It’s the holiday season and my favorite pairing for holiday treats are chocolate and peppermint, so I knew I had to make chocolate cookies with a peppermint frosting. These cookies are one of my favorite treats to eat and to give! This recipe is scaled up for holiday treat giving, or freezing for later. The recipe makes about 6 dozen cookies, but the cookies are icebox cookies they are easy to roll and freeze some of the dough if you don’t want to make them all at once. Then you have an easy dessert always ready to pop in the oven all season!
Start by creaming the butter, sugar, and powdered sugar. I wanted my cookies a bit dense so I mixed until the butter and sugar was a thick paste. If you prefer lighter cookies cream until the butter and sugar is light and fluffy.
Then add the eggs and vanilla, and mix until combined.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt into the butter and egg mixture and mix until combined but don’t over mix! At this point it looks kind of like a dry chocolate ice cream.
I separated my dough into 3 batches, so each roll would be about 2 dozen cookies, you can do more or less rolls.
Take your dough and form it into a cylinder on plastic wrap. Once the cylinder is loosely formed you can start rolling in the plastic wrap to tighten your roll. Make sure to fold the plastic wrap in on the sides. Refrigerate for at least one hour or double wrap and freeze for up to 90 days.
Preheat oven to 350° and unwrap your log of cookie dough. Using a sharp knife cut into 1/4″ disks, spread evenly on a sheet pan.
Bake for 6-8 minutes. The cookies might feel a bit soft still but they will set up once cooled.
Onto the peppermint frosting!
Cream the cream cheese, scrape down the bowl and add the powdered sugar, heavy cream, and peppermint extract. Start on low so you don’t have an eruption of powdered sugar. As it pulls together up the speed to 3 until the frosting is creamy and a spreadable texture.
I mixed in a little red dye by hand just to get a swirl of color.
I prefer to refrigerate these cookies before eating.
Cookie Recipe
Prep: 20 minutes
Bake: 6-8 minutes
Preheat: 350° Standard Oven
Yields: 6 dozen cookies
- 2c. Butter, room temperature
- 1c. Granulated sugar
- 2c. Powdered sugar
- 3/4tsp. Salt
- 2tsp. Vanilla
- 3/4c. Special dark cocoa
- 5c. Flour
- Using a stand or hand mixer, cream butter, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar. Mix to a thick paste for dense cookies, or until light and fluffy for lighter cookies.
- Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
- Starting on low mix in the flour, cocoa, and salt.
- Mix on 2 or 3 speed until combined.
- Separate the dough into 3 chunks.
- On plastic wrap form the first chunk of dough into a loose cylinder.
- While wrapping in plastic wrap roll the dough into a long tight cylinder about 3″ around. Tuck in the sides of the plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour or double wrap and freeze up to 3 months.
- Preheat the oven the 350°
- Cut the roll of dough into 1/4″ disks.
- Spread evenly on a greased or foiled cookie sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes.
Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1pckg. Cream cheese, room temperature
- 3c. Powdered sugar
- 1tsp. Peppermint extract
- 1tbsp. Heavy Cream
- Using a stand or hand mixer, cream the cream cheese until soft and spreadable.
- Scrape down the bowl and add the powdered sugar.
- Starting on low incorporate the powdered sugar.
- Add the peppermint extract and heavy cream.
- Mix on medium-low speed until creamed and spreadable.
- Spread frosting on cookies
- Refrigerate cookies and enjoy!
Under the Knife 