Peppermint Candy Bark Cookies

Peppermint Candy Bark Cookies are prepared with a deep, rich, chocolate cookie base made extra chocolatey with good cocoa. Infused with lots of candy cane flavour, they look extra festive with a quick dip in melted bark and a sprinkling of crushed candy canes.

Love the combination of peppermint and chocolate? Who doesn’t!? Peppermint Candy Bark Cookies are loaded with peppermint flavour from both the extract and the crushed candy canes. They pack a deep chocolate flavour because of the cocoa. Christmas is for giving and sharing, but you might want to keep this one all to yourself!

In our home, Christmas cannot come and pass us by without a good dose of treats flavoured with peppermint. Those treats are even more welcomed and enjoyed if they have crushed candy cane bits in them. Seriously, we can’t get enough of it! I’m not a huge lover of sweets, but every Christmas I have to get my peppermint fix.

As you know, John.e is a major lover of ice cream. As for me, I can take it or leave it. In fact, most times, I leave it! I don’t get the appeal to ice cream like most people do. It’s not that I don’t like it; I just don’t care that much for it. But, every Christmas, John.e will find a peppermint ice cream somewhere and we have to have it. I have just one scoop because I need that peppermint/candy cane experience, but I could never eat a large serving of ice cream.

That’s why these cookies are just perfect for me. I can get a good amount of peppermint flavour baked into a chocolate cookie. It’s perfection! As for John.e, he crumbles these cookies into his store-bought candy cane ice cream. I have no idea how he’s not obese! All I have to do is look at it and I gain weight!

MAKING THE MOST OF CHRISTMAS

I’ve said it a few times before and I’m sure I’ll say it a few times more – especially over the next few weeks. Christmas is a time for indulgence. I don’t mean to the point of making you sick, but now is not the time to count every single calorie. Take a few days out of the year to enjoy yourself and let your guard down. Eat the cookie, have the extra cocktail, binge your favourite Christmas movies, etc.

A few years ago, I was trying to explain to McKenna the reason why I take full advantage of every single Christmas. This is the way I look at it! In the first 18-20 Christmases of your life, you are still living at home and your parents decide how it is celebrated and how things are decorated. For the next 4 or 5 years you might be in university and not able to afford to buy presents for your friends – never mind shelling out money for decorations or holiday-type food! Let’s face it, most of us start collecting decorations and making holiday traditions in our 30s, right?

By the time we reach our 60s or 70s, pulling out decorations, setting up trees, baking and cooking excessively, etc., all get to be a bit too much for us. And, we can’t depend on our kids to do it for us, because by now they have their own families to worry about. So, basically, you get about 30 good Christmases where you get to call the shots. That’s not nearly enough if you ask me! Think about something you love to do every time you get the chance. Now, imagine you only get to do that once a year for a limited number of years. You’d put your all into each one of those opportunities, wouldn’t you? That’s exactly why I put my all into Christmas every single year.

CHOCOLATE AND PEPPERMINT

If you love the combination of chocolate and peppermint, there are several recipes here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen that you should take advantage of! You will have to try my Peppermint Chocolate Biscotti.

How about this no-bake Peppermint Chunk Fudge? Unlike those fudge recipes that are basically big chunks of melted chocolate that has re-hardened, this fudge is cake-like; almost like a brownie! They are so delicious and addicting too! I also have these baked Chocolate Peppermint Donuts. Again, they are baked, not fried, so even though they are super chocolatey and covered in icing, they are still healthier than any donut you can buy at a bakery!

Not into cookies, fudge, or donuts? What about ice cream? Remember I mentioned the candy cane ice cream that John.e buys every Christmas? Well, you can make your own No Churn Peppermint Cookie Ice Cream at home. You won’t need a fancy, expensive ice cream maker to do it! I added crushed peppermint Oreos to the ice cream to make it even more indulgent! Anyway, I digress. Let’s talk about these Peppermint Candy Bark Cookies!

WELCOME TO A LORD BYRON CHRISTMAS!

I’m going to tell you all about this recipe and how you can make it in your home this holiday season, but first, I want to tell you about what you can expect from Lord Byron’s Kitchen this Christmas. I know we’re getting closer to the big day, so it’s time to get to the holiday-themed recipes! Over the past decade, I have built a reputation for sharing series-type recipes. The most popular would be my annual 24 Cookies of Christmas, which was fashioned after an advent calendar. But, I have others that are only 12 days, which were fashioned after the 12 Days of Christmas.

