These festive Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are so soft, chewy, & full of peppermint flavor. Not only are these chocolate mint cookies dairy-free & eggless, but they contain chunks of crushed peppermint, dark chocolate chips, & white chocolate chips for the best Holiday cookie!
These cookies are actually a combination of two SGTO cookies already on the blog- my Vegan Candy Cane Cookies & Vegan Double Chocolate Chip Cookies. Since you all loved those cookies so much, it was time to combine them into one chocolatey minty cookie.
The combination of a chewy chocolate cookie base with chunks of peppermint candy and chocolate chips is just SO incredible!
Ingredients:
Ingredient notes:
- Cocoa powder: It's important to use a high quality cocoa powder for the best quality cookie. I used Big Country Foods cocoa powder and HIGHLY recommend it! Just make sure to avoid cocoa powders that have sugar/sweetener added or dutch processed cocoa as it doesn't work the same.
- Vegan white chocolate chips: I realize these can be a little hard to find, but my absolute favorite are Pascha White Chocolate Chips. You can also make homemade vegan white chocolate if you're up for it or just substitute for more dark chocolate chips.
- Peppermint candy: Not all peppermint candy is vegan, so make sure to double check before buying. I used Brach's crushed peppermint which are in fact vegan!
How to make chocolate peppermint cookies
Cream butter and sugar
This step is crucial to get cookies that don't spread too much while baking. Creaming together the vegan butter & sugar helps to incorporate air into the batter and leads to cookies that are just as soft as they are chewy.
Add flax egg & peppermint extract
For this recipe, we're using a flax egg- which is just a mix of ground flaxseed and water mixed together. Then, we are adding peppermint extract to give these cookies extra mint flavor!
Just make sure to use pure peppermint extract as it has the most natural flavor.
Mix in dry ingredients
When cocoa powder is involved, it is a good idea to sift the dry ingredients in a small bowl before mixing them into the wet ingredients. This helps to make sure no clumps of cocoa powder get stuck in the batter!
For these peppermint chocolate cookies, we are using all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
Simply add them to the bowl of wet ingredients (starting with the flour). Once added, mix everything together into a thick and smoothie cookie dough.
Fold in peppermint candy & chocolate chips
Now comes the fun part- adding in all the fillings! You can truly add whatever your heart desires here, but I decided to add a mix of crushed peppermint candy, dark chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips.
Vegan white chocolate chips can be a little hard to find, but I highly recommend Pascha White Chocolate Chips!
Chill dough for 30 minutes- 1 hour
Chilling the dough for just 30 minutes to one hour leads to cookies that are extra chewy and a little sweeter.
As the dough chills in the fridge, the sugar will absorb some of the moisture in the dough leading to cookies that have a better flavor profile.
Bake the peppermint cookies
Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and scoop out 12 cookies. Then, add them to a parchment-lined baking tray and bake for 11-13 minutes until they are just cooked.
P.S- I highly recommend using If You Care Parchment Paper as it's compostable!
Let cool & serve
After removing the tray of cookies from the oven, it's super important to let these mint chocolate chip cookies cool on the baking tray for 5-10 minutes. They will be a bit soft out of the oven and firm up as they cool.
Then, either move the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling or enjoy warm & toasty right off the tray!
FAQ & Tips:
Definitely! If making gluten-free just make sure to use a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour like Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur Flour.
Unfortunately, using a flour alternative like coconut flour or almond flour will not work in this recipe as it's not a 1:1 substitute.
I honestly don't recommend it. In order to get the right texture cookies, you really need to use the right sugar.
Cane sugar and brown sugar are usually moister than coconut sugar or maple sugar. That's why using refined sugar leads to cookies that spread less.
Also, brown sugar is crucial to use in this recipe as it provides the acidic ingredient that is necessary to interact with the baking soda and help the cookies spread.
Yes. To freeze cookie dough balls scoop them and add them to a parchment-lined baking tray or plate. Then, add the plate to the freezer.
Once the cookies are frozen, you can remove the tray and store them in a freezer-safe container or bag to bake whenever you would like.
To bake frozen cookies, just add 2-3 additional minutes of baking time.
Baked cookies can be stored in a closed container at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for 3-5 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
These Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are sure to be a hit in every cookie box & Holiday celebration they go to this season. P.S- don't forget to check out my 25 Days of Vegan Christmas Cookies next. Enjoy!
-TSG
More vegan holiday cookie recipes you will love:
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Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegan butter
- 6 Tablespoons cane sugar
- 6 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 flax egg (1 Tablespoon/8 grams ground flaxseed mixed with 3 Tablespoons water, left to sit 5 minutes)
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 Tablespoons vegan dark chocolate chips
- 2 Tablespoons vegan white chocolate chips
- 2 Tablespoons crushed peppermint candy
Instructions
- Before making the dough, make the flax egg by mixing together the ground flaxseed and water and set aside.
- Next, sift together the dry ingredients including the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
- Add the room temperature vegan butter, white sugar, and brown sugar to a separate mixing bowl. Then, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy (about 1-2 minutes).
- Next, add in the flax egg and peppermint extract and mix together for another 30 seconds.
- Then, add in the bowl of sifted dry ingredients and mix everything together until a thick chocolate cookie dough forms.
- Next, add the vegan chocolate chips & crushed peppermint to the mixing bowl and fold into the dough using a spatula.
- Then, cover the bowl of cookie dough with plastic wrap and add to the fridge to chill for 30 minutes- 1 hour. The dough can also be refrigerated up to 24 hours
- About 10 minutes before removing the dough from the fridge preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Then, use a cookie scoop to scoop out 12 evenly sized cookies (about 40-45 grams per cookie) and place them onto the baking sheet. Make sure to space the cookies at least 2 inches apart on the tray and do not flatten them as they will spread while baking. All of the cookies will not fit on one baking sheet, so I recommend baking 6 cookies at a time on one tray vs. putting two trays in the oven at the same time.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes until bottoms are lightly browned and the cookies are cooked through but have slightly soft centers. The cookies will continue baking after they are removed from the oven so the centers should still be soft, but not glossy or raw, when they are removed from the oven.
- Remove the cookie tray from the oven and immediately tap the tray on the counter to produce a more “wrinkly” cookie and help deflate the cookies. For round cookies, use a round cookie cutter (or large mug in my case!) that is slightly larger than the cookie and swirl the cookies around inside to form them into a round cookie. This step will only work if you do it while the cookies are still warm.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking tray for at least 5 minutes as they will be soft right out of the oven. Then, place onto a wire rack to finish cooling or enjoy while still warm and gooey!
Notes
- It is also crucial to use a high-quality cocoa powder that is natural and unsweetened (not dutch processed) for the right texture in these cookies. Natural cocoa powder is highly acidic and will interact with baking soda to help the cookies spread. Dutch-processed cocoa powder is not acidic enough for this recipe.
- Baked cookies can be stored in a closed container at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for 3-5 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
- To freeze cookie dough balls scoop them and add them to a parchment-lined baking tray or plate. Then, add the plate to the freezer. Once the cookies are frozen, you can remove the tray and store them in a freezer-safe container or bag to bake whenever you would like.
- To bake frozen cookies, just add 2-3 additional minutes of baking time.
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