Triple Chocolate Cookies with Peppermint Frosting Recipe

These irresistible Triple Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are the perfect holiday or any-time dessert! Chocolate and peppermint make the perfect match.

2017 winter break week is going down in history, people. It has been about a million degrees below zero outside, so my boys and I have been hibernating. I haven’t been out of pajamas since Tuesday. Yesterday we watched three movies, put a 400-piece puzzle together and squeezed in a couch nap all snuggled together like a huge can of sardines. I’ve even held off on baking. Crazy, right?!

Last week, however, I was still in the zone and baked a giant batch of these Triple Chocolate Cookies with Peppermint Buttercream Frosting. The chocolate cookies alone are over-the-top insane, so good luck getting them frosted.

Also included on last week’s dessert menu was cherry cheesecake, cheesecake cookies, dulce de leche and dulce de leche chocolate sandwich cookies.

If you have leftover candy canes hanging out in your house, or even just peppermint candies, you have just found the perfect dessert to make today.

HOW TO MAKE TRIPLE CHOCOLATE COOKIES WITH PEPPERMINT FROSTING

Learn how to make triple chocolate cookies from scratch for the holiday season!

MAKE THE COOKIES

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line three baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer), combine the butter, white and brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed until creamy and free of lumps.

Add Nutella and beat on low speed until just combined.In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients – flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Gradually add to the butter-sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined.

Stir in the chocolate baking chips. Using a medium cookie scoop, place 1.5-tablespoon-size chunks of batter in your hands and roll into balls. Place onto the prepared baking sheets and bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.

MAKE THE FROSTING

Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer), combine the confectioner’s sugar, butter and peppermint extract. Beat on medium speed until moist. Scrape the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the milk and beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes.

ASSEMBLE THE COOKIES

Spread 2 teaspoons of frosting over the top of each cooled cookie. Top with crushed candy cane pieces for more intense peppermint flavor.

OTHER FROSTING OPTIONS

You can make this cookie and try piping it with different buttercream flavors so you can make a totally different batch of cookies! Use them on a cake too!

• Chocolate Buttercream
• Vanilla Buttercream
• Caramel Buttercream
• Cream Cheese Frosting

TIPS TO AVOID FLAT AND CRUNCHY COOKIES

Measuring – a good tip for measuring dry ingredients when baking is to use a butter knife to level off the ingredients in the measuring cup. This will help avoid over measuring. Too much sugar can help flatten cookies and give them a crunchy taste.

STORING COOKIES

A few easy steps will ensure that your cookies stay fresh until the last cookie is eaten.

• Let the cookies completely cool on the wire rack. Packing them up too soon will make them soggy and crumbly.
• Place the cookies into a large airtight container. Using a layer of wax or parchment paper between the cookies to avoid them sticking to one another and breaking. Try not to layer frosted cookies.
• Place a piece of white bread in the container so it will absorb any moisture.

STORING LEFTOVER BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

The buttercream frosting in this recipe is safe at room temperature in an air-tight container for 2-3 days. The US Food Safety and Inspection gives it a thumbs up because of the amount of sugar and just a little bit of milk in it.

A cream cheese based buttercream however needs to be stored in the refrigerator and is good for about a week. When getting ready to use it again, give it a few minutes to come to room temperature. If you don’t think you’ll have a use for it right away, freeze it! That’ll give you a couple of months to put it away and then make another batch of these cookies.

OTHER DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE COOKIES

• If you can’t decide between cookies and brownies, you’ve found the perfect dessert. You get both with one recipe! These Chocolate Brownie Cookies are chewy, crispy, crinkly, chocolatey, unique and absolutely irresistible!
• Hot Cocoa Cookies are like having a cup of hot chocolate, except in cookie form. Chocolate oozes from the centers of these marshmallow-topped treats. These rich cookies are perfect for holiday parties and dessert trays!
• These Chocolate M&M’s Cookies are THE BEST! They are easy to make, they’re irresistible and they are FUN! Throw in extra M&M’s, just ’cause.
• These Chocolate Chip Cookies are the BEST EVER and they have it all! Crispy, chewy, soft and irresistible, they will quickly become your go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. You don’t have to worry about chilling the dough and you can be assured they turn out perfectly and are loved by everyone.
• These Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies are a dream come true! They’re even better than full-size chocolate chip cookies because you can pop these morsels of sweet, chocolatey yumminess into your mouth like they’re a snack.
• Adding the delicious and dreamy dulce de leche to chocolate sandwich cookies creates a heavenly treat! These cute and yummy little sandwich cookies are great for holiday parties, as well as any other time of the year.