Peppermint Puff Cookies combine the best parts of a classic cookie with the best parts of a smooth buttery peppermint candy. Add a chocolate chip for sweetness and you have my Grandma’s favorite Christmas treat.
Love easy Christmas cookies? We’ve got some favorites here, including kolachkys, cut out sugar cookies, rugelach, and hot chocolate cookies.
Grandma’s Cookie Recipe
Every family has their “must make” cookies; the ones that make their way into the holiday cookie platter every year without fail. Thanks to my grandma, these Peppermint Puff Cookies are one of ours.
I don’t think I can remember a Christmas where these didn’t show up at the family Christmas party or end up on the cookie plate we gave to friends and neighbors. My grandma loved making them and we all loved eating them!
They might not look like much, but these peppermint cookies are deceptively delicious.
The crunchy sugar coating–and extra crunch from whipped egg whites– makes you *think* you will be biting into a crunchy cookie. Then you get to the center—the soft, buttery peppermint center! Oh my word.
The single chocolate chip gives just the right amount of sweetness to these cookies, without overtaking the peppermint flavor!
My grandma also made cream cheese mints and thumbprint cookies every holiday!
Ingredient Notes
- Egg – You’ll use both the egg yolk and the egg whites at different stages in the recipe, so be sure to separate them before you start baking.
- Peppermint Candies – I place the candy canes in a ziploc bag then crush them with a heavy rolling pin. The round peppermints would work too but they’re harder to crush!
- Chocolate chips – My Grandma uses traditional semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels but dark chocolate morsels taste great with peppermint too.
PRO TIP- We love making our own homemade vanilla extract, but if using store bought, be sure it’s pure extract, not imitation (for best flavor).
Step by Step Instructions
Make the dough.
- Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla extract, milk, and the egg yolk. Gradually add in the flour and crushed candy canes to form a crumbly dough.
- Shape the crumbly dough into balls using your hands.
Sugar coating.
- Whip the egg whites for about 30 seconds to make them foamy. Dip each cookie ball into the egg whites, then roll in a plate of granulated sugar.
- Place them evenly apart on a baking sheet .
Add chocolate.
- Press a chocolate chip onto the top of each cookie ball.
- Bake for 15 minutes and let the cookies cool on the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Pour a glass of milk (or eggnog) and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Keep them in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
I got about 2 dozen cookies from this dough measuring 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie.
I don’t recommend freezing Peppermint Puff Cookies. Freezing and thawing will change the consistency of the cookie and the texture is one of the things that makes them so good!
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Grandma’s Peppermint Puff Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar divided
- 1 egg divided
- 3 Tablespoons milk
- 2 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup crushed peppermint candy canes
- 3-4 dozen semi sweet chocolate morsels
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cream butter until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Beat until creamy. Add in egg YOLK and milk. Slowly add flour and crushed candy canes.
- Mixture will be VERY crumbly at this point.
- Taking about 2 tablespoons of CRUMBS, press in palm of hand to shape into a 1" ball. Repeat for remaining dough.
- In small bowl, whip egg whites for about 30 seconds until foamy. Put remaining 3/4 cup sugar in a separate bowl.
- Dip each ball into egg whites comletely coating, then letting the excess drip off. Then roll in sugar carefully. Lay cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
- Press a chocolate chip onto the top gently (it will adhere during the cooking).
- Bake cookies in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove and cool 10 minutes on pan before transferring to a wire rack. The bottoms will have extra egg white crisps that you can break off when you transfer to the rack. Cool completely.
- Store cookies in air tight container for one week. ENJOY
Notes
- Keep them in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- I don’t recommend freezing Peppermint Puff Cookies. Freezing and thawing will change the consistency of the cookie–and the texture is one of the things that makes them so good!
- I got about 3 dozen cookies from this dough measuring 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie.
- See blog post for more recipe tips and tricks.
Nutrition
Every holiday cookie platter needs at least one peppermint dessert! You can’t do better than my grandma’s Peppermint Puff Cookie recipe. I’m so glad she passed the tradition down to me me all those years ago and, now, it’s my turn to share it with all of you!
Grandma’s recipes are definitely the best–and I’m loving how puffy and perfect these look. It’s so fabulous that your children have the opportunity to build these memories with their great-grandmother!
This is exactly the type of cookie that I’ve been searching for! Thank you for sharing and thank you to Pinterest for leading me to you!
What a sweet story! And these cookies look so amazing. I can actually imagine what they must taste like and I’m dying for a REAL bite!
Thanks Ashton! Stop on over 🙂
I love getting to make my Grandma’s recipes and share them with my family. Unfortunately my son was very young when both of the passed, so he didn’t know them. But he will know their recipes!
I am loving that crisp sugar coating on the outside and I love that you make your Grandma’s cookies ever year. Aren’t family recipes the best? So many memories associated with them:-) Love love love the picture of your munchkins with your cute Grandma!!!
My kids love their Great-Grandma, and thanks to the gorgeous weather over Thanksgiving, we were able to snap this quick picture! Hope Gram likes it too, cause she’s getting it in a frame for Christmas!
Can these be frozen. I would like to make for gifts.
I have frozen them, however, the texture does change. The crispness of the exterior part of the cookie becomes more soft. Tastes great still, but definitely changes the texture!
These look SO yummy, girl! I love family recipes and I absolutely am loving the tender, puffiness of these peppermint cookies! And your fam is beautiful, btw. Your oldest daughter looks like you to a T!
I won’t tell her you said that, haha, not sure how she would take it! but thank you, because I think SHE is gorgeous 🙂
Oh my word. I bet these are amazing! I love biting into cookies that are crunchy on the outside, but little fluffy pillows of goodness on the inside!
I just love biting into cookies. Period. Thanks for stopping by!
What a beautiful family!! I’m going to bake one of my grandmother’s cookie recipes next week…don’t you just love continuing a family tradition???
Thank you for sharing your grandma’s recipe! I will be trying it this weekend, they sound perfect! Pinning!
Enjoy Kris,
Remember…this bears repeating…when reading the instructions, and I say mixture will be crumbly…mixture WILL be crumbly. Just press it in the palm of your hand and the butter will bring it all back together!!! ENJOY!!!
Family recipes are the best! Mmmm, cookies sounds amazing right now.
Your cookies are always so cute!
Thank you Carol, that’s so sweet!!
Love that you made your gram’s cookies and they look so delicate and remind me of something my grandma would have made!
How nice that you have shared your grandma’s recipe! And the way to described these cookies is just amazing, makes me want them 😀
Thanks Medeja! Makes me want more too!
Oh now these look so good! Thanks for sharing! I am bookmarking!
I love that you’re able to share this recipe with your children and that as you make them, they know the person they represent. Great future memories in the making!
Love these Aimee! I am addicted to anything and everything peppermint. 🙂 And it makes them even better that they are your grandma’s recipe!
I have a slight addiction to peppermint myself…more peppermint treats are still coming soon to the blog! Glad we share that 🙂
Grandmas’s recipes are always the best but they never taste as good if they weren’t made by her. I always say she must have left out her secret ingredient!
So very true Liz!!
I love family recipes. 🙂 And the egg white/sugar coating is something I’ve never heard of! I love that it gives it a crunchy outside with a chewy middle. Thanks for sharing!
I forget what a nice texture it gives these cookies…I’m thinking of trying it out on another variety!! It’s so good!
Family recipes are always so great 🙂
These cookies look super Christmas-y and extra yummy!
Thanks Kayle- family recipes are definitely something to treasure!