These slice and bake peppermint sugar cookies have crisp edges, soft and chewy middles, and an easy peppermint candy design in the middle! They have a beautiful refreshing peppermint flavor, and even some chocolate peppermint cookie on the outside. They’re slice and bake style cookies, inspired by the popular Pillsbury holiday design cookies. The recipe and peppermint design are surprisingly easy to make and perfect for making ahead.
They’re a showstopper cookie for a cookie exchange or for your Christmas cookie boxes. You'll also love these Christmas thumbprint cookies where you can make 7+ flavors out of a single batch of cookies!
Jump to:
- ❄️ Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- 📝 Key ingredients
- 👩🍳 How to make chocolate peppermint sugar cookies
- ✔️ Expert slice and bake sugar cookie tips
- 🥄 Make ahead and storage
- 🎅 Why I love slice and bake copycat Pillsbury style cookies for the Holidays
- ❔ Why does this recipe call for not creaming the butter and sugar until light and fluffy?
- 📖 Recipe FAQs
- ☃️ More related recipes
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
❄️ Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- Peppermint design: Each cookie has a peppermint pinwheel design in the center. It's so vibrant and pretty easy to make.
- Chocolate peppermint flavor: These sugar cookies have the perfect amount of refreshing, cooling peppermint flavor - without tasting like toothpaste.
- Slice and bake cookies: These are my favorite type of cookies because all you have to do is cut a slice and bake it when you want a perfectly round cookie!
- Make ahead: Since you store the log in the freezer and can bake them whenever you need cookies, these make the best make ahead Christmas cookies.
📝 Key ingredients
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
- Butter: Unsalted butter will give you the best results for this recipe. Salted butter has more water which can affect the texture of the cookie. I recommend adding salt separately and using unsalted butter.
- Cocoa powder: Dutch processed cocoa powder adds so much rich chocolate flavor. If you use natural cocoa powder the flavor won’t be as rich and chocolatey.
- White gel food coloring (optional): This brightens the white part of the peppermint design but isn’t necessary at all.
- Red gel food coloring: This is for the red part of the peppermint. I recommend using gel food coloring because you don’t need to use as much to get a vibrant red color. Liquid red food coloring will add too much moisture into the cookie dough and it won’t be as vibrant of a color. Alternatively, you can use powdered food coloring.
- All purpose flour: Weigh the flour to get the most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
- Peppermint extract: This gives these cookies a refreshing, cooling, peppermint flavor. This Amoretti peppermint extract is my favorite to use in baking. And it lasts a long time!
👩🍳 How to make chocolate peppermint sugar cookies
Step 1: In a large bowl or standmixer, beat together the butter and sugar just until combined (not light and fluffy). Add salt, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and egg and mix just until combined. It’s ok if it looks a little split.
Step 2: Sift flour right into the bowl and mix with a mixer or spatula just until it becomes a dough. Cut off about one third of the dough and set aside.
Step 3: Work with the smaller section of dough: Cut in half. Add red gel food coloring one drop at a time into one half of the dough and mix well to get a vibrant red color. Roll it into a short and thick log, about four inches long on a piece of parchment paper. Pop it in the freezer to chill for about 20 minutes - until completely frozen.
Step 4: Take the other half of the smaller portion of dough and color it white (optional) by adding white gel food coloring a few drops at a time and mixing well. Shape it into a short and thick log about 4 inches long on a piece of parchment paper. Pop it in the freezer for about 20 minutes until completely frozen.
Step 5: Add the cocoa powder into the larger portion of dough, mix well to create a chocolate cookie dough and set aside at room temperature.
Step 6: Once the red and white logs are completely frozen, remove one from the freezer and cut it in half longwise. Cut each half into half longwise, to create long, rectangular wedges. Cut each piece into half again. You should have eight equally sized wedges. Repeat with the remaining color.
Step 7: Build two new logs by sticking the wedges back together and alternating colors. Make sure to press them well together and use your fingers to smooth out any gaps that appear in the center.
Step 8: Connect the two logs together by pressing the two ends together and smoothing the cookie dough with your fingers at the place where they join together. Wrap in parchment paper and place in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up so that it holds its shape.
