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These Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are a festive holiday recipe that everyone loves. They are naturally gluten-free (because they’re flourless!), and they also happen to be vegan and paleo-friendly for those who are following special diets. But you can’t tell just by tasting them!
These mint chocolate cookies remind me of a chewy brownie in cookie form. Kind of like the chocolate crinkle cookies I grew up eating– you know, the ones that are covered in powdered sugar?
This chocolate peppermint cookie recipe is better because it’s entirely grain-free, vegan, and naturally sweetened. You’ll use almond butter instead of flour, similar to my popular almond butter cookies!
(Note: this recipe is naturally sweetened until you add in dark chocolate chips and crushed candy cane pieces on top. I love making these cookies look as festive as possible, but feel free to leave them out if you are strictly watching your sugar intake.)
I am normally not a fan of candy canes, but a few crunchy flecks on each cookie really takes these over the top. They’re perfect for serving at a holiday party!
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How to Make Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
These healthier chocolate cookies are a quick one-bowl recipe. Just stir together the flax egg (you can use a real egg if you prefer), almond butter, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, and a few other ingredients, and then the cookies are ready to scoop and bake.
I like to sprinkle a bit of crushed candy cane on top for a festive look, but you can leave that off if you’re avoiding added sugar. These cookies need to cool completely on the pan, so be patient. They will be very soft to the touch when they are hot from the oven, but they firm up as they cool.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds
- 3 tablespoons water
- 3/4 cup creamy raw almond butter
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
- 1 crushed candy cane (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. In a large bowl, stir together the ground chia seeds and water. This is your "chia egg." (You can use a real egg if you'd rather skip this.)
- Add the almond butter to the chia seed mixture, along with the coconut sugar, cocoa, salt, baking soda, peppermint extract, and vinegar. Stir well until a thick and uniform mixture is created. Gently fold in the chocolate chips, if using, then drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the lined baking sheet. Use your hands to gently flatten each cookie.
- If you'd like to add the crushed candy cane pieces to the top, sprinkle them on generously before baking. They will melt in the oven and then re-harden when cooled for a crunchy peppermint-flavored topping.
- Bake the cookies at 350ºF until the cookies have slightly spread and the tops look dry, about 9 to 12 minutes. The cookies will still be very soft to the touch, so it's important that you let them cool on the pan for at least 20 minutes before trying to move them to a wire cooling rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely before serving.
- These cookies can be stored uncovered at room temperature for up to 3 days, but for best shelf life keep them in the fridge or freezer. They should last up to two weeks in the fridge, and up to 3 months in the freezer. If you don't eat them all before then!
Video
Nutrition
Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Nutrition (per cookie with the added chocolate chips): Calories: 119, Fat: 8g, Carbohydrates: 12g, Fiber: 2g, Protein: 3g
Recipe Notes:
- If you don’t want to use a flax or chia egg, you can most likely use a real egg to replace it, but the texture will be slightly different. (Usually it’s drier.)
- I also assume that you could use sunflower seed butter for a nut-free version, but you might need to adjust other ingredients since sunflower seed butter is more bitter in flavor.
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it! And if you make a modification, please let me know what you tried and how it worked out. We can all benefit from your experience!
Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite holiday cookie? Gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies are my other favorites!
I was so excited when I saw this recipe! I did three variations – roasted sunflower butter (nothing added) instead of almond butter, 1/2 cup coconut sugar instead of 3/4 cup and 1 full teaspoon of mint instead of 1/4 teaspoon. I did half the batch with the candy cane because I wasn’t sure how I would like it. Turns out, I loved the candy cane on top! The sunflower butter overpowers the mint flavor more than I would like (I’m assuming the almond butter would be milder?) but it is still delicious. Without the mint, this would be the perfect nut butter chocolate cookie, and with the mint it has a delicious after-hint of mint. Reducing the sugar worked out great; I definitely didn’t need more.
Thanks for your recipes! I’m just learning to bake (as an adult) and your recipes are what I’m using. This was such a festive and fun recipe to make! 🙂 Happy Holidays!
I did a second batch, and discovered that for a chocolate mint flavor, rather than a sunflower butter chocolate flavor, it took nearly 2 full teaspoons of peppermint extract. So for anyone else doing a nut free version, if you want the mint flavor to be prominent, rather than the sunbutter, up the extract quite a bit. They are delicious!
Thanks for letting us know!!
Hi lane. I was WONDERING if you used the almond butter or not in the second baTch?
So as YOU’RE trying to say is that … You used 1/2 cup coconut sugar, 2 tsp mint EXTRACT, and DIDN’T use almond butter …. Is that right?
BeCause i want to make thIs recIpe for my mom. She loVes mint.
ThaNk you mEgan for tHe RecIpe. It really looks DELICIOUS.
Megan, these are amazing! I brought them to a holiday party, and they were a huge hit! So nice to bring a healthier option. Love your great work. Merry Christmas to your family!
Megan, these are amazing!! I used to make some that tasted similar to these as a kid, but they were way unhealthy! You just helped me relive my holiday memories of chocolate mint cookies in a healthy way!! Thank you so much I will be sharing this with my tribe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
It is icy here today, so I didn’t want to get out for the peppermint extract. So, used almond extract instead and made these non-minty, and they were sooooo good! I can’t wait to try them with peppermint! Thanks for a great recipe!
I made these, and they turned out super dense and dry and the dough was really crumbly and hard to get into balls. The flavour was ok, but the texture was off putting. Any guesses as to why? fixes? Thanks!!
Wow! These are great. I was smart to make these while the kids were at school. This definitely, will become a Christmas favorite. One recipe is not enough!
Will cashew butter work instead of almond?
Someone had good results with cashew butter above!
Addictive is right! Just made these and was left with 8 cookies….meaning I “sampled” 10 cookies worth of dough. I should be horrified, but they were so delicious I’m going to say it was worth it!
Yum! When I saw this recipe come to my inbox I just had to try it! I made these last night with sunflower seed butter and they taste so good! Soft and chewy. I actually like the, better straight out of the freezer! But as for my favourite cookie, my german neighbours make lebkuchen during the holidays, which is nut based cookie on a thin wafer dipped in chocolate!
Ooops you did it again. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.
HA! Glad you enjoyed them. 🙂