Soft and chewy peppermint patty cookies. Small peppermint patties stuffed into chocolate cookie dough make for the ultimate sweet treat!
There is a strong divide among those that love chocolate peppermint and those that absolutely detest the flavor pairing.
I belong to the first group. Mint and chocolate make for a delicious combo!
If you enjoy mint hot chocolate, mint chip ice cream, or chocolate peppermint cake… then this cookie is for you!
Peppermint Patty Stuffed Cookies
How do you make York peppermint patties better? Enrobe it in chocolate cookie dough, of course!
This is my first foray into stuffed cookies. And, it’s certainly won’t be the last.
Stuffed cookies are such a fun way to take your favorite cookie dough to the next level.
Versatile Chocolate Cookie Dough
This quick and easy chocolate cookie dough makes three different cookies.
Use it to make this peppermint patty stuffed cookie as listed in this recipe.
Alternatively, use the chocolate dough to also make these double chocolate chip cookies or these confetti chocolate sugar cookies.
It’s a standard cookie dough.
Cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla. Mix until well incorporated.
Then, mix in all the dry ingredients.
Cookie dough can be scooped and portioned right away. However, the dough does need to be chilled before baking.
How to Portion Cookie Dough
Use a cookie scoop or ice cream scooper to evenly portion out dough.
Equal sized cookie dough balls result in evenly sized baked cookies. Equal sized portions will cook at the same rate.
Use a size 40 scoop for this recipe. Size 40 is roughly 1 1/2 tablespoons of cookie dough.
The number of a scoop is located inside of the scooper!
The number size of a scooper is equal to how many scoops it would take to fill a quart container. For example, size 1 scoop takes one scoop to fill a quart. A size 20 scoop would take twenty scoops to fill a quart.
In other words, the large the scoop number, the smaller to scoop capacity. Or, the smaller the scoop number, the bigger the scooper size.
How to stuff cookie dough
Use a size 40 scoop (the one photographed above is the OXO medium cookie scoop) to portion out the cookie dough.
Cookie dough is ready for scooping immediately after mixing.
- Place the rounded cookie ball (about 1 1/2 tablespoons worth) in your hand.
- Flatten the cookie dough in a thin disk using the palms of your hands.
- Place chocolate peppermint patty in center of flattened cookie dough.
- Use your fingers to gently stretch and wrap the cookie dough over the peppermint patty.
Roll and pat the cookie dough in your hand to ensure peppermint patty is fully encased.
Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect. Just make sure the dough is even thickness around the patty.
Place assembled stuffed cookies on parchment lined sheet or plate. Cover with plastic wrap and chill cookies for at least two hours.
Chill Cookie Dough Before Baking
The cookie dough cannot be baked right away. It requires chilling before baking.
Dough must be properly chilled to prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven.
Chill for at least 2 hours. Overnight is best. Cookie dough can be baked directly out of the fridge.
Bake for about 10 minutes just until the edges of the cookies are set. The cookie will form crinkles along the edges.
There will be slight bump in the center of the cookie where the peppermint patty is. I don’t mind the bump.
However, if this bothers you, simply press the bump down as soon as you remove the baking sheet from the oven. Use a spatula or the flat bottom of a drinking glass to press the bump down.
Soft Center Peppermint Filling
Cookies will be super soft and fragile directly out of the oven. Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 3 minutes. Then, transfer to wire rack to cool to room temperature.
Warm cookies will have a melted gooey peppermint center. As the cookies cools, the center will harden.
Enjoy the cookies warm fresh from the oven, or allow to cool. It’s delicious either way!
To reheat: place one or two cookies in a single layer on a microwave safe plate. Place in the microwave along with a cup of water. Heat for 20 second intervals until cookie is warm.
Storage and Leftovers
These peppermint patty cookies stay soft in an airtight container for up 5 days.
Reheat or warm up cookies in the microwave as directed in the recipe. Or, enjoy cookies at room temperature.
Chocolate Peppermint Patty Stuffed Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup (175 g) all-purpose flour
- 6 Tbsp (30 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened, room temp
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temp
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 16 pieces chocolate covered peppermint patties ( 1½-inch size) or labeled as "snack size"
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, and kosher salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment beat butter and sugar on mediums speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla. Mix for another 2 minutes until well combined. Scrape down sides of bowl to ensure thorough mixing.
- Reduce to low speed. Add flour mixture in two additions. Mix until just combined, when there are no longer any dry streaks of flour. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
- Use a size 40 scoop (1 ½ Tbsp scoop) to portion out 16 balls of cookie dough. Working with one cookie dough ball at a time, flatten dough in your hand. Flatten into a thin disk using the palms of your hands.
- Working with one cookie dough ball at a time, flatten dough in your hand. Flatten into a thin disk using the palms of your hands. Place chocolate peppermint patty in center of flattened cookie dough.
- Use your fingers to gently stretch and wrap the cookie dough over the peppermint patty. Roll and pat cookie dough into your hands to ensure peppermint patty is fully encased.
- Place assembled stuffed cookies on parchment lined sheet or plate. Cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Place chilled stuffed cookies on parchment lined baking sheet, spacing them about 2-inches apart.
- Bake in the center rack of oven for 10-12 minutes, rotating sheet midway through baking. Leave cookies on baking sheet for 3 minutes. Use a mini offset spatula or cookie spatula to transfer cookies to wire rack.
Notes
- Use natural cocoa powder. This is the most commonly available cocoa powder. It is labeled as unsweetened cocoa powder. This is different from cacao powder.
- DO NOT sure Dutch-processed cocoa powder. The resulting cookies will taste different.
- Use the small (1 ½-inch) York peppermint pattie size. It is labeled as “snack size,” This is the size sold in classic share packs and party pack bags.
- Cookies will be super soft and fragile directly out of the oven. Warm cookies will have a melted gooey peppermint center. As the cookie cools, the center will harden. Reheat in the microwave, if desired.
- To reheat: place one or two cookies in a single layer on a microwave safe plate. Place in the microwave along with a cup of water. Heat for 20 second intervals until cookie is warm.
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
It looks like we’re supposed to add vanilla, but it’s not mentioned in the ingredient list. I’m going with a best practice of 1/2 tsp, but just thought you should know so you can add it in there.
Hi Sarah, thank you so much for pointing that out. I have updated the recipe. It’s 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Thank you again. I really appreciate it!
cookies came out delicious. they were sticky to form the dough so I refrigerated the dough to Harden it before forming. didn’t have cream of tarter so lemon juice seemed to be an alternative