Peppermint Bark Cookies
These taste like a little piece of Santa’s Village.
Speaking of Santa’s Village, have you watched The Christmas Chronicles on Netflix yet? And The Christmas Chronicles 2? They’re absolutely adorable! Trust me, I would know, as we’ve had holiday movies streaming 24/7. My boys can’t get enough. I’ve basically morphed into Mrs. Claus, with a belly full of cookies to prove it. But I’m going to put it out there, Kurt Russel is THE best Santa Claus. Do yourself a favor and watch. You’ll be in the holiday spirit in no time.
As Mrs. Claus, I’m responsible for two things: supplying an endless fountain of hot chocolate and cookies for dipping. The boys (a.k.a. the elves) favorite Christmas cookies are peppermint bark cookies. Part cookie, part candy, these are chocolate sugar cookies (that taste like rich brownies), dipped in chocolate (dark or white), and coated in crushed candy canes. You’ll have elves lining up down the block with these.
My advice:
For these cookies, I recommend using Ghirardelli cocoa, white chocolate melting wafers, and dark chocolate melting wafers. Not because this is a sponsored post (I wish it was), but because they provide the best results. Their cocoa powder gives a wonderful chocolate flavor, which plays a big part in these cookies, and their melting chocolate is smooth, easy to work with, and tastes incredible. I do not recommend using candy melts.
Love yourself. Use quality ingredients.
Peppermint Bark Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen 3” cookies
You’ll need:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp kosher salt or sea salt
¾ tsp baking powder
⅔ cup cocoa powder
3 to 3 ½ cups all purpose flour
Extra flour for rolling
10 oz melting chocolate wafers (I used Ghirardelli in dark chocolate and white chocolate)
1 box of candy canes (about a dozen)
With an electric mixer, cream the butter, vegetable shortening, and sugar together until light and fluffy. About 3 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract. Mix until fully combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
Add the salt, baking powder, and cocoa. Mix until fully combined.
Add the flour, one cup at a time, mixing after each addition, until the dough comes together. If this happens at 3 cups do not add another ½ cup. If the dough still seems sticky, add the addition ½ cup of flour.
Cover the dough and chill for at least an hour.
Roll the dough out on a floured surface, about ⅜” thick (the thicker the cookie, the more chewy and easier to dip it is). Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut into shapes. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 375°F for about 10 to 11 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough.
Allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack.
While the cookies cool, unwrap the candy canes and place them in a plastic bag. Using the flat end of a meat mallet or a hammer (a metal handle of a knife will work, too), crush the candy canes till they’re broken into small, dust-like pieces. The smaller the better. Pour the crushed candy into a shallow bowl, providing enough room to dip the cookie. Set aside.
Prepare two baking sheets, lined with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place the melting chocolates in a shallow microwave safe bowl. The bowl should have enough room for you to dip your cookies. Heat the chocolate at 25 second increments, stirring in between, till fully melted and smooth.
Create an assembly line in this order: cooled cookies, melted chocolate, crushed candy canes, parchment lined baking sheets.
Working with one cookie at a time, dip the bottom of the cookie into the melted chocolate, allowing it to coat the entire bottom and partially up the sides. Allow the excess chocolate to drip off. Then, dip the chocolate coated bottom of the cookie into the crushed candy canes, completely coating the bottom. Place the cookie on the baking sheet. Continue with remaining cookies. Reheat the chocolate as necessary.
Drizzle the tops of the cookies with leftover melted chocolate and garnish with extra crushed candy canes. Allow the cookies to sit for 20 minutes to set the chocolate.
Cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container for 1 week.