Each of these rich and fudgy oversized brownie cookies is hiding a bright white peppermint patty center inside! This is a one bowl cookie recipe made with straightforward pantry ingredients, easy to whip together in just about an hour.
One batch makes about 13 cookies, so if you're baking cookies for a party, you'll want to double or triple the recipe!
You know I love a dessert with a surprise inside — whether it's Oreos hidden inside an chocolate Oreo bundt cake or the blueberries hidden inside these lemon blueberry poppyseed mini muffins.
These peppermint patty brownie cookies are where it all began, the very first of my "hidden surprise" dessert recipes!
About This Recipe
When I first came up with this peppermint patty cookie recipe a couple years ago, it was a spur of the moment decision. I had my recipes for the month all planned out. I knew what I was going to make, I had a game plan, I knew I had a vacation coming up, and I was ready. But then— oh, but then.
Just like when I made my mint chocolate tart, I was struck by inspiration in the moment.
A bag of discounted "fun size" Peppermint Patties caught my eye at the grocery store and an idea began to take shape.
Visions of a chocolate-covered peppermint patty tucked inside a plush, rich, extra-chocolatey cookie danced before my eyes. I couldn't resist. Into my shopping cart the Peppermint Patties went.
This was before I had developed lots of homemade cookie recipes of my own, so I spent hours combing through all the top-rated chocolate cookie recipes I could find looking for the one that would bring my chocolate peppermint patty dream cookie to life.
I considered using base recipes for chocolate crinkle cookies, chocolate sugar cookies, chewy double chocolate cookies... until finally — I settled on a riff on Smitten Kitchen's Browniest Cookies.
Not only does this chocolate brownie cookie recipe result in huge, decadent peppermint brownie cookies, the recipe is a one-bowl cookie dough and requires absolutely no electric mixer.
I was hoping to avoid needing to chill the cookie dough at all, but these only need 30 minutes in the fridge before scooping which is just fine by me. You can't get much simpler than this!
(Disclaimer: This post is not an ad, nor has it been sponsored or paid for by York — any brand of chocolate/peppermint thin will work just fine! And if you're a representative of York, call me!)
Ingredient Notes
These chocolate brownie peppermint patty stuffed cookies use just a few simple ingredients! Please take a look at the recipe card at the end of the blog post for ingredient quantities.
- Brown Sugar - Brown sugar adds a lot of moisture to these brownie cookies and keeps them moist and chewy.
- Butter - Unsalted butter. I use American-style butter, not European butter.
- Eggs - I use large eggs in all of my baking. Bring the eggs to room temperature before you start by submerging them in very hot water for about 10 minutes.
- All Purpose Flour - This recipe uses a scant cup of all-purpose flour, nothing fancy!
- Cocoa Powder - Natural unsweetened cocoa powder (like the standard box of Hershey's cocoa powder) is slightly acidic and will react with the baking soda to help these cookies rise in the oven. You cannot sub in Dutch process cocoa powder, it will not react with the baking soda.
- Baking Chocolate - Unsweetened baking chocolate or 100% cacao chocolate is what you're looking for here.
- Peppermint Extract - I use McCormick's Peppermint Extract, but whatever brand of peppermint extract you prefer is fine. Make sure you're using peppermint extract specifically; using any other type of mint extract here (mint, spearmint, etc.) will clash with the Peppermint Patties.
- Baking Soda - Baking soda is the chemical leavener in these cookies and what allows them to rise and spread in the oven.
- Salt - I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt which half as salty as other brands. If you're using a different type of salt (table salt, fine sea salt, Himalayan, etc.) cut the amount of salt in half.
- Peppermint Patties - These cookies are stuffed with "fun size" Peppermint Patties.
Make Chocolate Brownie Cookie Dough
Start with a VERY LARGE mixing bowl. You only need one bowl to make the batter and everything else will get added to this bowl so don't make the mistake of starting too small.
The first step is to melt the butter and chocolate together. You can do this in the microwave or over a double boiler. I usually do the double boiler. I don't know why, I just find it's easier for me. See "practical tips & recipe notes" below for how to melt them in the microwave.
TIP: Cut the butter into 1 tablespoon chunks and break or chop the chocolate into pieces before you begin melting them. The smaller the pieces, the faster they'll melt!
Bring an inch of water to a rolling boil in pot. Place the bowl on top and turn off the heat. Add the chopped chocolate and butter and stir until it's completely melted and smooth.
