Peppermint Patty Brownie Cookies

If these cookies were a joke it would go something like this: A Peppermint Patty, a brownie, and a cookie walk into a bar... and they all get along really well. (What? I didn't say it was a good joke.)

I had my blog recipes for the month of December all planned out. I knew what I was going to make, I had my game plan, I knew I had a vacation at the end of the month coming up, and I was ready. And then— oh, and then. A bag of "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. Oh, and, since those Peppermint Crunch Andes bars were on sale... you know I grabbed a box of them, too.

I spent hours combing through all the best top-rated chocolate cookie recipes I could find, looking for the perfect one to bring my dream to life.

My goal was a cookie batter that was firm enough to shape with your hands and, since the Peppermint Patty had to be the star of the show, I wanted to keep everything else as simple as possible. I didn't want to have to refrigerate the dough overnight, I didn't want to mess around with melting and then cooling butter or, rare, elusive types of chocolate.

I looked at recipes for crinkle cookies, brownie cookies, fudge cookies, sugar cookies... until finally — I found it. Smitten Kitchen's Browniest Cookies.

Not only does this recipe result in huge, decadent Peppermint Patty brownie cookies, the recipe is a one-bowl cookie batter and requires absolutely no electric mixer. Okay, yes, I had to compromise on not needing to refrigerate the dough, but at least it's just for 30 minutes and not overnight. How much more simple can you get?

(Disclaimer: This post is #notanad, nor has it been sponsored or paid for by York or Andes — any brand of chocolate/peppermint thin and peppermint bark chips will work just fine! I just happened to grab York Peppermint Patties and Andes bars because they were on sale, and then used the brightly colored wrappers to help make my photos pop.)

how to make Peppermint Patty brownie cookies

Start with a VERY LARGE bowl. You only need ONE BOWL to make the batter, so don't make the mistake of starting too small.

Your first step is to melt the butter and chopped, unsweetened chocolate together, so if you're using the microwave (20-30 second bursts, stirring in between) or a double boiler (stirring constantly over a pot of boiling water) make sure you choose a bowl that can handle your preferred heating method.

Once the chocolate and butter are completely melted, whisk in the brown sugar until it's dissolved and no lumps remain.

Next, whisk in the two eggs, one at a time so they don't overwhelm the chocolate mixture. Follow with the vanilla (or peppermint!) extract, baking soda, and salt. Whisk, whisk, whisk to combine. At this point you'll want to switch to a spatula or spoon — something sturdier than a whisk for mixing.

Sift in the flour and cocoa powder. Sifting is important because cocoa powder clumps like whoa and if you don't sift it here it's gonna give you problems when you try to mix it. No need to use an old-school squeeeze-handle sifter, a wire mesh strainer is fine.

Use a spatula or wooden spoon to gently stir and fold the flour and cocoa powder into the liquid ingredients. Don't stir too vigorously or you'll end up with a cloud of cocoa powder everywhere, so start slowly. Stir just until incorporated, then add your chopped Peppermint Crunch Andes bars and stir to evenly distribute in the cookie batter.

Refrigerate your dough for ~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: "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."

How to shape Peppermint Patty brownie cookies

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 an accurate 1 tablespoon measuring spoon here, not a dinner spoon or soup spoon or whatever you've grabbed from your dinner utensils drawer.

No heaping tablespoon measures here, either. Scoop a packed, flat 1 tablespoon of dough, roll it into a ball and flatten it into a disc. Repeat. Sandwich a Peppermint Patty between the two discs of dough and pinch and fold them around the patty to seal it in place. Shape the dough into a ball (but try to remember which way the patty is lying inside the dough so you don't accidentally bake it vertically!). Repeat.

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Place your finished cookies on a parchment or silicone mat-lined sheet tray at least 2"-3" apart. They're HUGE cookies and they will spread out. Give them space.

Bake at 350F 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 tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

These are best when the peppermint center is still a little molten so give 'em a try before they cool completely!

If you need to warm them up again before serving, 15-20 seconds in the microwave, or 20-30 minutes in the oven on "keep warm" will do just fine. That said, they're great at room temp too, so there's really no wrong way to eat them.

other recipes you might like:

• gingerbread-pumpkin spiced pound cake
• chewy chocolate revel bars
• triple mint chocolate tart with thin mint crust