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These peppermint sugar cookies look like something you would see straight out of Santa’a workship! They are sugar cookies with chocolate chips, frosting, and peppermint! What more could you want out of a festive holiday cookie?
Easy Peppermint Sugar Cookies
If you love dressed up cookies for Christmas you’re going to want these! They’re my favorite sugar cookies with chocolate chips and peppermint – made into cookie bars so they’re EASY!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- These cookies are unique! It’s not every day that you see a sugar cookie, in stick form, with chocolate chips and peppermint!
- These cookies are easy to package up and give as gifts, you can make them as big or as small as you want.
Ingredients in Peppermint Cookies
- Butter: Unsalted and softened is the best for this recipe.
- Sugar: Use granulated sugar.
- Egg: I always use large eggs.
- Vanilla extract: Natural extracts always taste best!
- Peppermint extract: Make sure to use peppermint not mint extract.
- Baking soda: For leavening
- Cream of tartar: For softness in combination with the baking soda.
- Salt: Essential since we are starting with unsalted butter.
- All-purpose flour: Be sure to spoon and level it in the measuring cup – don’t pack it.
- Mini chocolate chips- I use mini chocolate chips because they fit better into sugarcookie, you could use regular ones I but it may overwhelm the cookie and be a bit too lumpy.
- Powdered Sugar – For the frosting
- Heaving whipping cream – makes my buttercream super fluffy!
- Crushed candy canes: These are for garnish. You can also use peppermint pieces.
How to make peppermint sugar cookies
- Prepare pan: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 20×15-inch jelly roll pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray for easy removal.
- Make the cookie dough: Cream butter and sugar with a hand or stand mixer until it’s fluffy. Mix in the egg and both extracts, then mix in baking soda. Cream of tartar, and salt. Once these ingredients are all mixed together add flour and stir carefully until cookie dough forms, then add in your chocolate chips.
- Bake: Pour the cookie dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or just until is starts to get golden brown around the edges. These cookies taste better if you err on the side of under-done rather than baking them too long. Make sure they cool completely before frosting.
- Make the frosting: Cream butter with a handmixer in a large bowl until it’s completely smooth. Slowly mix in powdered sugar until it’s crumbly. Then, add salt, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream, adding more a little at a time until it reaches the right consistency.
- Frost: Remove from the pan and remove the foil. Frost sugar cookie slab with the finished frosting and sprinkle with crushed peppermint. Slice the slab into sticks. This will make around 64 cookies.
- Store: Store loosely covered for up to 3 days or freeze in a single layer for up to one month. If you are freezing the sugar cookie, don’t add the peppermint crunch until after you take it out and thaw it or they will melt into the frosting and dissolve.
Expert Tip
Remember, cookies bake slightly as they cool on the pan so when baking be cautious, they are better slightly underdone (yum) than over done and crispy.
FAQs
Store peppermint sugar cookies loosely covered on the counter top for up to three days.
You can absolutely freeze peppermint sugar cookies! They are best frozen in a single sheet. Be sure not to add crushed candy canes before you freeze the cookies or they will melt into the frosting. Add the peppermints after you thaw the cookies before you are ready to serve.
No problem! If you don’t like chocolate chips feel free to leave them out.
Cookies are soft when there is a good amount of moisture in them. Cookies turn hard when there is a lack of moisture in them. This could be they were baked for too long or have dried out from being old or stored incorrectly.
Have You Made This Recipe
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Peppermint Sugar Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cookie Sticks:
- ¾ cup (170g) unsalted Challenge Butter softened
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (170g) mini chocolate chips
For the Frosting
- ¼ cup (57g) unsalted Challenge Butter softened
- 2 cups (226g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3-4 tablespoons (45-60ml) heavy whipping cream
- crushed candy canes or peppermint pieces for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 10×15-inch pan (jelly roll pan) with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray (for easy removal).
- Cream butter and sugar with a hand or a stand mixer until fluffy. Mix in egg and both extracts, then mix in baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Once mixed, add flour and stir carefully until cookie dough forms, then stir in chocolate chips.
- Press mixture evenly in the prepared pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or JUST until it starts to get golden brown around the edges. These taste better if you err on the side of under done as they continue cooking as they cool. Cool completely before frosting.
- To make the frosting: cream butter with a hand mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Slowly mix in powdered sugar until crumbly, then add salt, vanilla and 2 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream, adding more as needed for consistency.
- Remove from pan and remove foil (if using). Frost sugar cookie slab with the frosting and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Slice into sticks. Makes 64 cookies.
- Store loosely covered for up to 3 days or freeze in a single layer for up to one month. Note: if freezing, add the peppermint crunch after defrosting or it will dissolve into the frosting.
Recipe Nutrition
Be sure to use the best ingredients when you’re making cookies – that’s why I use my favorite Challenge Butter. Challenge sponsored this post back in 2016 but I’m still using their butter – have used it all my life.
Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bars are an easy cookie bar recipe for Christmas – make sugar cookies and add chocolate chips and tons of peppermint and candy cane flavor.
Well, y’all, it’s begun: my crazy frenzied holiday baking has started! <—- I am really surprised you hadn't started earlier and that you were already baking! We're outta here Dec 15 so my holiday baking started around Labor Day 🙂
These look great and love that you took your fave sugar cookie recipe and pressed into a sheet pan. Time saver!
I don’t know what happened this year. All of a sudden it was Thanksgiving…and now December. It’s crazy!!
I love all of the peppermint treats out right now! These look so yummy and easy to make!
These look so easy to make! I think I’m adding them to my holiday baking list.
Thankfully, I am done with my holiday baking (whew). I love this idea of gifting your sugar cookie sticks. It’s wonderful that it makes 64 of ’em so you can gift several to each person!
LOVE these!! The texture looks like the perfect middle ground between cookie and bar cookie – that is to say, amazing. Visually stunning and tasty flavor combo!
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