Mint Chocolate Cookies with Mint Frosting
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
35 mins
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Cook Time
10 mins
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Total Time
45 mins
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Servings
24 cookies
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Course
Dessert, Baked Goods
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Cuisine
American
Mint Chocolate Cookies with Mint Frosting
Description
Mint Chocolate Cookies with Mint Frosting blends unsweetened cocoa and peppermint extract into a cookie dough chilled before baking. This method preserves the dough's structure, producing cookies that have a balanced texture with firm edges and tender middles. The accompanying frosting uses butter, powdered sugar, peppermint extract, and milk to create a smooth mint buttercream. Coloring the frosting naturally in red and green adds visual appeal, while garnishing with crushed candy canes and chopped Andes mints provides crunch and enhanced peppermint notes.
The baking time allows the cookies to set just enough while remaining soft inside. The process involves creaming butter with sugars, adding egg and extracts, then combining dry ingredients carefully. Chilling the dough helps prevent spreading during baking. Once cooled, the frosting is piped or spread, and festive toppings are added to finish.
This recipe suits occasions when a chocolate dessert with a bright mint touch is convenient and elegant. The cookies store well and can be made dairy free or gluten free with substitutions suggested in the notes, accommodating various preferences.
The notes indicate you can swap for vegan butter and dairy-free milk to keep it dairy free. A gluten-free flour works as a direct replacement. Freezing the dough is also possible, and using a flax egg instead of regular egg might work, though untested.
Ingredients
- Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Wet Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
- For the mint frosting:
- ¾ cup butter at room temperature
- 1 ½-2 cups powdered sugar amount varies depending on sweetness; for frosting
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1-2 tablespoons milk to make the frosting creamy
- natural green food dye to color the frosting
- natural red food dye to color the frosting
- For toppings:
- candy canes crushed
- Andes mints chopped
- red sprinkles
- green sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Next, add in the egg, vanilla extract, peppermint extract and beat again until well combined smooth and creamy; about 30 seconds longer.
- Add in dry ingredients and mix on medium low until just combined. Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- After chilling the dough, use a cookie scoop to grab about 2 tablespoonsful of dough, then roll dough balls and place on a cookie sheet, leaving at least 2 inches apart from one another.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to set and crackle. Remove and allow cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. This is important to help the cookies set up and harden around the edges. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Once cookies have completely cooled, they are ready for frosting: in the bowl of an electric mixer, add the softened butter and powdered sugar and beat on high for 1 min. To make plain mint frosting: add in peppermint extract and 1 tablespoon of milk. Beat slowly at first, then increase speed to medium high. Frosting should be nice and creamy, if you want it extra creamy, add another teaspoon of milk and beat again.To make a red and/or green frosting: after beating together the butter, powdered sugar, peppermint extract, and milk, divide the frosting in half between two separate bowls. Add a few drops of green natural food coloring to one bowl, and red food coloring to the other bowl. Whisk the color into each bowl of frosting until well incorporated, adding more drops of food coloring until the desired color is reached.
- Frost cookies and then sprinkle with toppings of choice: crushed candy canes, chopped chocolate or Andes mints or red & green christmas sprinkles! Up to you. Makes approximately 24 cookies.
Notes
- Use vegan butter and dairy-free milk to make the cookies dairy free.
- Substitute gluten-free measure-for-measure flour for all-purpose flour to make gluten free cookies.
- The dough can be frozen to bake later; chill dough before freezing for best results.
- A flax egg may be used instead of a regular egg, but this has not been tested.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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