Easy Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies are delicious buttery peppermint chocolate treats that are baked to perfection and topped with a colorful red and white chocolate peppermint kiss. They are the perfect addition to your holiday baking list.
Well it is baking season again. I just love this time of the year with all of its festive fun. Christmas cookies are a super fun tradition in our house and with a little planning it can be done without loosing your mind. Most baked cookies are super freezer friendly and with just a few hints you can master the art of freezing cookies. These Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies are so easy, delicious and super freezer friendly. This recipe calls for white chocolate peppermint kisses and they do go fast this time of year so plan accordingly.
How do you freeze Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies?
The cookies should be fully cooled before freezing. Carefully pack the cookies in doubled Ziploc freezer bags and place them in sturdy glad-ware containers. When defrosting take them out of the containers frozen and place on serving trays or platters uncovered until they defrost. Then store in airtight containers. Never allow them to defrost in the plastic and the containers. The condensation that builds in there will ruin the cookies.
How do you make Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies?
First throw the peppermint kisses in the freezer for about two hours before you start the rest of the recipe. Using a mixer cream the butter and both sugars with until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix just until incorporated. Then mix in the mint extract.
Now in a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add the dry mixture to butter mixture in three parts. Blend after each addition just until combined and scraping down the side of the mixer bowl as needed. Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover and refrigerate for at least three hours up to overnight.
The dough will be kind of sticky so butter your hands and roll the dough into one inch balls. Place on cookie sheets covered with parchment paper or silicone mats. Bake for about ten minutes. While the cookies are baking unwrap the frozen kisses. Allow to cool for three minutes only and then gently press one peppermint kiss into the top of each cookie. Move to cookie cooling racks being very careful not to the touch the chocolate as it may be soft.
Helpful tips for making Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
- Always preheat the oven and load your cookies on the middle rack in the center of the oven.
- Cover your baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- For best results freeze the kisses two hours before starting the recipe. This will help keep the kisses from melting when you place them on the top of the cookies.
- Gently press the kiss into the top of the cookie creating a small indentation.
- These cookies can be frozen for four to six weeks. I don’t like to go much further than that because of the white chocolate kiss. Simply double wrap in freezer bags and place in a sturdy container. The dough can be double wrapped and frozen for two months.
- If you have time do a test run with one or two cookies. It really helps to establish optimum baking time.
Other holiday cookies you will love!
- Buttery Pecan Snowball Cookies
- Maraschino Cherry Almond Chocolate Cookies
- Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies
- Christmas Sugar Cookies
Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Fun holiday chocolate thumbprint cookies top with a white chocolate peppermint kiss. These Christmas cookies are family friendly, easy to make and so delectable.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes plus chilling time
- Yield: 28 cookies 1x
- Category: dessert cookies
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon mint extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2/3 cup cocoa
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 28 unwrapped peppermint kisses
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Cream butter and both sugars with mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix just until incorporated. Mix in mint extract.
- Whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl. Add the dry mixture to butter mixture in three parts. Blend after each addition just until combined; scraping down the side of mixer bowl as needed. Remove bowl from mixer, cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours up to overnight.
- Butter hands and roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheet with 1-2 inches between cookies.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool for 3 minutes only. Press one peppermint kiss into the top of each cookie. Carefully move to cookie cooling racks.
Keywords: cookies, Christmas cookies, thumbprint cookies, chocolate thumbprint cookies, chocolate thumbprint cookies with hershey kisses, thumbprint cookies chocolate kisses, peppermint chocolate thumbprint cookies, chocolate thumbprint cookie recipe hershey kiss, chocolate hershey kiss thumbprint cookies
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is that unsweetened cocoa
Yes it is. I will clarify recipe in just two shakes of a lamb’s tail!!
When you freeze these, are you freezing the uncooked cookie dough or freezing the baked cookie with the peppermint kiss on top?
I am freezing the baked cookie with the kiss on top. I have some in my freezer right now for when quests stop by!
How many does one batch make?
About 30 cookies. Happy Baking!!!
salted or unsalted butter? thanks!
Unsalted please!
Could you use peppermint extract instead of mint? I already have peppermint. 🙂 Thanks!
Yes you can!! Happy baking!!
Is it 1/2 cup packed brown sugar? Or loose?
loose…happy baking
Is this supposed to be light brown sugar, or dark brown sugar?
Light brown sugar
Is the cooking time just to put them in the freezer or is that all the way through? Ten minutes seems really quick!
10 minutes is actually not a quick baking time, many soft cookies only take 6 to 8. 🙂 so that 10 minutes would be for cooked completely.
Hi there. These look delicious! Are you using softened or cold butter? Thanks!
Thank you! I did miss that! It would be softened butter. I am not sure why I did not see that but I thank your for bringing that to my attention.
Does anyone have a recipe for easy chocolate fudge
Sure if you just want chocolate omit the coconut and almonds. Foolproof Almond Joy Fudge
Cocoa powder or unsweetend baking cocoa bar?
Cocoa powder! Happy baking!!
If you want the peppermint kisses to stand up like peanut butter blossoms freeze them first and then place them on the cookie while frozen
Thanks for the heads up.
Freezing the kisses is the best idea! Thank you. I have made cookies with kisses for a couple years and they always melt. Just made some and froze the kisses and they are perfect. Thank you again for sharing this idea.
Yes I have heard that this works. Thanks for the heads up!
Yes I have heard that this works well. Thanks for the heads up!
Can I use coconut or almond flour instead ? If so how much?
I have never tried. I can’t imagine that you can’t though.
Do the cookies stay puffy or do they go flat?
I am trying to understand exactly what you are asking. They should not go flat. They might go down a little bit right after taking out of the oven but they will not go flat. Let me know if you have more questions. Thanks!
