These Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are the most sensational Christmas cookies with a fudgy chocolate texture and delicious peppermint flavors.
If you are after a vegan treat for the holidays, these are the chocolate cookies you need to try.
I love baking lots of Christmas cookies for my family. It’s a tradition from where I am coming from. I have been baking a cookie recipe per day before Christmas day to create a a giant cookie box that we share on Christmas day. From our Almond Flour Thumbprint Cookies to our Pecan Snowball Cookies, there’s always a box of vegan cookies!
Since 2017, my vegan husband has been my new challenge to learn and recreate my favorite Christmas cookies without eggs or dairy.
Why You Will Love These Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
These chocolate peppermint cookies have been on the top of my list of classic Christmas cookies to make vegan for years. But after experimenting for a while, I am finally excited to share with you the best soft and fudgy vegan chocolate cookie with crispy edges, and just a light peppermint flavor.
So if you love fudgy, thick chocolate cookies filled with chocolate chips, and peppermint flavors, you must bake this recipe now.
Expert Tips For Vegan Chocolate Cookies
Truth is, it’s a challenge to remove an egg in a classic chocolate cookie to turn it vegan. It’s not as simple as using applesauce or mashed banana, because the cocoa powder absorbs all the liquid and fruit puree evaporates while baking, leaving the cookies dry and too crunchy.
Oil And Vegan Butter
The first thing to keep vegan chocolate cookies moist and fudgy is to use a combination of vegan butter and oil. Both have different smoke points and they will keep the cookie moist like an egg-based cookie recipe.
The Power Of Flax Eggs
Next, use a flax egg for chewy and crispy edges. To make a flax egg, use fresh, ground flaxseeds and dissolve them with lukewarm water to activate.
Spoon-And-Level Dry Ingredients
Finally, measure flour and cocoa without overpacking the measuring cups. Fill the cups with a spoon, then level up. This prevents adding too much flour or cocoa powder that dries out the cookies.
How To Make Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
These Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are super easy to make, let me share my tips with you to make these cookies perfect every time.
Choice of Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour – you can also use all-purpose gluten-free cookies, but this recipe won’t work with almond flour or coconut flour.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder -you must use unsweetened cocoa powder for the best chocolate flavor and avoid added sugar from regular cocoa powder
- Salt – the salt enhance the chocolate flavor in cookies
- Baking Powder – make sure you use a fresh batch or the cookies won’t be as moist.
- White Sugar – use caster sugar or white sugar but don’t skip for a thicker granulated sweetener or the cookies will overspread
- Soft Brown Sugar – soft brown sugar contains more moisture than brown sugar, it keeps the chocolate cookie texture moist and fudgy when combined with white
- Unsalted Vegan Butter – The plant-based butter must be softened at room temperature for 20 minutes. You can also use a vegan margarine.
- Avocado Oil – Avocado oil has a light flavor, but also a high-smoke point that is needed to enhance the moisture of the cookies.
- Flax Egg – To make a flaxseed egg, combine 2 1/2 tablespoons with 1 tablespoon of freshly ground flaxseeds.
- Vanilla Extract – To add a perfect flavor.
- Peppermint Extract – that’s the key ingredient to make chocolate peppermint cookies
- Dark Chocolate Chips or semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips if you like your cookies sweeter
- Candy Cane – this is used on top of the cookies, during the decoration part to add a crunchy sweet peppermint flavor to the vegan Christmas cookies
Making Cookie Batter
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C)—line two baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly oil the paper with avocado oil. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, add oil, softened vegan butter, and both sugars.
- In another bowl, stir the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- Using an electric beater or the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, beat the butter mixture on medium speed. Beat until creamy, smooth, and well combined. It takes about 1 minute on speed 5 of a stand mixer. Stop beating, add the flax egg, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and beat for 20 to 30 seconds to just incorporate. Now, add in the flour mixture from the first bowl and beat again on low speed to incorporate. Fold in the chocolate chips at the end.
