White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
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These soft and tender sugar cookies filled with creamy white chocolate chips and crunchy bits of candy canes absolutely melt in your mouth with every sugar-coated bite. They’re the perfect festive holiday cookie!
MY TRUSTED VANILLA SUGAR COOKIE BASE: THE FESTIVE REMIX
When I first made my vanilla sugar cookies, I had no idea they’d turn into one of the best cookie bases I could have ever adapted over and over. In fact, that base is the flagship cookie recipe in my cookie cookbook, The Classic Cookie Companion.
Not only is that cookie base utterly perfect, it has also swept Instagram as well as my website as so many folks’ go-to sugar cookie. See it here with sprinkles, dressed up for Christmas, filled with m&m’s, and as a quick and easy snickerdoodle.
This peppermint cookie recipe is no different. It leans into the soft and tender sugar cookie base, fills every bite with creamy white chocolate chips, and finishes off every nook and cranny with flakes and bits and chunks of crushed candy canes.
While chocolate cookies are usually the the ones who get all dressed up with candy canes (see my chocolate peppermint thumbprints!), these cookies are reminiscent of white chocolate peppermint bark, relying heavily on the bright sweetness of white chocolate instead of semi-sweet or dark.
I’m confident they’ll be a new favorite in your house after one bite… Or swipe of cookie dough, because let’s be honest, who can resist waiting for them to come out of the oven? Surely not I!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
The ingredient list for these easy peppermint cookies is short. We utilize powdered sugar to cream with the butter to bring all the softness, and we’re using vegetable oil for mega moisture and tenderness. See the “substitutions & variations” section or notes of the recipe card for swaps and subs.
Grab these 13 (simple!) ingredients:
• all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• baking soda
• salt
• unsalted butter
• powdered sugar
• egg
• vegetable oil
• vanilla extract
• peppermint extract
• white chocolate chips
• crushed candy canes
• granulated sugar
OVERVIEW: HOW TO MAKE THE BEST WHITE CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT COOKIES
Make the cookie dough: this is a really simple cookie dough. No chilling necessary! The dough will be very soft.
Add the white chocolate chips + candy cane pieces: you’ll just have to blend until evenly dispersed. Make sure you’re adding in all of the candy cane bits, even the dust!
Roll the cookies in sugar: the dough for these peppermint chip cookies is soft but shouldn’t be too sticky. Dropping and rolling them in sugar will help with the stickiness, but if it’s so hard to work with that you’re having trouble rolling the dough, pop it in the fridge for about 15 minutes to firm up the butter a bit.
Bake: this is a quick bake! Do not overbake these white chocolate and peppermint cookies. They will lose a lot of their moisture if they’ve overbaked. Look for set edges and puffy tops that have just lost their sheen.
Reshape and redecorate: these cookies will spread a bit, but reshaping them will help bring the edges back together and encourage those iconic wrinkles on top.
SUBSTITUTIONS & VARIATIONS
WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS: you can absolutely use chopped white chocolate in these peppermint white chocolate chip cookies if you prefer. You’ll want 2 ounces of a bar, chopped into small pieces (coarse chop).
CANDY CANES: I like to crush my own candy canes, but you can use mints like Starlight mints or pre-crushed candy cane pieces.
VEGETABLE OIL: feel free to use any neutral oil you prefer. I recommend avocado oil as opposed to melted coconut oil, as I think the flavor of coconut oil comes through a bit more than I prefer in cookies.
SUCCESS TIPS
TIP #1: be sure you are weighing the flour. It’s imperative you only use 2 cups (240g) of all-purpose flour or these cookies will not spread at all OR spread too much. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, utilize the spoon-and-level method for measuring your flour.
TIP #2: take care that your butter is at room temperature and no warmer. You’ll also want your egg to be at room temperature for optimal integration into the batter.
TIP #3: reshaping the cookies will help keep them uniform and the same size. I like to reshape hot cookies with a 4″ cookie cutter or the rim of a glass.
White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour1
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature preferred2
- ¼ cup (56mL) vegetable oil or other neutral oil like avocado
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- ½ cup (85g) white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup crushed candy canes about 4-5 large candy canes
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour1, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl with a handheld mixer, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and powdered sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
- Stop the mixer, add the egg, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract, then beat again on medium speed until everything is combined, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.1 large egg, ¼ cup (56mL) vegetable oil, 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- Reduce the mixer speed to low, then add the dry ingredients in two additions, insuring the first addition is mostly incorporated before adding the second. Continue to beat on low until just combined. Add the white chocolate chips and candy cane pieces, then beat a few revolutions until add-ins are evenly dispersed.½ cup (85g) white chocolate chips, ¼ cup crushed candy canes
- Place the granulated sugar in a small shallow bowl.½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- Using a cookie scoop (I use this #50 cookie scoop for all of my standard size cookies), drop balls of dough into the sugar and use your fingers to gently roll the ball in the sugar. When dough ball is completely covered in sugar, place on prepared baking sheet (8 per sheet)
- Bake the cookies for 8-9 minutes, just until edges are set. Sprinkle additional crushed candy cane pieces on the tops of hot cookies, if desired. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies covered tightly at room temperature up to 1 week. Cookies freeze well, up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls also freeze well, up to 3 months. Bake from frozen for 9-10 minutes.
Notes
- Flour: it is imperative that you either fluff/spoon/level your flour or ideally, weigh it in grams. Two cups of all-purpose flour is 240g. Too much flour will result in a dense cookie.
- Room temperature egg: it is always a good idea to use room temperature eggs when using room temperature butter, as it incorporates into batter much more easily. It is not required, just encouraged.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.