Candy Cane Cookies (My FAVORITE Chocolate Christmas Cookies!)
Updated Dec 08, 2025
These Chocolate Candy Candy Cane Cookies are fudgy, chewy, rich chocolate Christmas cookies, studded with white and dark chocolate and sprinkled with sparkly candy canes.
There is a 99.5% chance that this Chocolate Candy Cane Cookie will become on of your new favorite Christmas Cookie recipes.
Here’s What You Need
For this Chocolate Mint Candy Cane Cookies recipe, you’ll need a handful of simple ingredients and a few candy canes!
Chocolate Mint Candy Cane Cookie Ingredients
These chocolate Christmas cookies combine rich chocolate flavor with a festive minty freshness. If you like my famous Mint Chocolate Cookies, you’ll love ’em. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Unsalted Butter: Adds moisture and richness to the cookies. You can swap it out for alternatives like margarine if needed.
- Granulated Sugar
- Mint Extract: Adds a refreshing mint flavor. Peppermint extract, pure mint extract – whatever you have on hand.
- All-Purpose Flour: Use a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend for a GF version of these cookies.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Adds deep, chocolatey richness.
- Baking Soda: Helps the cookies spread and creates a chewy texture.
- Sea Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances the chocolate and mint flavors.
- Chopped Dark or White Chocolate: I highly recommend using good-quality chocolate bars and chopping them yourself vs. using chocolate chips. In these photos, I used chopped white chocolate in the batter and dark chocolate on top.
- Crushed Candy Canes: The real mint flavor comes from the mint extract and the candy canes add a little texture and festive look. A little is all you need (or else they get stuck in your teeth and you don’t enjoy the melt-in-the-mouth cookie experience).
Related Chocolate Christmas Treats: Toblerone Cookies, Moist Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Swiss Roll Cake
Grab These Tools
Here’s the equipment you’ll need to whip up these festive cookies:
- Mixing Bowls: A few bowls for wet and dry ingredients.
- Electric Mixer: A stand or hand mixer works great to cream the butter and sugar.
- Measuring Cups and Spoons: Essential for accurate ingredient measurements.
- Baking Sheets: Use flat sheets lined with parchment paper for even baking.
- Parchment Paper: Prevents sticking and makes cleanup a breeze.
- Wire Rack: Helps cool the cookies evenly after baking.
How to Make Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies: An Easy Guide
Mix the Wet Ingredients
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add the mint extract (or vanilla) and mix until fully incorporated.
Combine the Dry Ingredients
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing just until the dough comes together.
Fold in the Chocolate
- Reserve 1/2 cup of the chopped chocolate for topping.
- Gently fold the remaining chocolate into the dough until evenly distributed. (Note: My videographer took the photo above and used chocolate chips. I prefer chopped chocolate bars!)
Shape and Bake the Cookies
- Scoop the dough into balls and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 7 minutes.
Add the Toppings
- Remove the cookies from the oven and sprinkle the reserved chocolate and crushed candy canes on top.
- Return the cookies to the oven and bake for an additional 2-4 minutes, or until the edges are set.
Cool and Serve
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before enjoying.
Now you’re ready to make these minty, chocolate-packed cookies that are sure to be a holiday hit!
Pro Tip for Perfect Chocolate Christmas Cookies
As with the recent Chocolate Snowball Cookies, chilling the dough is non-negotiable here.
Baking before the butter has firmed back up in the fridge will cause it to melt in the dough before the cookie structure sets in the oven. That can make the cookies will paper thin. (See: Why are my cookies flat?)
No good. Do the chilling.
You can chill too! Preferably with a rum-and-nogger.
These cookies freeze beautifully, if you are organized enough to do your Christmas baking in advance.
Other Favorite Christmas Recipes
- Saltine Cracker Toffee (a.k.a. Christmas Crack)
- Italian Christmas Desserts you MUST Try!
- The BEST Chocolate Christmas Desserts
- My 41+ Favorite Christmas Appetizers
Candy Cane Cookies (My BEST Chocolate Christmas Cookies!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (see alternatives in notes)
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp mint extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 2 cups chopped dark or white chocolate (or a combination) divided use
- ¼ cup crushed candy cane
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs until just combined. Mix in the mint extract.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined.
- Fold in 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate until evenly distributed.
- Scoop the dough by generous tablespoonfuls onto the lined baking sheet. Roll each ball between your hands for a smooth finish. Refrigerate the cookies for 30 minutes (or up to 48 hours).
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.Space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and bang the pan on the counter to flatten them out. Press the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate and the crushed candy canes into the middle of each (this helps flatten the cookie more). (*See note below.)Return to the oven and bake for another 2-4 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops are a bit crackled.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just made these and they are outstanding.
Thanks so much! I love your recipes. So good.
My family loves chocolate and peppermint and these were a big hit! I used milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate bars and it was the perfect balance of rich chocolate flavor and sweetness.
I was so excited to finally make these and they did not disappoint! I love the candy cane and dark chocolate combo. I can’t stop eating these, HELP! Haha
I just want to confirm that this recipe yields 39 tablespoon sized cookies? I’ll be trying them for a cookie exchange and need to make sure I have enough. Thank you! 39 just seemed like a strange number lol
Hi Brie, I just made them again yesterday and yes, if you’re accurate with your tablespoon scoops it’s 39, haha!
I followed the recipe like you mention in your notes, using white chocolate in the dough and dark chocolate on top and MY WORD. These are beyond good. I can’t stop eating them!!!
Hey, so I might have missed it, but when do we add the candy cane bits? got all excited and mixed everything else. Or is it just for the top? Kinda confused, help a brother out here.
Bob, you add them at the end of baking as Jennifer mentioned. It gives a nice crunch on top!
Oh, got it! Thanks, MaggieMay!
These chocolate candy cane cookies are perfect! Thanks for sharing, Jennifer!