape very well.
Very Good! Very pepperminty. Next time I’m planning to use less peppermint extract.
I made these for Christmas Eve dinner and they were a hit! Thanks for sharing!
These look so great all packaged up that it makes me really wish I liked peppermint/chocolate 🙁 But, alas, it always tastes like toothpaste! Maybe I will just enjoy looking at the cuteness and give them away
These cookies look so delicious!
Paige
These look amazing! Have you tried freezing? I need to make cookies for a party next week and I think I’ll make these and freeze them.
I haven’t frozen this exact recipe, but generally speaking this type of cookie freezes beautifully so I’d say you’re good!
Yum!! How many cookies does the recipe make? Thanks!
If you use 2 tablespoons of dough, you should get 2 dozen cookies, however I got 3 dozen with a standard cookie scoop.
thanks!
These look tasty! Kind of like a peppermint version of your ginger crinkles – one of my all-time favourite cookies!
Yes- they have a very similar texture!