Description
Delight in these festive Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies featuring rich cocoa, refreshing peppermint, and a crunchy candy cane topping. Perfectly chewy with a crackled powdered sugar exterior, these cookies combine classic holiday flavors and textures for a wonderful treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Topping
- ½ cup crushed candy canes (about 3–4 candy canes)
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients: Add the granulated sugar and unsweetened cocoa powder to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Blend together thoroughly until there are no lumps of cocoa powder.
- Add wet ingredients: Pour in the vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is shiny and evenly blended.
- Incorporate flour mixture: Add the flour, baking powder, and salt into the bowl. Mix until the batter is just combined and smooth.
- Chill the dough: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to allow the dough to firm up.
- Preheat oven and prepare trays: When ready, preheat your oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Prepare powdered sugar coating: Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl.
- Scoop and roll dough: Using an ice cream scoop, portion the dough into small balls. Roll each ball thoroughly in the powdered sugar and place on the prepared baking trays about 2 inches apart.
- Bake cookies: Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. The edges will be firm and the cookies puffed but the centers will still be slightly wet, which ensures a chewy texture.
- Add candy cane topping: Immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, sprinkle the crushed candy canes on top.
- Cool cookies: Allow the cookies to cool on the baking tray for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Use a food processor to finely crush candy canes, or place them in a ziplock bag and smash with a rolling pin for easy crushing.
- Chilling the dough is important for developing the texture and making the dough easier to handle.
- Spacing cookies 2 inches apart prevents them from spreading into each other during baking.
- Powdered sugar coating helps create the classic crinkle effect and adds a sweet exterior texture.
- For extra peppermint flavor, consider adding a few drops of peppermint extract to the crushed candy canes before topping.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 80 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 40 mg
