White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Love the combination of peppermint and chocolate? Who doesn’t!? White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are loaded with peppermint flavour from both the extract and the crushed candy canes. These are not only packed with white chocolate chips, but they’re dipped in melted white chocolate too and topped with more crushed candy canes for good measure!

White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are the fourth cookie in this series that showcases peppermint as the star that it is! As I have mentioned on a few occasions before, Christmas cannot pass by in the Thomas-Ewing household without a good amount of peppermint-flavoured treats. We absolutely love the cooling flavour of peppermint and never shy away from anything topped with crushed candy canes!

Last year, one of the recipes featured in Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas Volume 4 was my Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies. One of my readers wrote to me asking if it were possible to use white chocolate instead and I thought it was a great idea. So, for Volume 5 this year, I wanted to include a white chocolate version of this cookie. I did have to change the recipe a bit to get it just right, but the process is very much the same.

I mentioned that we love peppermint-flavoured treats. 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 as 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 never could 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 white chocolate cookie. It’s perfection! As for John.e, I’m sure – much like last year – he will crumble these White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies into his store-bought candy cane ice cream. I have no idea how he is not a diabetic!

LORD BYRON’S 24 COOKIES OF CHRISTMAS – VOLUME 5

I’m so excited about this year’s cookie countdown! This is the fifth consecutive year; can you believe that? Each of the previous years has included 24 cookies and this year will not be any different. I’ll share a new Christmas cookie recipe each and every single day for the next 24 days – even on Saturday and Sunday!

You might be asking yourself, how many Christmas cookie 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 bake the same holiday cookies year after year?

So, welcome, Dear Reader, to Volume 5 of Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas! Fresh off of my 12 Edible Wreaths of Christmas and my 12 Bars and Squares of Christmas series, I’m ready to plow through the next 24 days with you!

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! Like in previous holiday baking countdowns, I like to mix up the recipes in the series so that there is something for everyone. Are you ready!!??

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 – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Baking Soda – Commonly known as sodium bicarbonate, or just bicarb, it is a baking ingredient that’s activated by a liquid and an acid to help with leavening or rising.
• Salt – Do not add the extra salt if you used salted butter!
• White Chocolate Chips 
• Crushed Candy Canes
• Vegetable Shortening – This is used to thin the chocolate. You can also use coconut oil.

CRUSHED CANDY CANES

In most cases, crushed candy canes are red and white, but sometimes, you can find ones that are red, white, and green. If I had those on hand, I would have used them, just because I think the red and green colours look better – even though I’m partially coloured blind and can’t see red and green together! Figure that one out if you will! In this case, I’m using red and white crushed candy canes.

If you don’t want to use the red and white ones – which are the easiest to find – then 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 want candy canes that are not crushed too finely. Many times, you’ll find them that have too much powder, meaning that they have been crushed too much. You want chunky pieces in order to get the red and green 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 with small holes. Sift out the dust and you’ll be left with nice little pieces.

HOW TO MAKE WHITE CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT COOKIES

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, 3/4 cup of the sugar, eggs, and peppermint extract. Measure the flour, baking soda and salt into the bowl and beat until just mixed through. Add 1 cup of the mini white chocolate chips and fold them into the cookie dough.

Portion slightly heaping tablespoons of the cookie dough and roll into balls.  Roll the balls into the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and place them onto the parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving two inches of space between each ball. Use the palm of your hand or a drinking glass to flatten the cookie balls to half an inch. Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately sprinkle the top of each cookie with a little bit of the crushed candy cane.  Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

DIPPING YOUR COOKIES INTO MELTED WHITE CHOCOLATE

When it comes to having cookies dipped in chocolate, I love lots and lots of chocolate. However, the star of these White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies is peppermint. And, I wanted that flavour to be the first thing to register when one bites into the cookie. For that reason, I opted for less chocolate rather than lots and lots of it!

Here’s how to get the chocolate just right. Place the remaining two cups of white chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl. Whenever you microwave chocolate, you should microwave on medium power for 30 seconds. Then, if it’s still not silky smooth, microwave in increments of 5 or 10 seconds, depending on your microwave, stirring with a rubber spatula after each increment. If you want a thick chocolate coating, skip the addition of vegetable shortening. Thinner chocolate can be achieved with a little bit of coconut oil as well.

Dip each cookie straight down into the bowl of chocolate, coating just half of the cookie. Lift the cookie out of the chocolate and gently shake it up and down to shake off the excess chocolate. Next, lightly drag the bottom of the cookie over the edge of the bowl, essentially wiping off any chocolate that would pool, ruining the look of your cookie. Lay the cookie onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Immediately sprinkle over more crushed candy canes and allow the chocolate to set until hardened.

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most cookies, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. Cookies will stay fresh in a cookie jar or food-safe container with a lid for 3-5 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop. You can store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want one, two, or half a dozen, take them out of the container and place them in a single layer on a plate. Let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes and they’re ready!

If you plan to freeze your White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, you certainly can! Once completely cooled, pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. I use these quite often when freezing baked goods. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in!  

You can freeze these cookies for up to three months. If you plan to give previously frozen cookies as a gift, I would lay them out on a wire cooling rack to thaw completely. If packaging, wait until the condensation has evaporated. Once thawed, pile into cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon, or stack in a cookie tin/box.

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 to follow me 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!