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Peppermint Chocolate Drop Cookies with rich chocolate brownie flavor and cool peppermint crunch are the ultimate Christmas cookies for die-hard chocolate and mint lovers. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, these Peppermint Chocolate Drop Cookies are drizzled with peppermint glaze and studded with crushed candy canes.

Festive and fun, Peppermint Chocolate Drop Cookies are perfect for cookie exchanges, gift giving, and of course, Santa loves them, too!

a tray of Peppermint Brownie Drop Cookies

Peppermint Chocolate Drop Cookies

Are you as excited as I am about Christmas cookies?! December is the one time of the year when you can bake cookies to your heart’s content and not feel one bit guilty about it, am I right?

I’m a firm believer that cookies are the universal love language. Share a cookie and you’re guaranteed a smile in return. That’s a pretty good trade!

Peppermint Chocolate Drop Cookies are super easy to make, so they are a good choice if you’re not into fussy baking. There’s no rolling or cutting out the dough and no chilling required.

Thirty minutes is all the time you need to mix and bake up a batch, so let’s get baking!

freaky friday banner image

Freaky Friday blog hop

Today is FREAKY FRIDAY, y’all! That may not mean a thing to you, but it’s pretty exciting for me. Freaky Friday is a fun blog project (the brainchild of Michaela from An Affair From the Heart) where a group of food bloggers secretly cook or bake a recipe from another blog they were assigned and then reveal the recipes at the same time on one Freaky Friday morning — that’s TODAY!

Meet Erin from The Speckled Palete

I’m so excited to introduce you to my friend Erin from The Speckled Palete. If you need inspiration for easy entertaining, Erin is your go-to girl!

Erin has a treasure trove of the best entertaining recipes broken down by every holiday, season, and occasion you can imagine. Seriously, she is a party planner extraordinaire!

Erin believes nothing is better than a homemade meal to bring together the people you adore. She loves creating recipes with fresh ingredients, planning dinner parties, and is a pretty solid mixologist, too.

For today’s cookie collaboration, I had a really hard time choosing just one of Erin’s cookie recipes to feature—there are so many delicious options!

I was torn between the Orange Cranberry Cream Cheese Thumbprints (don’t those sound amazing?!) and Shortbread Brown Butter Cookies.

In the end, I decided on her Peppermint Brownie Drop Cookies because there’s not much of anything I like better than pairing chocolate and peppermint!

Drop cookies are the EASIEST and SIMPLEST cookies to make because there is no rolling or cutting into shapes required. The batter for drop cookies is soft enough to drop off a spoon or cookie scoop directly onto the baking sheet.

PRO TIP: Instead of using a spoon to drop cookie dough onto the baking sheet, use a one-ounce cookie scoop to ensure your cookies bake into a uniform shape and size.

ingredients for peppermint brownie cookies on a wooden table

Ingredients

  • Semi-sweet chocolate chips — I prefer Ghirardelli or Hershey’s dark chocolate chips
  • Unsalted butter
  • Eggs
  • Sugar
  • Peppermint extract — Erin uses candy cane vodka!
  • Kosher salt
  • All-purpose flour
  • Powdered sugar — for the icing
  • Candy canes — crushed, for decorating (may also use peppermint sprinkles)
unbaked cookies on a cookie sheet

Instructions

  1. To make the cookie dough, first melt chocolate chips and butter together in a microwave-safe bowl. Let cool completely.
  2. In another bowl, combine eggs, sugar, peppermint extract, vanilla, extract, and salt, then whisk in the melted chocolate.
  3. Stir in the flour until just combined.
  4. Drop the cookie dough onto parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake for 15-18 minutes, until the cookies are just slightly crisp on the outside.
  5. Once the cookies are cool, whisk together powdered sugar, peppermint extract, and water until smooth.
  6. Drizzle on top of the cookies and sprinkle with crushed candy canes.

PRO TIP: Before drizzling the cookies with icing, place them on a wire rack inside a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. As you drizzle the icing and candy canes on top, the extra will be caught inside the baking sheet making clean up a breeze!

Peppermint Brownie Drop Cookies on a wire rack

Another way to decorate

Another way to decorate Peppermint Chocolate Drop Cookies is to dip half of each cookie in the peppermint icing (instead of drizzling on top). After dipping, transfer the cookies to parchment paper and sprinkle with crushed candy canes to make Dipped Peppermint Chocolate Cookies.

a tray of Peppermint Brownie Drop Cookies

More chocolate peppermint recipes!

Let’s bake cookies!

In the original recipe, Erin’s uses candy cane vodka for the peppermint flavor in these cookies, but I made them with peppermint extract instead. Either way, these cookies are phenomenal!

