These Oreo peppermint cookies are a delicious festive addition to your holiday cookie box!! They are soft and chewy with gooey centers, loaded with crushed Oreos and peppermint chips, and topped with a sweet peppermint crunch topping!!
Growing up, my mom was THE cookie queen during the holidays. Her brown sugar cookie recipe is hands down my absolute favorite. These Oreo peppermint cookies are a fun twist on her classic sugar cookie with a little extra holiday flair.
Super soft and chewy, these chocolate peppermint crunch cookies are large and bursting with flavor. They are ultra chocolatey featuring two different types of cocoa powder, chocolate chunks, and crushed Oreo cookies. With the cookies hot from the oven, the peppermint crunch topping is placed on top and melts just little creating an almost fudge like texture in the center making them taste just like a mixture between a gooey, fudgy sugar cookie and a thin mint -- you drooling yet?! I know I am!!
If you're new to cookie baking, don't worry I've made this sugar cookie recipe countless times and know all of the tips and tricks to ensure your cookies come out mwah chefs kiss every time!! In this post I will guide you on how to create the perfect homemade sugar cookie with that coveted bakery-level texture and appearance with unmatched chocolate peppermint flavor.
For more holiday cookies, check out my Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies, Red Velvet Oreo Cookies, or Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Cookies!!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Delicious peppermint chocolate flavor - Not only does this chewy chocolate cookie feature peppermint chips and peppermint extract in the dough, it is also topped with a peppermint Oreo crunch topping straight out of the oven.
- Made from scratch - No need for searching the grocery store aisle to find the perfect cake mix, these homemade cookies are made from scratch with simple ingredients!!
- Festive holiday treat - The perfect treat for your next holiday season party, cookie exchanges, or gift boxes, the dough for these festive cookies can be prepared ahead of time for stress free holiday baking.
- Peppermint Oreo topping - Made with crushed candy canes and crushed Oreos, this peppermint topping gives these cookies an extra peppermint flavor boost and creates the perfect balance of crunchy and chewy!!
Recipe Ingredients
You'll need the following ingredients to make these delicious Oreo Peppermint Cookies:
Ingredients for the Oreo Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients for the Oreo Peppermint Crunch
Ingredient Notes:
- Oreo cookies - You'll need not only Oreo crumbs but also crushed Oreos for these cookies. Combined they add not only texture but they increase the Oreo flavor. If you prefer, you can substitute with a different brand of chocolate sandwich cookies altogether.
- Cocoa powder - For an extra rich, dark flavor I used a combination of Dutch processed and a touch of black cocoa powder for the ultimate Oreo experience.
- Peppermint chips - Trader Joe's Peppermint Flavored Baking Chips are seriously so delicious and were my top choice. But feel free to use your favorite peppermint chips!!
- Chocolate chips - I love using chopped chocolate bars to create those gooey, melted chocolate pools. I like using semi-sweet chocolate but feel free to use mini or regular sized dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or semi chocolate chips.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- If you want to swap out the Trader Joe's Peppermint Flavored Baking Chips, Andes Peppermint Crunch Chips are a popular alternative. You can also try Andes Peppermint Crunch Thins or Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark.
- Instead of the classic Oreo flavor, use Mint Oreos or Trader Joe's Joe Joe's Peppermint Cookies.
- Substitute white chocolate chips for the semi-sweet chocolate chips, or do a combination of both!!
- I LOVE this recipe because it is so customizable and can be used for any and every holiday!! Swap out the peppermint chips for pretzels, toffee bits, peanut butter chips, M&Ms, or Reese's Pieces!! Or add pecans, peanuts, or walnuts for a nutty crunch.
- You can also drizzle these delicious cookies with a cream cheese glaze. Try the one from my Oreo Bread!!
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you happen to try any from the list above or add your own spin with new ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below.
How to Make Homemade Peppermint Oreo Cookies
Here are the step by step photos and instructions on how to make and bake these soft and chewy Oreo peppermint cookies!! For the full method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.
Step 1: Melt the butter. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and pour into the bowl of a stand mixer.
Step 2: Sift together the dry ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, shift together the flour, cocoa powders, cornstarch, and baking soda. Whisk in the kosher salt. Set aside.
Step 3: Mix together wet ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the melted butter, beat the butter and both sugars on medium high. Next, add in the eggs one at a time. Add in the vanilla and peppermint extract with the last egg.
Step 4: Add in the dry ingredients. With the mixer on low speed, add in the flour mixture in 3 additions, mixing until just combined.
Step 5: Fold in the crushed Oreos, Oreo crumbs, and peppermint chips. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the crushed Oreos, Oreo crumbs, peppermint chips, and chopped chocolate into the cookie dough until just combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours.
Step 6: Roll into dough balls. Portion the dough equally into 2.5 oz cookie balls. Place the balls of cookie dough in the fridge on a wax lined plate uncovered to firm up while the oven preheats.