Baking The Cookies
- Scoop two tablespoons of cookie dough, form a ball, and place it on the prepared baking sheets. Press the ball with your hand to flatten it slightly. Don’t over-press the cookies to keep a decent height in the middle, making the texture even fudgier. These chocolate cookies won’t expand much in the oven, but leave half a thumb of space between each, so they have room to grow a bit. Bake them on the center rack and rack just under for 10 to 13 minutes at 350°F (180°C).
Tips To Bake Ultra Fudgy Chocolate Cookies
These chocolate cookies dry out fast so don’t over-bake them. I found that the perfect baking time is 11 minutes, but depending on your oven calibration and cookie size, it can vary a bit.
Bake them until the outside starts to crack and look set. It’s normal if they are soft to the touch. They harden at room temperature.
Remove from the oven and let them cool down for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet or until they harden enough to be easily transferred to a cooling rack. Let them cool completely for about 30 minutes at room temperature before decorating.
Decorating The Vegan Christmas Cookies
It’s optional to decorate these peppermint chocolate cookies, but it really adds a lovely texture and flavor.
To make the chocolate shell, melt chocolate chips, and coconut oil.
Then, dip the cooled chocolate peppermint cookies halfway in the melted chocolate. Keep the cookies above the bowl for a few seconds to let the excess melted chocolate run down to the bowl.
Bring the cookie on a cooling rack and sprinkle crushed peppermint candy cane on the melted chocolate side.
Completely cool down at room temperature or pop in the fridge for 10 minutes to help the chocolate shell set faster.
However, I found that refrigerating the cookies to set the shell makes the cookies firmer and the shell whitish. So be aware of that before trying.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
If you like this recipe, here are more Christmas cookie recipes for you to try.
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Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup All-Purpose Flour - note 1
- ½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ cup Sugar - note 2
- ½ cup Brown Sugar - note 3
- ½ cup Dairy-Free Butter (Unsalted) - softened
- 3 tablespoons Avocado Oil - note 4
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Peppermint Extract
- ½ cup Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Chips
- 1 tablespoon Flaxseed Meal
- 2.5 tablespoons Lukewarm Water
Optional Decoration
- ⅓ cup Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Chips
- 1 teaspoon Coconut Oil
- 3 Candy Cane - crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Slightly oil paper with oil spray. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir the flaxmeal and lukewarm water. Set aside until it forms a gel-like consistency. This is called a flax egg.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter, oil, sugar, and brown sugar until creamy and smooth – about 1-2 minutes.
- Add in the flax egg, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract. Keep beating on low speed until incorporated – about 1 minute.
- Stop the beater, pour in dry ingredients, and beat again on the low-speed setting until a soft, sticky cookie dough forms. Fold in chocolate chips and stir to combine.
- Scoop 2 tablespoons of cookie dough, place the cookie dough ball on the baking sheet and slightly flatten the cookies.
- Bake for 10-13 minutes until they puff and are set on the outside. They should stay soft in the middle and will harden as they cool down. Don’t over-bake to avoid dry cookies.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes or until easy to transfer to a wire rack.
Decoration
- In a non-stick saucepan, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil.
- Drizzle on top of the cookies and sprinkle crushed candy canes to stick on top.
Notes
Storage
These chocolate cookies can be stored very well in a cookie jar for up to 6 days. You can keep the jar at room temperature or refrigerate if it’s hot where you live. With time, the cookies dry out a bit, so the fresher, the better. Another option is to make the cookies ahead and freeze them for later. Simply thaw the cookies on a rack at room temperature the day before serving.Making It:
Sugar-Free – This recipe works perfectly well with sugar-free sweeteners like white and brown erythritol. Use the same amount as the sugar listed in the recipe. You can also use your favorite stevia-sweetened sugar-free chocolate chips for the filling and chocolate shell. Skip the peppermint candy cane or use a sugar-free version. Gluten-Free – All-purpose gluten-free flour works in this recipe. The cookie texture will be a bit different, chewier, and less fudgy. However, this recipe won’t work with coconut flour. Also, the recipe won’t work with almond flour.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are the answers to your most common questions about this cookie recipe.
Yes, you can freeze the cookie dough, preferably rolled in cookie dough balls so they thaw faster at room temperature.
Always thaw the dough before baking.
Yes, you can swap the chocolate chips for crushed candy canes or add half-half in the cookie dough.
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