Whisk the brown sugar into the warm chocolate mixture until it's quite thick and smooth. Brown sugar is notoriously clumpy, so make sure there's no hidden lumps!
Adding the brown sugar before adding the eggs helps cool down the chocolate and butter so that the eggs don't end up scrambled!
One at a time, whisk in the eggs until fully incorporated, at least 30-60 seconds. Add the peppermint extract with the second egg and whisk, whisk, whisk to combine.
Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. You definitely don't want any lumps or clumps of dry cocoa powder and flour in your cookies!
As always, I wouldn't tell you to sift unless it was really important. Cocoa powder in particularly clumps like whoa. If you don't sift it, no amount of mixing is going to remove those powdery clumps later on.
No need to use an old-school squeeeze-handle sifter either, a wire mesh strainer is fine.
At this point you'll want to switch to a spatula for mixing. A whisk is just too delicate for this thick cookie dough.
Gently fold the dry ingredients into the melted chocolate, rotating the bowl as you go. Start slowly so you don't end up with a cloud of cocoa powder in your face.
Folding is a gentle way of incorporating ingredients. Draw a line down the center of the bowl with the edge of the spatula, then scrape it clockwise from bottom to top, rotating your wrist away from you to "fold" the mixture over itself.
Rotate the bowl as you mix, making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl where sneaky pockets of flour can be hiding. At first it might seem too dry, but just keep going. I promise it will come together.
Cover the chocolate brownie cookie dough and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes before proceeding (though you can leave it in the fridge for up to a few days, if you need to).
A tip from Smitten Kitchen's original recipe: "Shorter than 30 minutes, you can bake it right away but they keep better shape once chilled and are easier to scoop. Longer than 30 minutes, they become difficult to scoop, but you can let them warm up slightly before you do."
Stuffed Peppermint Patty Cookie Assembly
After 30 minutes in the fridge, your cookie batter is ready to scoop. Each cookie is 2 tablespoons of dough — which means HUGE cookies, even without the addition of a Peppermint Patty in the middle.
Use a #40 cookie scoop (1½ tablespoons) to divide the cookie dough into 26 dough balls. Each dough ball is half of a cookie, so 26 dough balls will make 13 cookies.
#40 Met Lux Cookie Scoop
Scoop perfect .86 ounce (1½ tablespoon) portions of cookie dough with this spring clip cookie scoop!
I really do encourage using an accurate measuring scoop here to make sure you end up with the right amount of cookies! Don't just use whatever spoon you can grab from your drawer.
No heaping scoops here, either. You want the cookie dough packed into the cookie scoop and the excess scraped flat on the edge of the bowl.
If you end up one scoop of cookie dough short, pinch off a tiny bit of dough from each of the other dough balls to make the last one.
First, portion the dough out onto your sheet pan. Remember, you'll have twice as many dough balls as you will cookies!
Flatten a cookie dough ball until it's just slightly wider than the Peppermint Patty, and place a Peppermint Patty on top.
Flatten another dough ball and use it to make a Peppermint Patty sandwich.
Pinch the edges together and roll the ball in your hands to seal and smooth it out.
When you place the dough balls back on the sheet pan, try to remember which way the patty is lying inside the dough so you don't accidentally bake it vertically!
Space the cookies at least 2"-3" apart from each other. They're huge cookies and they will spread out. Just like people, these cookies need space.
I can usually fit 13 cookies on one sheet pan, but sometimes I give them even more space and bake them on two pans.
These peppermint brownie cookies bake at 350°F for 11-12 minutes. The cookies will be puffy and might look a little bit underdone, but that's okay.
Let them cool on the sheet pan for at least 10 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
If you prefer a slightly gooey peppermint center, make sure to bite in when they're just a little warm to the touch. But if you want a solid peppermint center, you do need to let them cool completely.
To warm these peppermint stuffed brownie cookies up before serving, 10-20 seconds in the microwave will do just fine. They're great at room temp too, though, so there's really no wrong way to eat them.
Storage & Freezing Notes
Once baked, store these Peppermint Patty brownie cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 weeks. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. Defrost on the counter or pop into a 250°F oven for 10 minutes if you're in a rush.
If you'd rather freeze the cookie dough before baking, first freeze the shaped cookies on a lined sheet pan for 30-60 minutes. This keeps them from sticking together, and also gives them a flat bottom so you know which way to bake them later on.
Transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to a large bag or container with as much air pressed out as possible so they don't get freezer burned.
When baking these peppermint brownie cookies from frozen, add 2-3 minutes to the bake time or let them defrost on the counter for about 30 minutes before baking.
Substitutions and Variations
Want to make adjustments to this recipe? Here's some suggestions to get you started!
- Extra Pepperminty - Add ½ cup chopped Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips to the cookie dough before chilling it. Or, add a sprinkle of crushed candy cane on top of each cookie before baking.
- Less Pepperminty - Use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste instead of peppermint extract. Or omit the extract entirely.
- Gluten Free - Gluten free cup-for-cup flour should work just fine instead of all purpose flour here!
Practical Tips and Recipe Notes
- To microwave the butter and chocolate together, microwave in 20-30 second bursts, stirring in between. When there are just a few small chunks left in the bowl, stop microwaving and just stir it until the residual heat melts them. And this might go without saying, but I'll say it anyway: make sure you're using a microwave safe bowl!
- For the double boiler, you'll need a glass or metal bowl. Metal bowls with the rubber/silicone grippy bottoms won't work. The bowl should sit over the mouth of the pot and the bottom of the bowl shouldn't touch the water.
- If you don't like having sticky fingers or chocolate on your hands or under your nails, wear food safe kitchen gloves when shaping the cookies!
- Using room temperature eggs helps them incorporate more evenly into the cookie dough. If you use cold eggs, you'll be whisking for much longer and your cookies will end up flatter and more dense instead of soft and chewy.
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Peppermint Patty Brownie Cookies
Equipment
- #40 cookie scoop (1½ tablespoons)
Ingredients
- 113 grams unsalted butter (½ cup)
- 113 grams unsweetened baking chocolate (4 oz, chopped)
- 215 grams brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 120 grams all-purpose flour
- 50 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt (use half as much of any other type of salt)
- 13 "fun-size" Peppermint Patties
Instructions
- Melt butter and chocolate. Bring 1 inch of water to a rolling boil in a pot. In a large mixing bowl that fits over the mouth of the pot without touching the water, combine butter and chopped chocolate. Place the bowl on top of the pot, turn off the heat, and stir the butter and chocolate together until melted.
- Add brown sugar and eggs. Vigorously whisk in the brown sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Whisk in the first egg, making sure it's fully incorporated. Then add the second egg along with the peppermint extract and whisk for at least 60 seconds until fully combined.
- Sift the dry ingredients. Use a wire mesh strainer to sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into the dough. Switch to a spatula and gently fold the dry ingredients into the chocolate just until combined, making sure to scrape all the way to the bottom of the bowl as you stir. Cover the dough and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Shape the cookies. Use a #40 (1½ tablespoon) cookie scoop to portion out 26 cookie dough balls. Sandwich the Peppermint Patties between two flattened cookie dough balls. Smush and fold the edges around the Peppermint Patty to seal it in place and create a round ball, then roll it between your hands to smooth out the seams. Note: Try to remember which direction the patty is lying inside the cookie so you don’t accidentally end up baking it vertically!
- Bake. Bake 11-12 minutes until cookies are puffy, but still look slightly underdone. Scoot into shape using a round cutter or upside down glass if you want to while they're still hot. Let cool on the sheet tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling completely.
RECIPE NOTES
- If you're one cookie dough ball short, pinch off a small amount from the others to make the final dough ball. If you have one cookie dough ball too many, divide it up amongst the others.
- This cookie dough will keep in the fridge for a week before scooping, just let it warm up at room temperature bit first.
- When baking these peppermint brownie cookie dough balls from frozen, add 2-3 minutes to the bake time or let them defrost for about 30 minutes before baking.
- Store peppermint patty brownie cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost frozen cookies on the counter, or in a 250°F oven if you're in a rush.
Jenn
We made these last night & declared them delicious! Or rather, my kid made them and I washed dishes & taste tested. 😂 We'll definitely make these again.
Rebecca
So glad you enjoyed them!!!
Hayli
Well, well, well, if it isn’t my favorite holiday cookie recipe! I go for a less minty version and omit the mint extract in favor of vanilla. The chocolate brownie cookie and the York peppermint patty compliment each other so well. I’m definitely team warmed-up as far as this cookie goes, but that’s maybe because I’m too impatient for a full cooling out the oven