Take a look at all of our 2020 Freaky Friday Holiday Cookie Exchange Recipes:

  1. An Affair from the Heart – Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies
  2. Bowl Me Over – Homemade Buckeyes Recipe
  3. Devour Dinner – Holiday Brownie Cookie
  4. Fresh Cooky – Mint Fudge Brownies
  5. Hostess at Heart – Homemade Butter Cookies
  6. House of Nash Eats – Candy Coated Crispix Mix
  7. Lemoine Family Kitchen – Nutella Thumbprint Cookies
  8. Life Currents – Easy One Hour Cinnamon Rolls
  9. Life, Love & Good Food – Peppermint Brownie Drop Cookies
  10. Or Whatever You Do – Easy Thumbprint Cookie Recipe
  11. Sugar Dish Me – Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
  12. Take Two Tapas –  Chocolate Caramel Brownies
  13. The Speckled Palate – Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge
a tray of Peppermint Brownie Drop Cookies

Peppermint Chocolate Drop Cookies

Peppermint Chocolate Drop Cookies with rich chocolate brownie flavor and cool peppermint crunch are the ultimate Christmas cookies for die-hard chocolate and mint lovers.
4.93 from 14 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Cookies & Bars
Cuisine American
Servings 2 dozen
Calories 166 kcal

Ingredients
  

Brownie Drop Cookies

  • ¾ cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips 6-oz.
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Peppermint Icing

  • 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • ½ cup crushed candy canes

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Place the chocolate chips and butter in a large glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds at 70% power. Stir, and continue in 10 second increments until the chocolate and butter are melted together; let cool.
  • In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, peppermint extract, vanilla, extract, and salt together until well combined.
  • Add the melted chocolate and butter and whisk gently until combined. Gradually whisk in the flour until combined—do not over mix.
  • Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop to drop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the cookies are just slightly crisp on the outside.
  • Remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Peppermint Icing

  • In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, peppermint extract, and water until smooth.
  • Drizzle the icing on top of the cookies and sprinkle with the crushed candy canes while still wet. Let dry before storing.

Notes

Original recipe by The Speckled Palete
You may substitute 1 tablespoon candy cane vodka for the peppermint and vanilla extracts in the cookie batter and 1 teaspoon candy cane vodka in place of the peppermint extract in the icing.
When stored tightly covered, cookies will stay fresh up to a week.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 166kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 2gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 54mgFiber: 1gSugar: 19g

Life Love and Good Food does not claim to be a registered dietician or nutritionist. Nutritional information shared on this site is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.

Keyword brownie, candy canes, chocolate chips, chocolate cookies, holiday baking, peppermint, semi-sweet chocolate
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was.
Sheila Thigpen, blogger

About Sheila Thigpen

Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, Food Writer

Sheila Thigpen is the publisher of Life, Love, and Good Food — a Southern food blog — and the author of Easy Chicken Cookbook and The 5-Ingredient Fresh and Easy Cookbook. After 20+ years in the publishing industry, she retired in 2018 to focus on her own creative endeavors full time. She and her husband live near the beautiful Smoky Mountains and have a precious little granddaughter who has stolen their hearts. As an influencer, Sheila has collaborated with brands like Creamette, Kroger, HERSHEY’S, Hamilton Beach, Garafalo Pasta, OXO, Smithfield, Valley Fig Growers, and more.

8 Comments

  1. These cookies turned out fantastic! I couldn’t resist making them last night when I realized I way overbought on candy canes to use decorating our gingerbread houses. They aren’t going to last long, that’s for sure!

  2. Wow! What a fantastic flavor combination and a perfect Holiday cookie! Definitely sharing these with family and friends.

  3. Oh. My. Word. You knocked these drop cookies out of the park and are inspiring me to make them again because it’s been a hot second! Thank you for choosing these beauties… and I’m so glad that you enjoyed them! They’re seriously PERFECT for this time of year.

  4. How gorgeous and yummy are these cookies! I love the combo of chocolate and peppermint. A perfect holiday treat!

  5. Erin is tops and it doesn’t surprise me that these cookies hit it out of the park! I adore anything chocolate and peppermint, but the way the colors pop on these cookies makes them irresistible! On my Christmas cookie list! I have a feeling the neighbors are going to LOVE these!

  6. From one chocolate peppermint loving woman to another — I say KUDOS these beautiful cookies! There really isn’t much better than those two flavors in one delicious little bite! And I am with you -ZERO guilt when it comes to ALL of the COOKIE BAKING in December! <3 Wishing you and your beautiful family a delightful holiday, Sheila! xo

  7. Holy OMG do these look amazing! I love Erin’s site – and Erin – she is the nicest. I am such a sucker for all things chocolate and peppermint – I will definitely be trying these!

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