Step 9: On a large piece of parchment paper, flatten out the chocolate cookie dough that you made earlier. Make a rectangle with the long edge being approximately the same length as the long red and white log.
Step 10: Once firmed up, take the red and white log out of the freezer and place it on the chocolate cookie dough. Use the parchment paper to help wrap the chocolate cookie dough all around the log. Take off the chocolate cookie dough where you see that there is too much and add it to where there isn’t enough. Roll on top of the parchment paper to create a smooth roll.
Step 11: Mix the coarse sugar and crushed peppermint candies together and sprinkle onto the parchment paper where the log is. Roll the log in the sugar mixture, coating the sides liberally in the sugar. Wrap it in parchment paper and freeze until completely chilled - about 20-30 minutes.
Step 12: Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C) while the cookie log chills. Place the chilled log onto a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut the log into ½ inch slices.
Place peppermint sugar cookies onto a parchment lined or non-stick cookie sheet, leaving 1-2 inches of space between each cookie for spreading, and bake for 9-11 minutes or until the tops stop being shiny. The middles should still be soft and slightly underbaked.
Step 13: Remove the chocolate peppermint sugar cookies cookies from the oven and use a spatula to transfer them onto a cooling rack to cool completely while you bake the rest of the cookies.
✔️ Expert slice and bake sugar cookie tips
- Work with slightly softened butter and don’t cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix them just until they’re combined evenly! This prevents the dough from spreading too much in the oven and ruining the design.
- Keep the logs of cookie dough chilled in the freezer while you work with them - this will make them so much easier to work with and make sure you get a crisp design!
- To prevent holes in the design: When making the peppermint design in the middle, press and smooth the colors together so that they stick well and don’t create any gaps between them. Especially in the center of the log.
- Don’t over bake the cookies: for the ultimate soft and chewy texture, bake them just until they lose their sheen on top. They’ll stop being very shiny at around 9 or 10 minutes of baking (depending on your oven). They will still be soft and squishy in the middle which is what you want.
🥄 Make ahead and storage
Slice and bake sugar cookies are the ultimate make ahead cookies. Just pop the log into the freezer in an airtight bag or wrapped up tightly for up to 2 months. Take out the log and slice off some cookies when you want a fresh baked cookie or are ready to bake the whole batch!
The baked peppermint sugar cookies will store well at room temperature or refrigerated for up to 3 days in an airtight container. I haven’t tried storing them for longer so I’m not sure how they’d keep for mailing or storing for a long time.
🎅 Why I love slice and bake copycat Pillsbury style cookies for the Holidays
These are the best chocolate peppermint sugar cookies to make ahead and keep in your freezer - all you have to do is cut the log into slices and bake when you want some gorgeous fresh cookies! It’s such a great hosting trick to keep logs of slice and bake cookies in the freezer during the holiday season.
Another reason why I love slice and bake Pillsbury style cookies is that they’re a showstopper cookie and you don’t even have to roll the cookie dough out or use a cookie cutter. Rolling and cutting cookies takes up much more time. And this way, you get perfectly round cookies every time because you’re slicing them from a log.
The design that runs through the log is stunning and unique, and you don’t need to decorate the cookies after baking which saves you lots of time. And you don’t need to worry about frosting or icing getting ruined by jostling.
❔ Why does this recipe call for not creaming the butter and sugar until light and fluffy?
Since I didn’t want these cookies to spread too much which would ruin the design - it’s important just mix together the butter and sugar until combined. If you cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, it will incorporate too much air into the cookie dough which would cause excess spreading. Just mix together the sugar and butter until combined for this recipe.
📖 Recipe FAQs
Yes you can roll out this cookie recipe and use cookie cutters to cut! Chill the cookie dough in the fridge and roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper. Bake according to the instructions.
Yes you can - just leave out the cocoa powder. The peppermint design in the middle won’t stand out as much without the chocolate cookie dough. I recommend using white food coloring in the white part of the peppermint for it to pop more against the cookie dough on the outside.
