Double Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

The richest double chocolate peppermint bark cookies with crisp edges, fudgy centres and plenty of mint flavour. Forget shop bought, homemade is so much better!

These double chocolate peppermint bark cookies are the ultimate festive bake! When I heard Marks & Spencer weren’t bringing back their peppermint bark cookies, I decided that I’d need to make them myself. And give them a few upgrades at the same time.

The base dough for these cookies is made with bloomed Dutch processed cocoa powder for the richest chocolate flavour possible, plus a splash of peppermint extract for an extra hit of mint. For the mix ins, we’re using chocolate chunks (milk, white or dark all work so whichever you prefer!), minty After Eight chocolates and plenty of homemade peppermint bark. There’s a chunk of peppermint bark pressed on top of each cookie when they come out of the oven, which go ever so slightly melty and give these cookies a fantastic festive finish.

Obviously these double chocolate cookies are all about the peppermint flavour but they have the perfect texture too! The edges are crisp and crinkly but the insides are fudgy and rich with just the right amount of chewiness. The pool of molten chocolate and chunk of peppermint bark on top of each cookie add another layer of decadence.

For more cookie flavours, check out our ever growing collection of cookie recipes! There’s a whole load of flavours here, from banana bread, to brown butter oreo & black sesame cheesecake. And for more festive bakes, take a look at our Christmas baking recipes.

Ingredients For Peppermint Bark Cookies

• Peppermint Bark – I’d highly recommend making my homemade peppermint bark for these cookies but shop bought will work too if you’d prefer. If you do make my recipe, you’ll need roughly half a batch.
• Chocolate – You can use white, milk or dark chocolate for these cookies or a mix. There’s chopped chocolate in the cookie dough and a chocolate chunk pressed on top of each cookie. I’d recommend using chopped bars of chocolate as they melt better.
• After Eights – For extra mint flavour, I add chopped After Eight mint chocolates into the cookie dough. Feel free to replace these for extra chopped chocolate though if you’d prefer.
• Cocoa Powder – Make sure to use Dutch processed cocoa powder for this cookie recipe, you can get this in most supermarkets. You get a richer chocolate flavour with this style of cocoa powder and as it’s unsweetened, it won’t add extra sugar to the dough.
• Butter – I use unsalted butter for most of my baking recipes, as it allows us control over how much salt is added.
• Sugar – You’ll need 3 different sugars for this recipe. Dark brown sugar for a rich flavour and fudgy texture. Caster sugar for sweetness and crisp edges. And golden syrup for a chewy texture.
• Eggs – You’ll need a large egg and 2 additional yolks for these cookies. The large egg should weigh around 50 grams out of the shell. The extra yolks are used for extra fudginess.
• Flavourings – I flavour my peppermint bark cookies with extra peppermint extract and vanilla extract too.
• Flour – You’ll need plain flour (all purpose) for the cookie dough, as we’ll be adding in raising agents ourself.
• Cornflour (Cornstarch) – Adding a small amount of cornflour to cookie dough, gives the cookies a chewy texture.
• Raising Agents – For the best texture and spread in the oven, we’re using a mix of baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
• Salt – There’s fine table salt in the cookie dough and a sprinkle of sea salt on top of each cookie once they’re baked.

How To Make Double Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

I’ve taken my classic cookie dough, flavoured it with cocoa powder and a splash of peppermint extract then jam packed it full of chocolate chunks, After Eight mint chocolates and homemade peppermint bark.

The key with this one is to bloom the cocoa for extra flavour and to chill the cookie dough overnight before baking, so they don’t spread out too much in the oven.

1. Bloom Cocoa Powder In Butter

The first step is to whisk hot melted butter into cocoa powder, to form a paste then let it cool to room temperature. This technique is called blooming cocoa and is used to enhance the chocolate flavour but it also helps the cocoa mix into the cookie dough more evenly.

2. Cocoa Cookie Dough

To make this cocoa cookie dough, add the bloomed cocoa into the bowl of a stand mixer along with softened butter, dark brown and caster sugar, golden syrup, vanilla and peppermint extract then mix with the paddle attachment until combined and smooth. Be careful not to over mix at this point though!

Next, gradually mix in an egg plus 2 additional yolks then gently mix in plain flour, cornflour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and table salt, until just incorporated. To ensure that the raising agents are evenly distributed, I like to sieve the dry ingredients into a separate bowl first then whisk to combine.

3. Mix Ins

There’s 3 different mix ins that go into these cookies. Chocolate chunks (cut from a bar), roughly chopped After Eight mint chocolates and peppermint bark that’s been broken into small pieces.

