These decadent vegan double chocolate peppermint cookies are filled with chocolate chips and candy cane pieces. Super rich and chocolatey, they are perfect for the holiday season with their festive look.
Mint and chocolate together is the best flavor combination! These cookies have a healthy amount of mint - I hate it when you can barely taste mint in desserts.
But there's also lot of chocolate with both the cocoa powder and chocolate chips. They are rich and decadent and a family favorite. They are also easy to make and kids love helping with the crushed candy canes.
Minty desserts are perfect for the holidays. If you are a fan of mint, then you’ll love these chocolate peppermint cookies for your holiday table along with my mint black bean brownies, vegan mint chocolate cupcakes, and candy cane sugar cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Super chocolatey: Not only are the cookies themselves chocolate, but there’s also the addition of chocolate chips!
- Festive: The candy cane pieces make these cookies perfect for any holiday party or get together.
- Texture: These vegan chocolate peppermint cookies are chewy and fudgy but also have a candy cane crunch!
- Peppermint flavor: Chocolate and peppermint together is one of my favorite flavor combinations.
Ingredient Notes
- Vegan butter: Make sure it’s softened before using. My favorite brands of vegan butter are Earth Balance and Country Crock Plant Butter.
- Peppermint extract: You’ll want to use peppermint extract, not mint extract. It has more of a candy cane flavor.
- Non-dairy milk: Use any kind you want but I typically use unsweetened soy milk or almond milk in my baking.
- Non-dairy chocolate chips: Any vegan chocolate chips are fine. I often use Trader Joe's chocolate chips.
Please see the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and amounts needed.
Variations
- You can switch it up and use vegan dark chocolate chips or white chocolate chips, although it’s not always easy to find vegan white chocolate at the grocery store.
- Instead of extra crushed candy canes, you can top the cookies with holiday (or any kind) sprinkles.
How To Make Vegan Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Step 1: To start, preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare your cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
Step 2: Using a stand mixer, cream together the softened vegan butter and sugar at medium speed. Add in the peppermint extract, cornstarch and non-dairy milk and mix well.
Step 3: Next, it's time for the dry ingredients. Slowly add in the all purpose flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda and mix until combined. The dough will be very thick.
Step 4: Fold in the chocolate chips and crushed candy canes with a spatula or wooden spoon, leaving a small amount of candy cane pieces to sprinkle on top of the cookies after they are baked.
Step 5: Spoon about 2 tbsps. worth of cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet and flatten slightly.
Step 6: Bake in the preheated oven on the center rack for about 12 minutes. Take the baking tray of the oven and let the cookies rest for a minute. Sprinkle the remainder of the crushed candy canes on top.
Step 7: Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Plate, serve and enjoy.
Looking for more fun and festive treats for your holiday table? Try my Oreo truffles, cranberry cookies, and molasses ginger cookies.
Expert Tips
- You can also use a hand mixer with a large bowl if you don't have a stand mixer.
- Make sure you slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl. If you pour them in all at once, there’s a good chance you’ll get flour and cocoa powder outside the bowl.
- If you want uniformly shaped cookies, you can use a cookie scoop.
- For best results, don’t sprinkle the crushed candy canes on top of the cookies until AFTER they are baked. If you do it before, they will get hard and chewy and the texture will be all off. Also, they won’t look as pretty.
- Don’t over bake the cookies. They will be very soft when they get out of the oven but will firm up quickly.
- To crush the candy canes, I put them in a ziploc bag and then use a rolling pin over them. You can also pulse them in a food processor. Try not to have any big pieces of candy cane for sprinkling on top.
Storage and Recipe FAQs
Mostly yes! Candy canes do not contain gelatin and are vegan-friendly, although you should always double check the packaging. Candy canes typically contain sugar, corn syrup, peppermint extract and food dyes.
The easiest way is to leave it out on the counter at room temperature for about 15 minutes. If you are in a rush, you can put it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
Store the cooled vegan cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
You can freeze these cookies if you want to make them in advance. Once cooled, store in a freezer safe container or bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge. These go quickly in my house so I often like to make a double batch and then keep one batch in the freezer.
More Vegan Holiday Desserts
If you tried this Vegan Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Recipe
Vegan Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Equipment
- stand mixer or hand mixer
- baking sheets
- cooling rack
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegan butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 3 tablespoon non-dairy milk
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup flour
- ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup chocolate chips (vegan)
- 4 candy canes, crushed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare your cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
- Using a stand mixer (or a hand held mixer and large bowl), cream together the softened vegan butter and sugar.
- Add in the peppermint extract, cornstarch and non-dairy milk and mix well.
- Slowly add in the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda and mix until combined. The dough will be very thick.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and crushed candy canes, leaving a small amount of candy cane pieces to sprinkle on top of the cookies after they are baked.
- Spoon about 2 tablespoon worth of cookie dough onto the cookie sheets and flatten slightly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes.
- Take the pans out of the oven and let the cookies rest for a minute. Sprinkle the remainder of the crushed candy canes on top. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Notes
- Don’t sprinkle the crushed candy canes on top of the cookies until AFTER they are baked. If you do it before, they will get hard and chewy and the texture will be all off. Also, they won’t look as pretty.
- Don’t over bake the cookies. They will be very soft when they get out of the oven but will firm up quickly.
- To crush the candy canes, I put them in a ziploc bag and then use a rolling pin over them. You can also pulse them in a food processor.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. For longer storage, these cookies freeze well.
Jen says
These are super chocolatey and I love the candy canes. I often make a double batch to make sure there are plenty for the holidays.