Supremely soft and chewy deep dark chocolatey cookies loaded with peppermint white chocolates, dark chocolate chunks, and crispy mint Oreos! Perfect for your next cookie exchange or holiday gathering!
I have to admit, peppermint isn’t my favorite as far as holiday flavors go. HOWEVER, if it’s combined with enough chocolate, I’ll definitely make an exception.
Peppermint bark is one of those exceptions. With layers of both white AND dark chocolate and just a little sprinkling of crunchy peppermint candies (or candy canes!), it has the perfect peppermint to chocolate ratio for my taste buds. So with that classic Christmas confection in mind, I was inspired to make these exceptionally soft and chewy Loaded Peppermint Bark Cookies!
As the title suggests, these cookies are absolutely LOADED. Not only do they contain rich hunks of dark chocolate, but they’re also jam-packed with melty peppermint white chocolates AND crispy mint Oreos! Trust me, this cookie is bound to be a success with your friends and family!
That is, if you choose to share any…
So let’s get into the nitty gritty of this handsome hunk of a cookie, shall we?
If you’ve read the recipe already, you’ll notice that there’s a good amount of cocoa powder in the dough. It might seem like a lot, but it’s actually the perfect amount for offsetting the sweetness of the chocolates and cookies that are baked into the cookie.
As for the type of cocoa powder, I prefer to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder because of its complex richness and intense dark hue. My brand of choice is Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa. You can find it at most any grocery store, and you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg on the other more expensive brands.
To enhance the richness of the cocoa, a little bit of instant espresso powder is incorporated into the dough. Just one teaspoon is all you need to intensify the flavor, and you won’t even detect a hint of coffee. You can find instant espresso powder either in the coffee section or baking section. It’s an item that I always have in the pantry, and I pretty much only use it for the purpose of enhancing chocolate in recipes.
Another crucial ingredient that’s worth mentioning is cornstarch. Not only does it produce a more tender crumb, but it also prevents the cookie from spreading too much as it’s baking. Less spread means a thicker cookie that’s both soft and chewy.
Since I’m not the biggest fan of peppermint, I only added a 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract. Unlike vanilla extract, peppermint extract tends to be more robust, and a little can go a long way. If you prefer a stronger peppermint flavor, you can add up to 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract. Just try not to go overboard, or you’ll end up with cookies that taste like toothpaste…ew.
Now let’s discuss the “loaded” aspect of this cookie. Just like your traditional peppermint bark, these cookies contain a double dose of chocolate–white AND dark. Instead of plain white chocolate, I used Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses. They have the perfect amount of pepperminty sweetness without having to add crushed peppermints/candy canes to the cookie.
Although peppermint and mint aren’t the same thing, I added mint Oreo cookies. In the past I’ve seen Peppermint Oreos and even Peppermint Bark Oreos, however my store didn’t have either. Honestly though, I think the green mint Oreos makes these cookies look even more festive because they go with the red in the peppermint chocolates. Mint Oreos are usually available in most stores, but if you can’t find them, regular Oreos would work just as well!
Tips For Making These Cookies:
- Chill the dough: Although these cookies can be baked right after the dough is made, I highly recommend chilling the dough for AT LEAST 30 minutes. Not only does this ensure less spread in the oven by solidifying the fat, but it also produces a more flavorful cookie by drying out the dough, thus concentrating the flavors of all the ingredients. If you do chill the dough for more than 2 hours, let it sit out at room temperature for 30-60 minutes. The dough gets pretty hard in the refrigerator, so allowing it to warm up a bit will make it much easier to handle.
- Flatten the dough balls: As the cookies bake in the oven, they don’t spread very much. This is especially true if you’ve had the dough chill for several hours. I like to help them out a little by flattening the dough balls into little hockey pucks. This will give you that perfect round, yet thick cookie that doesn’t look like a lump of coal.
- Add more goodies to the tops: Some might consider this cheating, but once the cookies are out of the oven, I like to press more chocolate chips and chopped Hershey kisses into the tops of the cookies. This way you don’t have too many bare spots, AND you’re adding extra goodness to every single bite!
As someone who isn’t the biggest fan of peppermint, I have to say that these Loaded Peppermint Bark Cookies were incredibly tasty. They weren’t overbearingly pepperminty, and I absolutely loved the crispety crunch of the mint Oreos. Trust me, you can’t go wrong with these cookies!
Loaded Peppermint Bark Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for the tops
- 10 mint Oreos, coarsely chopped
- 1 (9 oz) bag Hershey Candy Cane Kisses, coarsely chopped and divided
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt until combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth. Add in both sugars and mix on high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until combined. Add in the vanilla and peppermint extract.
- With mixer set on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture into the wet mixture until everything has been incorporated. Remove bowl from the mixer, and stir in the chocolate chips, Oreos, and 3/4 of the Hershey kisses. The rest will be added to the tops of the cookies when they come out of the oven.
- Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.**
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the dough into balls about the size of a golf ball, then place them on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten each dough ball slightly so that it resembles a little hockey puck.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are set and the centers are puffy but still look slightly underdone. Immediately after they come out of the oven, press more chocolate chips and Hershey kisses into the tops. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.