Once your cookie dough has been mixed, add in the mix ins then use a spatula to fold them in by hand.

4. Chill To Firm Up Cookie Dough

Once your cookie dough has been mixed, you’ll need to chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes – 1 hour, just until it’s firmed up enough to scoop and shape.

5. Scooping And Rolling

Before scooping and rolling the cookie dough, you’ll need to cut 13 chocolate chunks which will be pressed on top. You’ll also need 13 pieces of peppermint bark (shown above) but these will be placed onto the cookies when they come out of the oven.

Once chilled, use a cookie scoop or a spoon to divide the cookie dough into 13 equally sized portions. Each should weigh around 85 grams. Make sure to get plenty of chocolate in each ball of cookie dough. Then use your hands to roll each portion into a ball, before pressing a chocolate chunk on top.

6. Overnight Chill

At this point, the cookies need to chill in the fridge overnight before you bake them, otherwise they will spread out too much as they bake. If you’re short on time, at least 4 hours is fine but generally, I like to make the cookie dough, chill overnight then bake the following morning.

7. Baking

These chocolate cookies bake for 13 minutes at 175°c/347°f, until the edges are crisp but the middles are still soft. I use the Pan Banging technique for my cookies, which I’ll explain more on below. As soon as your cookies come out of the oven, press a piece of peppermint bark on the top whilst they’re still warm then sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Let the cookies cool completely on their trays then serve! I think that these cookies look best if you place the bark slightly to the side of the molten pool of chocolate that’s on top…

How To Get Peppermint Bark To Stick To Cookies

There’s a really easy way to get chunks of peppermint bark to stick to the top of your cookies. You simply press the chocolate bark on top of each cookie whilst they’re hot out of the oven. This way, the chocolate bark will melt very slightly, just enough to stick to the cookie. The process of finishing the cookies involves scooting each cookie into a perfect round shape then pressing a piece of peppermint bark on top and sprinkling with sea salt.

The Pan Banging Technique For Baking Cookies

I’m a huge fan of the pan banging technique for baking cookies, as it gives them crispier edges, molten pools of chocolate & a fantastic crinkled texture. This technique is perfect for cookies with lots of mix ins like these ones, as it helps them spread out more as they bake.

This technique was developed by Sarah Kieffer from The Vanilla Bean Blog and involves banging the tray of cookies onto your oven rack towards the end of the cooking process. It’s super easy to do & I use it for most of my cookie recipes!

Here’s how to bake peppermint bark chocolate chip cookies cookies using the pan banging technique.

1. Bake the cookies at 175°c/347°f for 9 minutes (undisturbed).
2. Next, open your oven door, lift up the baking tray inside the oven by a few inches then let it drop down against the oven rack. Use enough force so that the cookie starts to deflate.
3. Bake for another 2 minutes then repeat the pan banging process.
4. Bake for another 2 minutes (bringing the total bake time to 13 minutes) then take the cookies out of the oven.
5. Give the tray a firm tap on the counter as you take it out of the oven then leave to cool.

The Cookie Scoot

The cookie scoot is a technique used to shape cookies into a perfect circle as soon as they come out of the oven. To do this, take a large circular cutter & use it to move (or scoot) the edges of the cookies, to make a perfect circle. This is the secret to making a batch of uniform cookies.

As these chocolate chip cookies are packed full of mix ins, they don’t tend to bake perfectly round, so I’d highly advise using the cookie scoot to make them a bit neater. The cookie cutter that I use to scoot my cookies is 5 inches wide, which is the ideal size for most cookies.

Peppermint Bark Cookies Tips and Tricks

• Bloom the cocoa powder in melted butter then cool before using. This intensifies the chocolate flavour!
• Use Dutch processed cocoa powder instead of sweetened cocoa, for a richer flavour. As Dutch processed cocoa isn’t acidic, it won’t react with the bicarb in the dough.
• Use roughly chopped chocolate bars instead of chocolate chips as they melt better and lets you control the size of the chocolate chunks.
• Chill your cookie dough overnight before baking, so they don’t spread out too much in the oven.
• Use a large round cookie cutter to “scoot” the baked cookies into perfect circles as soon as they come out of the oven.
• Press a chunk of peppermint bark on top of each cookie as soon as they come out of the oven, so it sticks to the top.
• Top each cookie with a sprinkle of sea salt. This brings out the flavours from the chocolate.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Cookie Recipes To Try

• Caramelised Cornflake Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Thin Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Brown Butter & Vanilla Glazed Cookies
• Kettle Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Brown Butter Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Cranberry, Fudge & White Chocolate Cookies

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