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These Festive Peppermint Bark Cookies are made with chocolate cookies dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with crunchy peppermint sprinkles.

If you’re looking for a fun holiday dessert to make for a cookie exchange or to bring to Christmas parties, you absolutely can’t go wrong with these peppermint bark cookies.
You can make your own cookies or start with store-bought chocolate cookies to cut down on prep time. Dipped in the white chocolate, with peppermint sprinkles, they are a real holiday treat. If you love this flavor combination you will want to try these peppermint bark brownies.
I’ve taken these cookies to many holiday parties and they are always a big hit. I’ll let you in on a little secret – when I’m running low on time (and who isn’t at the holidays), I just buy Pepperidge Farms Captiva Dark Chocolate cookies as a shortcut. Those are really tasty cookies!
» You might also like these Snowball Cookies or Melted Snowman Chocolate Bark.

With store-bought cookies, you’re looking at just 3 ingredients and like 15 minutes of time to make these. That’s a holiday hack we can all get behind!
» Find more Christmas cookie recipes here.
Ingredients You Need
If you choose to make the cookies from scratch, the ingredients list looks fairly long and tedious. Most of these things are pantry staples, so it’s not as bad as it looks. If you choose, you can use Captiva cookies instead to cut down on ingredients. I also like to use candy cane crunch so I don’t have to open and crush a ton of candy canes.
For homemade cookies:
- All-purpose flour – Using all-purpose flour will give you the best results.
- Cocoa powder – sifted so it doesn’t have lumps. Go for a Dutch process high-quality cocoa powder. It’s worth it!
- Baking soda – The leavening agent in the recipe that makes the cookies rise.
- Salt – The salt balances out and brightens up the sweetness.
- White sugar – Use granulated white sugar for the best outcome. If you want, you can replace regular sugar with granulated monk fruit or allulose.
- Brown sugar, packed – Brown sugar comes in two types, i.e., dark and light. Where dark brown sugar has a rich and very deep caramel-like flavor, the flavor of light brown sugar is less complex and intense as compared to dark brown sugar. For this recipe, I have used light brown sugar.
- Butter – Softened to room temperature.
- Egg – Eggs are one of the leavening agents in the cookies, and they should be at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract – Adds a mild vanilla flavor.
- Dark chocolate chunks – I usually use Ghirardelli semi-sweet or 60% dark chocolate chips
For the peppermint bark dip
- White chocolate melting wafers – I always use Ghirardelli white chocolate wafers. They taste really good, melt well, and are high-quality chocolate.
- Crushed candy canes – You can crush up candy canes in a plastic bag, or buy a bag of candy cane crunch. I always find that I use a lot of this during the holidays.
How to Make Peppermint Bark Cookies
If you’re going to use store-bought cookies, it will only take about 15 minutes to make these Peppermint Bark Cookies. You can proceed to step 7.

If you are going to make your own cookies, plan ahead because the cookie dough must be chilled for 2-3 hours or overnight before baking. You shouldn’t skip this step and bake them right away, or I can guarantee you’ll be disappointed in how they turn out.
Step One: In the bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
Step Two: In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. This takes about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another couple of minutes, until everything is well incorporated.
Step Three: With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until well blended. Add in the chocolate chunks and mix until they’re incorporated into the dough. The dough will be thick and tacky at this point.
Step Four: The dough now needs to be chilled for at least 3 hours. Chilling it allows the ingredients to firm up so the cookies don’t collapse and spread while baking.
There are two ways you can do this. You can chill the dough in the mixing bowl. Or you can go ahead and scoop out the cookies, if you have room in your refrigerator. In this case, place the cookies on a baking sheet, cover it and put it in the refrigerator.
Step Five: To form the cookies, scoop and form the dough into about golf ball size. Don’t flatten the balls. The taller the dough, the thicker the cookies will be. Arrange them 2-3 inches apart on parchment paper lined baking sheets.
After the resting period, you can take the dough or formed cookies out of the refrigerator and allow them to rest for 10 minutes. If you haven’t yet formed the cookies, this will allow the dough to soften so it’s easier to do.
While the dough rests, preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C).
Step Six: Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, until the edges look dry. The center will still be soft. If the cookies aren’t spreading well after 8-9 minutes, you can shake the baking sheet to encourage spreading.

Remove them from the oven and let them rest on the cookie sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
If you want more visible chocolate chunks on the top of the cookies, you can press some additional chunks into the top of the cookie before it cools completely.
Step Seven: Dip the Cookies
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Melt the white chocolate wafers in the heatproof bowl in the microwave for 15 seconds, stir and continue cooking at 10 second intervals until the chocolate is mostly melted, then stir rapidly until the chocolate is smooth.

