These vegan chocolate peppermint cookies are packed with chocolate chips and peppermint flavor! Topped with melted chocolate and crushed candy canes for the most delicious Christmas cookies ever.
If you’re like us and love the combination of chocolate and peppermint, these vegan chocolate peppermint cookies will be your new favorite go-to holiday cookies.
To be honest, these cookies are so good, you’ll be making them all year round!
These vegan chocolate peppermint cookies are super fun and easy to make. We took some inspiration from our vegan chocolate cookies recipe and added peppermint extract instead of vanilla.
Then to top it all off, we dipped the cookies in peppermint-flavored melted chocolate and sprinkled on some crushed candy canes. Delicious!
Serve these delectable treats as dessert at your next potluck or you can even enjoy them as a snack. They are a big crowd pleaser and everyone will want more after the first bite.
If you’d like more easy and delicious peppermint recipes, try our vegan peppermint fudge, vegan peppermint patties or vegan peppermint bark.
Recipe Ingredients
Ingredients Notes
Chocolate chips or chunks. You can use vegan chocolate chunks (chopped-up vegan chocolate) instead of vegan chocolate chips. We used vegan chocolate chunks for melting and vegan chocolate chips to mix in the batter.
Soy milk. Depending on the brand of vegan butter you use, you may need 1 or 2 more tablespoons of soy (or other non-dairy) milk. But be patient with each addition of soy milk; stir well and see if you need more. It is supposed to be a very thick, crumbly cookie dough. But if you try rolling a section into a ball and it just won’t hold together, you’ll need a little more.
Melted chocolate dip and crushed peppermint topping. This is entirely optional but recommended. It makes these cookies look super festive and adds some extra texture!
How to make vegan chocolate peppermint cookies
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- To the bowl of your stand mixer, add vegan butter and white and brown sugar and cream together until smooth.
- Add peppermint extract and beat in.
- In a separate bowl, sift the all-purpose flour and cocoa powder and then mix in the baking soda and salt. Mix together until combined.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix in by hand until crumbly.
- Add the soy milk or other non-dairy milk and mix it into a thick cookie dough.
- Add the chocolate chips and fold them in.
- Roll the dough into balls and space them evenly over two parchment-lined baking sheets. Aim to get 20 cookies from the batch, 10 cookies per baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes. If the cookies are still very puffy when they come out of the oven, then you can gently flatten them with a fork while they are still soft and warm.
- Allow them to cool and firm up directly on the tray.
- When the cookies have cooled down completely, prepare the topping. Add the chocolate and coconut oil to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals bringing it out to stir every 30 seconds until melted and smooth.
- Add peppermint extract and mix in until smooth.
- Dip the cookies in the melted chocolate and place them back onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle crushed candy canes onto the melted chocolate.
- Place the trays in the fridge for 5 minutes to set.
Baker’s tips
Spread the cookies over two trays. This prevents them from baking together and needing to be separated.
Bake the cookies one tray at a time. Bake one tray of cookies, and then when that’s finished, bake the second tray of cookies. Don’t bake both trays at once, or they will bake unevenly.
Flatten your cookies with a fork if they are puffy. Sometimes these cookies have a dome when they come out of the oven. If this happens, you can flatten them gently with a fork to flatten them out.
Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies FAQ
We’ve only tested the vegan chocolate peppermint cookies with peppermint extract. However, if you can’t find peppermint extract you can use peppermint oil, but make sure that it’s edible. For 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract, substitute ¼ teaspoon of peppermint oil.
We haven’t tried these vegan cookies as gluten free yet. However, a helpful tip is to use a gluten free all purpose flour blend as a substitute in the same amount as shown on the recipe card.
Storing and Freezing
Keep the cookies stored in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within a week. They can also be stored in the fridge.
They are freezer friendly for three months. Thaw overnight in the fridge. You can also freeze the cookie dough balls for up to 3 months before baking, and then you can bake them directly from frozen. Allow an extra couple of minutes of bake time to account for them being frozen to start with.
More Vegan Christmas Cookie Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup Vegan Butter 112g
- ½ cup White Granulated Sugar 100g
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar 100g
- 1 teaspoon Peppermint Extract
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour 125g
- ⅔ cup Cocoa Powder 56g Unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
- 1 cup Vegan Chocolate Chips 175g
Topping:
- 6 ounces Chopped Vegan Chocolate or Vegan Chocolate Chips 170g
- 1 teaspoon Coconut Oil
- ½ teaspoon Peppermint Extract
- ¼ cup Candy Canes 40g, Crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- To the bowl of your stand mixer, add vegan butter and white and brown sugar and cream together.
- Add peppermint extract and beat in.
- In a separate bowl, sift the all-purpose flour and cocoa powder and then mix in the baking soda and salt. Mix together until combined.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix in by hand until crumbly.
- Add the soy milk or other non-dairy milk and mix it into a thick cookie dough.
- Add the chocolate chips and fold them in.
- Roll the dough into balls and space them evenly over two parchment-lined baking sheets. Aim to get 20 cookies from the batch, 10 cookies per baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes. If the cookies are still very puffy when they come out of the oven, then you can gently flatten them with a fork while they are still soft and warm.
- Allow to cool and firm up directly on the tray.
- When the cookies have cooled down completely, prepare the topping. Add the chocolate and coconut oil to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals bringing it out to stir every 30 seconds until melted and smooth.
- Add peppermint extract and mix in until smooth.
- Dip the cookies in the melted chocolate and place them back onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle crushed candy canes onto the melted chocolate.
- Place the trays in the fridge for 5 minutes to set.
Notes
- Chocolate chips or chunks. You can use vegan chocolate chunks (chopped-up vegan chocolate) instead of chocolate chips. We used chocolate chunks for melting and chocolate chips to mix in the batter.
- Peppermint extract or peppermint oil? We find that peppermint extract works best in this recipe. But if you can’t find peppermint extract you can substitute with peppermint oil, but make sure that it’s edible. For 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract, substitute ¼ teaspoon of peppermint oil.
- Soy milk. Depending on the brand of vegan butter you use, you may need 1 or 2 more tablespoons of soy (or other non-dairy) milk. But be patient with each addition of soy milk; stir well and see if you need more. It is supposed to be a very thick, crumbly cookie dough. But if you try rolling a section into a ball and it just won’t hold together, you’ll need a little more.
- If the cookies don’t spread: If you peep into your oven at 10 minutes and see that your cookies haven’t spread very much, you can bake for a couple of minutes longer. But even if they are pretty puffy on the top, this is still fine, and you can press them down gently with a fork as soon as they come out of the oven still warm and soft.
- Gluten free: We haven’t tried these vegan cookies as gluten-free yet. However, a helpful tip is to use a gluten free all purpose flour blend as a substitute in the same amount as shown on the recipe card.
- Storing: Keep your cookies stored in a covered container at room temperature, lasting up to a week. You can also store them in the fridge (covered).
- Freezing: They are freezer-friendly for up to 3 months. Thaw them in the fridge and bring them to room temperature on the counter before serving.
Delicious and very rich, even without the chocolate and crushed candy canes on top.
Thanks so much for your awesome review Rosemary!