Make the Oreo Peppermint Crunch
Step 7: Bake!! Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place 5 dough balls on the parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, removing and tapping the pan halfway through and rotating before returning to the oven.
Step 8: Make the Oreo peppermint crunch. In a medium size bowl, combined the crushed Oreos, candy cane pieces, granulated sugar, Kosher salt, vanilla extract, and melted butter. Mix everything together using a rubber spatula until combined.
Step 9: Top the cookies. Using a small bowl or biscuit cutter, scoot the cookies in a circular motion until perfectly round. Finally, top the cookies with the Oreo peppermint crunch topping, extra peppermint chips, and crushed candy canes.
For Bakery Style Results
- Use the Oreo peppermint crunch. The peppermint crunch not only adds texture and more peppermint flavor, but gives these cookies an extra holiday feel for a bakery-style finish.
- After baking, top with more peppermint chips and peppermint candy.
- Use a chopped chocolate bar. To make those crave worthy bakery style pools of chocolate, use a chopped chocolate bar.
- Resist the urge to make small cookies!! - This recipe was developed to make large, bakery style cookies with gooey centers. Making smaller cookies will change the texture.
Expert Baking Tips
- Weigh your ingredients - For best results, I recommend weighing your dry ingredients. If you do not have a food scale, start by first fluffing your flour. Next, spoon the flour into a measuring cup. Overfill the measuring cup with flour then level it off using the back of a butterknife. Avoid directly scooping up the flour with the measuring cup.
- Chill the dough - Do not skip this step!! Because this recipe uses melted butter and the dough is very soft, it has to chill in order for the dough to firm up. As the dough chills, the butter in the dough solidifies slowing down the spread during baking.
- Slightly underbake the cookies - For soft cookies with gooey centers, underbake. They will continue to bake on the hot cookie sheet as they cool. Baking them for too long will result in a crispier cookie.
- For perfectly round cookies - Use a large cookie scoop for even cookie balls. To make them perfectly round, place a larger round object like a biscuit cutter or small bowl over the cookie and scoot it around the edges after removing it from the oven.
- Slam the pan - Slamming the pan produces chewier cookies and also encourages them to spread slightly.
- Finish mixing the dough with a spatula - To prevent over-mixing the dough, add the mix-ins and combine everything together with a rubber spatula. This helps to maintain a tender texture.
- To prevent lumps of cocoa powder in the dough, sift it with the dry ingredients.
Recipe Faqs
I wouldn't recommend using a food processor to crush to candy canes or the Oreos. The candy canes are difficult to crush using the food processor and will not come out in evenly sized pieces. Also, for the Oreos, you want big chunks here and crushing them by hand will give you better control of their size.
Chill the dough to prevent spreading; the longer it chills, the less it spreads. It is also important that the butter is room temperature prior to mixing. If it is too warm, it may cause the cookies to spread while baking. Lastly, bake the cookies on parchment paper rather than a silicon baking mat. Parchment prevents the cookies from spreading too much.
If you don't like peppermint, use my strawberry crunch cookies recipe!! It's the same cookie base. Just add the peppermint crunch chips and chocolate Oreos instead and top with the Oreo peppermint crunch topping!!
I don't recommend using crushed candy canes in place of the peppermint chips. They may melt while baking.
If your cookies aren't spreading, it likely that you added too much flour. Be sure to use a kitchen scale to measure all of your dry ingredients.
Storage & Freezing
Room Temperature
Store the cooled cookies at room temperature in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 4 days. I love warming these up in the microwave for like 10 seconds to get them all warm and give them that fresh out of the oven taste. Y'all so good!!
Freezing
To freeze the sugar cookie dough for later, chill the dough for the initial 3 hours or until firm. Then, scoop the dough and lightly roll into balls. After rolling, place the dough balls in a freezer safe bag. You can freeze them for up to 2 months.
When ready to bake, allow the cookie dough balls to sit out at room temperature while the oven is preheating. Bake for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.
More Oreo Desserts You'll Love
It brings me so much joy when you make one of my recipes!! If you try this recipe and love it much as I do, please give it a star rating in the recipe card below. And don't forget to tag me to share your creation with me!! You can find me on Instagram @vintage_confections.
📖 Recipe
The Best Oreo Peppermint Cookies Recipe (Homemade!)
