Gluten Free Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
These gluten free chocolate peppermint cookies are the ultimate winter dessert. They’re chewy with a perfect crispy edge and just the right balance of chocolate and peppermint.
I’m in total Christmas mode which means it’s time for all things peppermint! I make these gluten free chocolate cookies probably once a week or alternate with my gingerbread cookies and looooove all of the festive smells in my kitchen!
They’re perfectly chewy (anyone else hate crunchy cookies?!) and neither the peppermint nor the chocolate is overpowering.
These are the perfect Christmas dessert for a cookie swap, Christmas Eve, or just when you feel like doing some Holiday baking. The dough does require a bit of chilling, but all in all, they’ll be done and ready to eat in about an hour.
If you love this recipe, try my gluten free gingerbread cookies or ginger molasses cookies next!
How to make chocolate peppermint cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and both sugars until well combined. Beat in all remaining wet ingredients.
Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flours, don’t scoop straight from the bag! Mix until well combined.
Add to the fridge for 30 minutes. This will make the dough easier to scoop and give the flavors a chance to mingle.
Use a medium cookie scoop or a spoon and use your hands to roll into balls. Sprinkle the tops lightly in crushed candy canes (try not to go overboard, we’ll add more later!)
Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 11-15 minutes. With my oven, the cookies do best at 12 minutes, but all ovens are different.
The cookies will continue to harden as they cool, so let them sit and cool before eating or adding the melted white chocolate. If you want the cookies to stay chewy, 11-12 minutes is ideal.
As soon as they come out of the oven, I use one of these round cookie cutters to spin around the cookie (use one that is slightly larger than the cookie) to get perfectly even circles.
You aren’t cutting the cookie, just spinning it in the cookie cutter to make a perfect circle. This only works when the cookies are soft, so act quickly!
Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals and stirring between each interval. Drizzle on top of the cookies and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Enjoy!
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How to tell when they’re done
With darker cookies like these gluten free chocolate cookies, it can be hard to tell when they’re done because you can’t base it off of when the edges are golden brown.
You’ll know they’re done when the candy canes have melted, the tops are crackly and the cookies are an even circle cookie shape.
They will continue to harden as they cool, so avoid leaving them in the oven for too long even if they appear really soft.
How to store
To keep these cookies soft and fresh for as long as possible, allow them to cool completely and then store them in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. They will keep longer in the fridge, but should be consumed within about 3-5 days, depending on storage.
I like to microwave them for 5-10 seconds before eating if they’ve been sitting out for a few days. It makes them nice and warm and chewier on the inside!
Ingredient swaps
Chocolate chips: With the white chocolate drizzle on top, these cookies are technically double chocolate, but you can make them triple chocolate by adding in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to the batter. I prefer them without, but they are delicious both ways.
Egg: To make these cookies vegan, you can sub the egg for a flax egg or use another kind of egg replacer such as apple sauce. The texture will be quite different if you omit the egg, but still delicious!
Nuts: You can sub the almond butter for sunflower seed butter for a nut free option. Generally, a more neutral flavored nut butter like almond, cashew or sunflower will work best. I don’t recommend peanut butter here.
Flavor tip: Be sure to use peppermint extract, not peppermint flavor. Peppermint flavor is diluted and won’t yield quite the same end result. If you can only find peppermint flavor, I’d suggest using a smidge (about 1/4 teaspoon) extra so the flavor really comes through.
Try these next!
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Cookies
- Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
- Double Chocolate Cookies
- Gluten Free Gingerbread Cake
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Gluten Free Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Dry
- 1 cup gluten free all purpose baking flour
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet:
- ½ cup butter dairy free or regular
- ⅔ cup dark brown sugar can sub coconut
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup almond butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2-1 teaspoon peppermint extract I used 3/4
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and both sugars until well combined.
- Beat in all remaining wet ingredients.
- Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flour/cocoa, don’t scoop straight from the bag! Beat until well combined.
- Add to the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Use a medium cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons) or a spoon and use your hands to roll into balls. Sprinkle the tops lightly in crushed candy canes (try not to go overboard, we’ll add more later!)
- Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10-13 minutes. With my oven, the cookies do best at 11 minutes, but all ovens are different. The cookies will continue to harden as they cool, so let them sit and cool before eating or adding the melted white chocolate.
- As soon as they come out of the oven, I use one of these round cookie cutters to spin around the cookie (use one that is slightly larger than the cookie) to get perfectly even circles. You aren’t cutting the cookie, just spinning it in the cookie cutter to make a perfect circle. This only works when the cookies are soft, so act quickly!
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals and stir between each interval. Drizzle on top of the cookies and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Enjoy!
Notes
Comments
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Yum- these turned out great! I used semi sweet chocolate for the drizzle with the candy canes. They’re soft but hold together. Thank you for this recipe!
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the dough was really dry, like not sticking together, so I added another egg. The cookies had a good flavor, but were still super dry, despite the added egg, and fell apart when I picked them up after cooling. not sure how the spinning cookie cutter technique worked, so I skipped that step.
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Sorry these didn’t work out for you! Did you make any other subs?
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What is the purpose of the almond butter? I’m not a baker so it seems an odd addition to me, but it’s in other recipes like this too. Just wondering what it does.
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Adds a really chewy texture and some more moisture without the need for too much extra butter!
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I’ve recently made your sugar cookies, ginger cookies and now these.. and I am so happy to have found your site! They are all so, so amazing. My friends and family that aren’t gluten free, can’t even tell that they are GF. Thanks for all your yummy recipes.
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Thank you, Meagan! So glad you’re loving everything!
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Do you know if these freeze well? I’m just starting baking with my GF little granddaughter, so hoping she will enjoy!
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Yes, they will freeze for up to 1 month!
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Very festive cookies! The hubby is picky about sweets and said they were really good. My daughter loves peppermint so of course she liked them. We ate them slightly warm. You never know if a cookie will be best warm, room temp or cold out of the freezer so I’m anxious to try them at different temps.
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So glad you enjoyed these!
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I made the vegan variation of this recipe for a cookie exchange. These cookies took the top prize matched up against all the non GF, non-vegan competition. Thanks for the recipe!
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So happy to hear that!! Thanks for the feedback Amanda! If you don’t mind leaving a star rating with your next review, that would be great 🙂
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These are so delicious. I’m going to a cookie swap soon and they will be a hit. I can not even tell these are gluten and dairy free.
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Thanks Olivia! I hope everyone loves them 🙂
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