Triple Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cookies
These super chewy, triple chocolate cookies peppermint Christmas cookies, made with red and white Hershey’s Kisses are a perfect festive Christmas treat! Delicious for a holiday cookie exchange, Christmas party, or to just make and share with family and friends during the holiday season!
Triple Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cookies – the perfect sweet treat for this time of year! Not only are they absolutely delicious and adorable, the recipe is perfect for letting little ones help. My two-year-old became a pro at peeling the wrappers off of Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses and she loved helping me press them onto the cookies. If you want to have some fun hangout time in the kitchen with your kiddo(s), this recipe is perfect for you – they can help you make cookies to bring to Grandma’s house and/or to leave out for Santa!
This is Elizabeth and her obligatory “cheese” face as she’s thinking, “Pleeeeeease can I just eat one now?!” We had so much fun making these together. When I told her she was going to get to help me make Christmas cookies last week, she zoomed to the pantry and attempted to pull out the step stool on her own. She’s only helped me make cookies once before (a couple of weeks ago), but that kiddo remembered exactly what needed to happen in order for her to claim her spot at the kitchen counter.
She anxiously awaited those “kissmas cookies.” I kept telling her, “As soon as they come out of the oven, you can help me make Christmas cookies.” And thus, a new chant in our house was born: “kissmas cookies come out of dee oven!”
She knew exactly what needed to happen with those wrapped Kisses!
She’s only two and yet I think I’ve already reached my pinnacle moment of motherhood: I have been looking so forward to Elizabeth being old enough to hang out with me and help me in the kitchen, especially during the holiday season!
This munchkin had a lot of fun helping me unwrap all those Kisses and press them onto the cookies. After we made them, she was far too busy with a mouthful of chocolate to smile for the camera.
I limited myself to eating one. Well, that is until Elizabeth went to bed, and I’m pretty sure at that point Aaron and I probably ate about 10.
Each.
The recipe for these cookies is below, but here are a couple of really important tips:
- You really need to refrigerate this dough before forming the cookies and baking them. They’ll come out fairly flat if you don’t refrigerate the dough. The colder the dough before forming the cookies and baking them, the more dense and pillow-like they’ll come out of the oven. I made a double batch of this cookie dough – I baked half of it after about 30 minutes of refrigeration and half of it after refrigerating the dough overnight. The half that I baked after refrigerating overnight made cookies that were definitely thicker and more dense (which I really like), so if you like that look/consistency, I would refrigerate the dough for longer than 30 minutes (or put the dough in the freezer to get it colder faster).
- After you pull the cookies out of the oven, wait about 10 minutes before putting the Kisses on top. If you put them on too early when the cookies are still very hot, they’ll melt quite a bit and loose their form. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way. Oh well, the mess-ups always go in my belly rather than on the platter I’m bringing somewhere! 🙂
What makes these triple chocolate, you ask? Regular baking cocoa, dark chocolate baking cocoa, and semisweet chocolate chips. If you consider the fact that the Andes Mints in these also have chocolate in them, we could call these Quadruple Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cookies, but that’s a bit of a mouthful.
A delicious mouthful, that is.
So easy to make, yet so beautiful on a Christmas-y plate!
I hope making these cookies helps you make some sweet memories with your loved ones this holiday season!
These will definitely make some SWEET memories! 🙂
Do you have additional ideas for easy-to-include-a-little-kid-in-the-kitchen cookies or sweet treats? I’d love to hear more ideas, not just for other readers, but for me to consider doing with my kiddo now that I know how much she enjoys being on that step stool with me at the counter!
Love this recipe and want to remember it later? Be sure to save it to your favorite Pinterest board!
Triple Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 c unsalted butter softened
- 2/3 c granulated sugar
- 2/3 c packed light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 c all-purpose flour
- 1/2 c regular baking cocoa
- 1/4 c dark chocolate baking cocoa
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 c Andes mints finely chopped*
- 1 10 oz bag Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses
Instructions
- Cream together the butter, sugars, and vanilla until well-blended.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition.
- Gradually mix in flour, cocoas, baking soda, and salt.
- Once the dough is completely blended together, fold in the chocolate chips and Andes mints to the dough.
- Cover bowl with cling wrap and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.**
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Once the dough is cool, form into cookie dough balls and place on cookie sheet (12 per sheet).
- Bake each batch for 7 minutes.
- While the cookies are baking, unwrap the Hershey's Kisses and set them aside.
- Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before adding Hershey's Kisses. Place a Kiss in the center of each cookie and gently press - you don't want to press too hard or they'll go right through the soft cookie!
- Repeat steps 7-10 until you run out of dough.
I made these again yesterday for my ladies’ Sunday school Christmas party. These are hands down my favorite Christmas cookie, and I have made them for 4 years in a row now! I have shared this recipe countless times. IT’S THE BEST!!!!!
Hooray! I am so glad!!! (Just a note: I tweaked this recipe a little bit to play around with a different cookie recipe combo, and I definitely discovered how necessary it is to chill the dough. That was one thing that I was hoping to avoid in a new recipe, but oh my word, makes SUCH a difference to chill the dough before baking it! My side-by-side test definitely showed that the chilled version turned out much more flavorful and chewy after baking than the non-chilled version! So, good to know – I won’t be updating this recipe anytime soon…it is so good as is!!)
This cookie recipe is ALL my favorite flavors rolled into one and was super easy! They will be a hit for my cookie exchange. Thank you!!
I’m so glad!! Yes, I love these cookies! 🙂
I made these last year and they were a big hit. In fact, I gave some to my sister-in-law, and she said that they threw out the rest of their Christmas cookies & just ate these! So now that Christmas cookie season is here again, I have a batch of dough chilling in the fridge right now. This one’s a winner!
That is hilarious!! And I know, we love this recipe too! 🙂
Your recipe for Triple Chocolate Peppermint Cookies if fabulous! I have the last sheet in the oven and this recipe will become a regular in my Christmas rotation. Can’t wait to treat visitors to this one! Many thanks!
Hi Mary,
I’m so glad you loved them! I made them again this Christmas and thought, “Oh yeah! THIS is why I posted the recipe on my blog! Man these are good!” Haha! Hope those cookies bring lots of smiles your way during every Christmas season to come! 🙂