These are the best peppermint sugar cookies! Each one is soft and chewy with a sweet, buttery flavor and little pieces of peppermint candy throughout. Finish them with a swirl of bakery-style vanilla buttercream and more crushed candy for a festive holiday treat!
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Equipment Checklist
This is such a simple recipe! You really just need a few basics - a mixer, baking sheets, parchment paper, and a wire rack.
We prefer to prepare the cookie dough with a stand mixer although an electric mixer will work, too.
![Katbite 200PCS 12x16 In Heavy Duty Flat Parchment Paper, Parchment Paper Sheets for Baking Cookies, Cooking, Frying, Air Fryer, Grilling Rack, Oven(12x16 Inch)[Advanced Series]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41BATbh8sxL._SL500_.jpg "Katbite 200PCS 12x16 In Heavy Duty Flat Parchment Paper, Parchment Paper Sheets for Baking Cookies, Cooking, Frying, Air Fryer, Grilling Rack, Oven(12x16 Inch)[Advanced Series]")
Parchment paper sheets make it super simple to line your baking pans and clean-up is a breeze!
Using a cookie scoop is quick and much more uniform. You can also divide the dough into 13 equal pieces, if needed.
Why you'll love this Peppermint Sugar Cookie Recipe
- Just the right amount of peppermint flavor - Peppermint can easily become overpowering, but these have just the right balance. They're perfectly minty without being too strong and just may become the only way you eat candy canes going forward.
- Soft and chewy texture - These cookies are adapted from our bakery-style sugar cookies, which have just enough bite on the outside and are soft and buttery on the inside. Pair that with fluffy frosting and crunchy candy cane pieces and you'll see why people obsess over these!
- Perfect for the holiday season - Peppermint is a classic Christmas flavor and these adorable cookies look gorgeous in any cookie box or platter. Add this one to your holiday baking list!
Ingredients
Our favorite thing about this recipe is how incredibly easy it is!
The sugar cookie dough doesn't need to be refrigerated before baking, so you can bake right away, and the frosting whips up quickly in the mixer.
Dry Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Cream of Tartar (essential for that little shell on the outside)
- Instant Clearjel (or Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix)
Wet Ingredients
- Salted Butter
- White Sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Almond Extract
- Peppermint Candies
The frosting is our bakery-style vanilla buttercream with cream cheese. The shortening helps the swirls stay nice and clear and the cream cheese keeps it from being too sweet.
Just sprinkle lots of crushed candy canes on top for plenty of minty goodness.
Baker's Tip
Depending on the time of year, you may be able to find crushed candy canes in the baking section.
Otherwise, you can buy Starlight peppermint candies or candy canes, unwrap them, and place them in a plastic bag or kitchen towel. Crush them with a rolling pin until they are just the right size for sprinkling.
Variations
- Skip the frosting. We prefer these as frosted peppermint sugar cookies, but you could easily skip the frosting and call them candy cane cookies!
- Make chocolate peppermint cookies. Instead of vanilla, top the cookies with our chocolate buttercream. So good!
- Add mint to the frosting. You can always add a little splash of peppermint extract to your buttercream for extra mint flavor, but less is more. Start with about ½ tsp.
- Use cookie cutters. If you prefer to roll out your cookie dough and use your favorite cookie cutters, try using this recipe for Buttercream Decorated Sugar Cookies. It's basically a double batch of this recipe with tips for rolling. Just add some crushed candy pieces to give it that holiday flair.
Storage
These frosted candy cane cookies can be stored in a container at room temperature for up to 24 hours. After that, place them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Be sure to let them come to room temperature before serving to help the buttercream soften.
Key Recipe Notes
- Don't overbake. Trust us; these cookies will look underbaked when they're done. You want it that way! That will ensure the cookies are soft and delicious on the inside.
- You probably won't all of the frosting for one batch of cookies. Feel free to freeze the leftovers to use next time!
More Great Recipes for Winter
Aren't these frosted peppermint sugar cookies absolutely precious? They're soft, buttery and just minty enough without being too much. That melt-in-your-mouth texture makes them impossible to resist!
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Thanks for Reading. ❤️
📖 Recipe & Step-by-Step Instructions
Frosted Peppermint Sugar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 200 grams (1 ½ cups) Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- (optional) 2 teaspoons Instant Clearjel or 1 Tablespoon(s) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix (*See Note #1)
Other Cookie Dough Ingredients
- 1 stick (4 ounces) Salted Butter (soft to the touch)
- 100 grams (½ cup) Sugar
- 1 large Egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Almond Extract
- 3 round peppermint starlight candies (16 grams) unwrapped and finely crushed
Vanilla Frosting and decorations
- One 1x batch prepared prepared Vanilla Bakery Buttercream Frosting (*See Note #2)
- additional crushed peppermint candy (to top the cookies)
Instructions
Make the Peppermint Sugar Cookies
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
- Whisk the Dry Ingredients until well mixed.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (preferred) or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, cream butter and sugar just until the butter is light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Add the wet ingredients (egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract). Continue to beat on medium--the mixture will separate at first but keep beating just until it comes back together to a more uniform liquid, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- On low speed, slowly pour the whisked dry ingredients into the dough, and continue to mix just until it is fully incorporated and a smooth and uniform dough. Add the crushed peppermint and continue to mix. Avoid overbeating.
- Using a 1-ounce cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet or cookie sheet. (Alternatively, if you don't have a cookie scoop, divide the dough into 13 equal balls--about 2 Tablespoons each).
- Bake the cookie dough balls in the preheated 325 degree oven on the middle or top rack (avoid bottom rack) for 10 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are only lightly golden brown, and the tops of the cookies have lost most of their shine. The cookies will look underdone on top, but they will continue to bake on the tray as they cool.
Frost the Peppermint Cookies
- Prepare the Vanilla Bakery Buttercream Frosting. Using a 1M star tip and a disposable piping bag, frost each cookie with a swirl of buttercream and sprinkle with crushed peppermint
- Store the cookies in an airtight container and serve at room temperature. If the frosted candy cane sugar cookies aren't eaten within 24 hours, store them in the fridge, but bring them back to room temperature before eating. Enjoy!
Notes
- Read my article Instant Clearjel: a Magical Little-Known Bakery Ingredient to see why I think this ingredient is worth having in your pantry. Instant Clearjel must always be whisked thoroughly with other dry ingredients before being added to wet ingredients to avoid clumping. (Make sure what you use is labeled as "Instant"). Instant Pudding mix works similarly as it contains Instant Clearjel (modified cornstarch) as the second ingredient. Adding one of these is optional--these cookies are still delicious but do spread a little bit in the oven without it.
- You will have extra frosting when making the suggested batch size of the vanilla buttercream recipe, but I find it's better to have extra frosting than not enough. Feel free to halve the frosting recipe if you don't need as much frosting on your cookies.
- The amount of peppermint candy may not look like much, but the flavor goes a long way and adds pretty peppermint specs in the sugar cookies.
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