This particular recipe is a part of my third holiday series for this year. So, welcome, Dear Reader, to Lord Byron’s 12 Christmas Candy Cane Recipes Series. Just like every other series that I’ve shared over the years, this one will also see a new recipe shared each day for the next 12 days – even on Saturday and Sunday! You might be asking yourself, how many Christmas recipes could one possibly have or need? Well, I say you can never have too much of a good thing. And, I love having lots of choices. Who wants to prepare the same holiday recipes year after year?

SUBSCRIBE NOW AND NEVER MISS ANOTHER RECIPE!

Traditionally, every year I share a series of recipes that you might already be familiar with. For example, I’ve previously shared 12 Holiday Trifles, 12 Holiday Bars & Squares, and even these 12 Edible Holiday Wreath recipes! Also, some of my favourite recipe collections from previous years are my 75 Homemade Gifts from Your Kitchen, my 50 Make Ahead Freezer Friendly Christmas Recipes, and my 30 No-Bake Christmas Recipes post.

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! And, just in case you’re curious, you can see previous annual posts for my 24 Cookies of Christmas Series here!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature! To be perfectly honest, I have made these with both salted and unsalted butter and there’s no difference in taste or appearance once all is said and done. Use what you have on hand.
• Sugar – Sugar will caramelize when baked, which will help to brown cookies and cakes.  In cookies, the sugar will help the dough to spread, and will create a crispness to the bottom of the cookie.
• Eggs – Whenever you set out to bake, make sure your eggs are at room temperature too – just like your butter!
• Peppermint Extract – You could use vanilla, but we’re going to pack as much peppermint flavour as possible into these cookies!
• Flour – I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Cocoa Powder – Cocoa powder is an unsweetened chocolate product which adds deep chocolate flavour to desserts and beverages.  Use a good quality cocoa powder, not the kind we used to stir into milk as kids!
• Baking Powder
• Almond Bark – Sometimes called melting chocolate, it is candy coating that you melt to coat. It is not used for baking. You can use white candy melts or white chocolate chips here too.
• Crushed Candy Canes

HOW TO MAKE PEPPERMINT CANDY BARK COOKIES

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat into the butter until well combined. Add the egg and the peppermint extract. Beat into the butter mixture. Next, add the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Beat into the butter mixture just until the flour is incorporated.

Roll the cookie dough into one-inch balls and place them onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving two inches of space between each ball. Press down on each ball until they are flattened to just over 1/4 inch thick. (I used the bottom of a drinking glass.) Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a full 10 minutes of the baking sheet before transferring to wire cooling rack. DO NOT REMOVE THE COOKIES FROM THE BAKING SHEET UNTIL A FULL 10 MINUTES HAVE PASSED.

For the coating, transfer the almond bark (or candy melts or white chocolate chips) and peppermint extract to a microwave-safe bowl. In increments of 30 seconds at half power, melt the bark, stirring well between each increment. Once the bark is fully melted and silky smooth. Working with one cookie at a time, dip the top surface entirely into the melted bark and allow the excess to drip back into the bowl. Set it right side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and top with a sprinkling of crushed candy canes. Once all of the cookies are complete, allow them to cool at room temperature until the bark is firm before packaging or storing.

MAKING YOUR OWN CRUSHED CANDY CANES

If you don’t want to use the red and white crushed candy canes that you can find just about anywhere this time of year, you can crush your own candy canes by placing unwrapped, broken candy canes into a sturdy bag and firmly rolling over them with a wooden rolling pin.

Either way you look at it, the candy canes should not be crushed too finely. Many times, you’ll find they have too much powder, meaning that they have been crushed too much. You want chunky pieces in order to get the red and white speckled pattern.

I’ve tried crushing them myself and have crushed them a little too much. Even the type you buy in the store can sometimes have too much candy cane dust. You can easily fix it by filtering out the dust. Working in small amounts, place a heaping spoonful of the crushed candy canes into a colander. Sift out the dust so that you are left with nice little pieces.

STORING AND FREEZING

These cookies will last in the freezer for three months. Be sure you have a good container with a tight seal. Whenever I’m freezing cookies, I always double up on the seal action. Before I place the lid on, I always drape a sheet of plastic wrap on top. Then I push the lid on. I just feel that the lid fits more tightly. Any little thing I can do to keep the frost out, I’m going to do it! I like to use containers like this.

Like I always say, if you freeze any baked goods, remove only the amount you want when you decide to thaw them. Fetch the container from the freezer and remove only what you need. Put the lid back on and get the container back in the freezer.

To properly thaw baked goods, place them on a plate or a wire cooling rack. Don’t pile them. Spread them out and give them some space. Let them sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. They will taste fresh and perfect every single time!

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!

Finally, as I stated previously, every day I will be posting a new recipe. If you miss one, don’t fret. You can find my entire collection of Christmas Recipes right here! There are over 200 Christmas recipes and counting. There’s something for everyone! Cheers!