Dip one side of each cookie into the white chocolate and place it on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with peppermint right away, before the chocolate dries.

Tips & Additional Info
- I really recommend getting Ghirardelli White Chocolate Melting Wafers if you can. I tried four different brands of white chocolate and was disappointed with all of them except the Ghirardelli. Some weren’t white, some didn’t taste good, and some didn’t melt well.
- You can add a drop or two of peppermint extract to the cookie dough for an extra burst of flavor if you want, but be very careful with the peppermint extract because it’s incredibly strong.
- Be careful when microwaving the chocolate because it does burn fairly quickly. Microwave for just 20 seconds at a time and stop when most of the chips are melted. Stirring rapidly will help the rest melt.
- The white chocolate will harden pretty quickly, so be sure to sprinkle on the peppermint crunch quickly after dipping.
- You can crush up candy canes in a plastic bag, or buy a bag of candy cane crunch. I always find that I use a lot of this during the holidays for things like these cookies, peppermint bark brownies, or peppermint espresso martinis. Might as well have a bag!

Questions About the Recipe
Can I color the chocolate with food coloring?
Yes, you can make these red or green or any other color you like. The white chocolate is easily colored. I might even recommend doing both red and green and dipping into both colors.
How do I melt white chocolate in the microwave?
To melt chocolate in the microwave, put the wafers in a dry microwave safe bowl. Start by microwaving for 30 seconds. Stir. Then microwave for another 15 seconds. Stir again. Once the chocolate is about 2/3 melted, don’t microwave it again. Just stir it rapidly until it’s fully melted.
More Christmas Snacks To Try
- Christmas Tree Rice Krispies Treats
- Winter Hot Chocolate Sharing Board
- How To Make The Perfect Party Platter
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Peppermint Bark Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (57 g) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon (0.75 g) salt
- 1/2 cup (100 g) white sugar
- 1/2 cup (110 g) brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup (114 g) butter softened
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (170 g) dark chocolate chunks
- 1 cup (132 g) white chocolate buttons
- 1/3 cup (75 g) crushed candy canes for garnish
Instructions
- In the bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until well blended.
- Add in the chocolate chunks and beat until incorporated. The dough will be thick and tacky.
- The dough now needs to be chilled for at least 3 hours. You can chill it in the bowl and scoop out the cookies later, or if you have room in your refrigerator, scoop out the cookies and place the baking sheet, covered, in the refrigerator.
- To form the cookies, scoop and roll the dough, about golf ball size, into balls. Don’t flatten the balls. The taller the dough, the thicker the cookies will be. Arrange them 2-3 inches apart on parchment paper lined baking sheets.
- After taking the cookies out of the refrigerator (and scooping them out onto the baking tray if you haven’t already done so) allow them to rest for 10 minutes before placing in the oven.
- While the dough rests, preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C).
- Bake for 11-12 minutes, until the edges look dry. The center will still be soft. If the cookies aren’t spreading well after 8-9 minutes, you can shake the baking sheet to encourage spreading.
- Remove from the oven and let rest on the cookie sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
To dip the cookies:
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Melt the white chocolate wafers in the heatproof bowl in the microwave for 15 seconds, stir and continue cooking at 10 second intervals until mostly melted, then stir rapidly until the chocolate is smooth.
- Dip one side of each cookie into the white chocolate and place on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with peppermint right away, before the chocolate dries.
Notes
- Plan ahead because the cookie dough must be chilled for 2-3 hours or overnight before baking.
- If you want more visible chocolate chunks on the top of the cookies, you can press some chunks into the cookie before it cools completely.
- I really recommend getting Ghirardelli White Chocolate Melting Wafers if you can. I tried four different brands of white chocolate and was disappointed with all of them except the Ghirardelli. Some weren’t white, some didn’t taste good, and some didn’t melt well.
- You can add a drop or two of peppermint extract to the cookie dough for an extra burst of flavor if you want, but be very careful with the peppermint extract because it’s incredibly strong.
- Be careful when microwaving the chocolate because it does burn fairly quickly. Microwave for just 20 seconds at a time and stop when most of the chips are melted. Stirring rapidly will help the rest melt.
- The white chocolate will harden pretty quickly, so be sure to sprinkle on the peppermint crunch quickly after dipping.
Nutrition

Laura is a home cook, with 25 years experience behind the stove, who spends an extraordinary amount of time in the kitchen cooking. She loves making new recipes and finding wonderful new things to eat, both at home or abroad. She spends a lot of time researching, crafting, and perfecting her recipes.