Ingredients
For the Oreo Peppermint Cookies
- 2 ½ (313 g) cups All purpose flour
- 3 (15 g) tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa powder
- 1 (6 g) tablespoon Black Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 cup Unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 2 large Eggs room temperature
- ¾ (165 g) cup Light brown sugar packed
- ¾ (150 g) cup Granulated sugar
- 2 ¾ tablespoons Vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon Peppermint extract
- ½ cup Oreo crumbs about 4 to 5 Oreos
- 6 crushed Oreos plus extra for topping
- ⅓ cup Peppermint chips plus extra for topping, I used Trader Joe's Peppermint Flavored Baking Chips
- ⅓ cup Semisweet chocolate bar (55%) chopped into large chunks
For the Oreo peppermint crunch
- 11 Oreo cookies crushed
- 3 Candy canes crushed
- ½ teaspoon Granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon Unsalted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Cut butter into 1 inch slices. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and pour into the bowl of a stand mixer to cool. Allow the butter to cool while you prepare the dry ingredients. Alternatively, you can melt the butter in the microwave in 30 second intervals.1 cup Unsalted butter
- Using a food processor or blender, blend 4 Oreo cookies into fine crumbs. For the crushed Oreos, use a large ziplock bag and rolling pin and crush 6 Oreos into bite sized pieces.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, cocoa powders, cornstarch, and baking soda. Whisk in the kosher salt. Set aside.2 ½ (313 g) cups All purpose flour, 3 (15 g) tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa powder, 1 (6 g) tablespoon Black Cocoa Powder, 1 teaspoon Baking soda, 1 teaspoon Cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon Kosher salt
- In the bowl of the stand mixer with the cooled butter, beat together the melted butter and both sugars with the paddle attachment on medium high until creamy, about 2 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl halfway.¾ (165 g) cup Light brown sugar, ¾ (150 g) cup Granulated sugar
- With the mixer on medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing until fully combined. Add the vanilla and peppermint extract with the last egg.2 large Eggs, 2 ¾ tablespoons Vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon Peppermint extract
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions, mixing until just combined. After adding the last of the flour mixture, mix until you only see a few streaks. Remove the mixing bowl from the stand mixer and add in the peppermint chips, semisweet chocolate chips, Oreo crumbs, and crushed Oreo cookie pieces. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold everything together until just combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours.½ cup Oreo crumbs, 6 crushed Oreos, ⅓ cup Peppermint chips, ⅓ cup Semisweet chocolate bar (55%)
- Line a plate with wax paper and set aside. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and using a large cookie scoop, measure out 2.5 oz of dough per cookie. Lightly roll the dough into balls using the palms of your hands, they do not have to be perfect. Smooth out any cracks. Place the dough balls on the wax paper lined plate and place in the fridge uncovered to firm up, about 10 to 15 minutes while the oven preheats.
- Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 5 balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, about two inches apart. Leave the remaining dough balls in the fridge until ready to bake.
- Bake cookies for 12 – 14 minutes depending on the texture of cookie you like. 12 minutes will yield a soft, gooey cookie while 14 minutes will give you a firmer cookie (don't worry it will still be soft). Remove the cookies from the oven halfway through baking and firmly tap the baking sheet on a heatproof surface. Rotate the baking sheet and return cookies to the oven and continue to bake. The cookies are ready when the edges are set and the center is slightly wet. While the cookies are baking, make the Oreo peppermint crunch topping.
For the Oreo peppermint crunch topping
- In separate ziplock bags using a rolling pin, crush the Oreos and candy canes until they both resemble bite sized pieces. Pour them both into a medium sized bowl and add the granulated sugar, Kosher salt, vanilla extract, and melted butter. Mix everything together using a rubber spatula until combined. Set aside until ready to top the cookies.11 Oreo cookies, 3 Candy canes, ½ teaspoon Granulated sugar, ⅛ teaspoon Kosher salt, 1 tablespoon Unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- Remove the cookies from the oven and using a small bowl or biscuit cutter, scoot the cookies in a circular motion until perfectly round. Top the cookies with Oreo peppermint crunch topping, extra peppermint chips, and crushed candy canes, pressing down lightly so the toppings adhere to the cookies. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then carefully transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!!
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients - For best results, I recommend weighing your dry ingredients. If you do not have a food scale, start by first fluffing your flour. Next, spoon the flour into a measuring cup. Overfill the measuring cup with flour then level it off using the back of a butterknife. Avoid directly scooping up the flour with the measuring cup.
- Chill the dough - Do not skip this step!! Because this recipe uses melted butter and the dough is very soft, it has to chill in order for the dough to firm up. As the dough chills, the butter in the dough solidifies slowing down the spread during baking.
- Slightly underbake the cookies - For soft cookies with gooey centers, underbake. They will continue to bake on the hot cookie sheet as they cool. Baking them for too long will result in a crispier cookie.
- For perfectly round cookies - Use a large cookie scoop for even cookie balls. To make them perfectly round, place a larger round object like a biscuit cutter or small bowl over the cookie and scoot it around the edges after removing it from the oven.
- Slam the pan - Slamming the pan produces chewier cookies and also encourages them to spread slightly.
tim
looks delicious!! cant wait to try them this weekend