I don’t have any kind of mint extract, is that a vital ingredient?
No peppermint or mint? I think they would be good without it but it does change things a bit.
Made my first batch and husband thought they were kinda dry, any suggestions on what I can adjust?
Can you make these the day before an event or is it best to make the day of?
Yes you can make them the day before.
Yummy, pretty ….gonna make a 2nd batch….squeee
Thanks so much! I appreciate the complement this fine morning!
If i make it the day before i need them will the kisses melt if i just store it in a container and leave on the counter?
Just counting up my “kisses” and wonder if you have ever tripled the recipe successfully?
I am sorry I have never tripled this recipe as I usually have quite a variety for Christmas!
LOVE these cookies! I only used 1/2 tsp of mint extract and added 1/2tsp vanilla. I also didn’t use all purpose flour, I made them gluten free using only 1 cup of Namaste Gf Perfect Flour Blend. I added a splash of brewed coffee at the very end and gave it a good mix.(Only cause I had coffee I didn’t want to waste.)I kept everything else the same. Amazing cookies!! Thank you!
Thanks so much and thanks for the gluten free version. My readers are often asking about gluten free!
How could I make these more like a brownie consistency rather than cookies? They are delicious!!
I honestly don’t think that you could. Brownies are more cake like and I don’t think you could push a piece of candy into a brownie and have it maintain its shape.
Followed the recipe exactly and they came out extremely dry and dense. Waited exactly five minutes to put the kisses on the cookies, and they were rock hard and crumbled.
So sorry to hear this Amanda. I took a look at that recipe yesterday because of yours and one other readers comments. I went back into the kitchen. I made some modifications and my daughter and I have taste tested them several times.
That’s why I asked about a brownie consistency to maybe help with the dryness, but either way mine were still yummy!!! I put my candy in before the 5 min, and that helped. I also didn’t cook mine but for only 8 minutes if that helps!
Simply amazing! Only thing I did different was bake it for 7 minutes and let it cool on pan.
Thanks so much! So glad that you liked them!
Hi there! The recipe shouldn’t say to preheat the oven first thing if we are supposed to be refrigerating the cookies for hours before baking! Thanks for the wonderful cookies.
Thanks for the heads up. I modified that recipe and forgot to change that on it. Thanks again.
The taste was great but my cookies really flattened out. Any idea what I did wrong? Thanks!
So sorry to hear that. Here is an excellent article on different reasons why cookies can go flat. 8 reasons your cookies spread too much
Do I only add 1/2 cup of the flour mixture…or 1/2 at a time?
1/2 cup at a time.
Omg these are SO good! I made them just like directed (only difference was I didn’t have mint, only peppermint extract). I used the suggestion someone made to put the kisses in the freezer until ready to put on the cookie. They were super soft & moist! Love love love these! The best part is that it’s not an overwhelming peppermint flavor. Enough to notice, but not overpowering. Kinda reminds me of a Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks! I did half just like that and half with red glitter icing drizzled on top with some red & green sugar sprinkles. Thanks for this recipe!! Such a hit!❤❤❤??????
So glad that you liked them. I love your idea about the red glitter icing and sprinkles. What fun and Merry Christmas!
I couldn’t find peppermint kisses anywhere! So I used caramel kisses and switched my extract to caramel. Will try this recipe out as soon as I am able to purchase the peppermint kisses! I love chocolate and peppermint ❤
Yes they are a little hard to find. I found mine at Walgreens!
Just made these for an early Christmas family gathering. They ended up more cake-y in texture than I was expecting (maybe the dryness some people have mentioned? I only did 8 minutes in the oven to try to avoid them drying out too much). I would have preferred they be a little more cookie-like but my guests absolutely loved them.
I did not want the cookies to be too minty (since I’m really the only peppermint fiend in my family) so I used 1/4 tsp peppermint extract (we didn’t have regular mint) and 3/4 tsp vanilla extract. I used the freezing the kisses trick and it worked perfectly; the mint wasn’t overpowering at all, it was just right. Thanks for a great recipe!
You are most welcome. Yes they are more of a cake like cookie. So glad that your guests enjoyed them. Yes the readers idea of freezing the kisses works great. I tried it myself. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Didn’t this recipe use to call for only 1/2 cup butter or an I totally imaging that and just wrote it down wrong the first time?
No it did and people said it was too dry so I went back to the test kitchen and worked on it again. The extra butter does make it more moist but you must refrigerate it to get it good and stiff so the balls will hold up during baking.
I was looking for a Christmas cookie recipes for my jobs Christmas party bake off and came across this recipe! These cookie look simple to make and very delicious! Thanks for posting this recipe! Looking forward to making these for the party!
Thanks so much Brittany! I hope you enjoy them!!
How long do these take to thaw out completely? I made 7 dozen for a cookie exchange and froze them all. I need to thaw and package per dozen before Friday.
It has been a while since I defrosted them. I would say a couple of hours max. Be sure to remove them from their packaging and place on trays on the counter so the condensation does not get to them.
A great recipe! I have never seen the mint kisses so I melted chocolate and added a few drops of mint extract and put a dollop on each cookie with a few green sprinkles – delicious! Merry Christmas!
★★★★★
So glad that you liked them! We love them too! I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
I used the Small Stainless Scoop from Pampered Chef, and it was the perfect size! However, 10 min was definitely too long. (I’m in Utah, so maybe the elevation and dry climate is a factor.) Did 8 min, then put the frozen kisses on immediately out of the oven, and that was the perfect combo for me! They are delicious!
Thanks so much! So glad that you like them. They are cute little treats! I hope you have a great holiday!