Since these are slice and bake cookies, it’s very important to freeze the cookie dough while you’re working with it! This will make it much easier to work with and it will maintain the design. If you slice into a warm log of slice and bake sugar cookie dough with a design in the center - it will completely smear and blur the design.
Yes you can if you can figure out how to do it! I love experimenting with cookie dough and cookie designs.
Yes you can - you can make them just vanilla peppermint or just chocolate peppermint. Roll the cookie dough in quick and simple log, slice and bake as per the instructions.
These thumbprint cookies are very sturdy while still being soft, so they should ship well but I haven’t tried it. If you’ve tried it, let us know how it worked in the comments!
☃️ More related recipes
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📖 Recipe
Peppermint Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- cooling rack
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter softened slightly
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 cups all purpose flour 240g
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder dutch processed
- red gel food coloring as needed
- white gel food coloring optional
- ¼ cup coarse sugar for coating
- 2 tablespoons crushed peppermint candies or crushed candy canes
Instructions
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat together the butter and granulated sugar just until combined (not light and fluffy). Add salt, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and egg and mix just until combined. It’s ok if it looks a little split.¾ cup butter, ¾ cup granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon peppermint extract, 1 large egg
- Sift flour right into the bowl and mix with a mixer or spatula just until it becomes a dough. Cut off about one third of the dough and set aside.2 cups all purpose flour
- Work with the smaller section of dough: Cut in half. Add red gel food coloring one drop at a time into one half of the dough and mix well to get a vibrant red color. Roll it into a short and thick log, about four inches long on a piece of parchment paper. Pop it in the freezer to chill for about 20 minutes - until completely frozen.red gel food coloring
- Take the other half of the smaller portion of dough and color it white (optional) by adding white gel food coloring a few drops at a time and mixing well. Shape it into a short and thick log about 4 inches long on a piece of parchment paper. Pop it in the freezer for about 20 minutes until completely frozen.white gel food coloring
- Add the cocoa powder into the larger portion of dough, mix well to create a chocolate cookie dough and set aside at room temperature.2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- Once the red and white logs are completely frozen, remove one from the freezer and cut it in half longwise. Cut each half into half longwise, to create long, rectangular wedges. Cut each piece into half again. You should have eight equally sized wedges. Repeat with the remaining color.
- Build two new logs by sticking the wedges back together and alternating colors. Make sure to press them well together and use your fingers to smooth out any gaps that appear in the center.
- Connect the two logs together by pressing the two ends together and smoothing the cookie dough with your fingers at the place where they join together. Wrap in parchment paper and place in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up so that it holds its shape.
- On a large piece of parchment paper, flatten out the chocolate cookie dough that you made earlier. Make a rectangle with the long edge being approximately the same length as the long red and white log.
- Once firmed up, take the red and white log out of the freezer and place it on the chocolate cookie dough. Use the parchment paper to help wrap the chocolate cookie dough all around the log. Take off the chocolate cookie dough where you see that there is too much and add it to where there isn’t enough. Roll on top of the parchment paper to create a smooth roll.
- Mix the coarse sugar and crushed peppermint candies together and sprinkle onto the parchment paper where the log is. Roll the log in the sugar mixture, coating the sides liberally in the sugar. Wrap it in parchment paper and freeze until completely chilled - about 20-30 minutes.¼ cup coarse sugar, 2 tablespoons crushed peppermint candies
- Preheat the oven to 355°F (180C) while the cookie log chills. Place the chilled log onto a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut the log into ½ inch slices. Place onto a parchment lined or non-stick cookie sheet, leaving 1-2 inches of space between each cookie for spreading, and bake for 9-11 minutes or until the tops stop being shiny. The middles should still be soft and slightly underbaked.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and use a spatula to transfer them onto a cooling rack to cool completely while you bake the rest of the cookies.
Notes
- Work with slightly softened butter and don’t cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Keep the logs of cookie dough chilled in the freezer while you work with them.
- When making the peppermint design in the middle, press and smooth the colors together so that they stick well.
- Don’t over bake the cookies - for the ultimate soft and chewy texture, bake them just until they lose their sheen on top.
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