Chocolate-Mint Thins With Candy Cane Crunch Recipe (2024)

By Julia Moskin

Chocolate-Mint Thins With Candy Cane Crunch Recipe (1)

Total Time
1 hour 30 minutes
Rating
5(638)
Notes
Read community notes

This cookie is a handmade homage to the Girl Scouts’ classic combination of dark chocolate and mint. A bright, festive decoration of crushed candy canes adds color and crunch. If store-bought dark chocolate cookies are available, you can use them instead of making your own. And if you temper the coating chocolate instead of simply melting it, your chocolate shell will have a bit more snap and durability.

Featured in: A Christmas Quarrel

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Ingredients

Yield:About 5 dozen

    For the Cookies

    • 1cup plus 2 tablespoons/230 grams granulated sugar
    • 12tablespoons/170 grams/1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
    • ½teaspoon/3 grams kosher salt
    • 1egg
    • 1teaspoon peppermint extract
    • cups/187 grams all-purpose flour
    • ¾cup/63 grams unsweetened cocoa, preferably Dutch-process

    For the Coating

    • 8 to 12candy canes
    • About 16 ounces/500 grams semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
    • ¼ to ½teaspoon peppermint extract
    • ¼teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 2tablespoons coconut oil

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (60 servings)

111 calories; 6 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 12 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 22 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Chocolate-Mint Thins With Candy Cane Crunch Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. To Make the Cookies

    1. Step

      1

      In the bowl of a mixer, cream sugar and butter together until very fluffy, at least 3 minutes. Add salt, egg, peppermint extract and 1 tablespoon water, and mix until smooth. Mix or sift flour and cocoa together, then add to bowl and mix until combined. The dough will be very stiff (it can be made 1 or 2 days ahead and kept refrigerated).

    2. Step

      2

      Heat oven to 350 degrees. Using your hands, break off pieces of dough the size of walnuts (about 2 teaspoons) and roll into balls. Place 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or nonstick liners. Use the bottom of a glass to flatten each ball into a round, ⅛-inch thick. (Dust the bottom of the glass with cocoa if it sticks to the dough.)

    3. Step

      3

      Bake about 15 minutes, until cookies are flattened, firm and beginning to crisp. Remove from cookie sheets and let cool on wire racks.

  2. To Make the Coating

    1. Step

      4

      Place half the candy canes in a thick, sealed plastic bag and use a heavy skillet or rolling pin to pulverize them into a mix of pink candy-cane dust and striped red-and-white bits. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with remaining candy canes. Set aside in a cool place.

    2. Step

      5

      To coat the cookies, melt chocolate in a metal bowl set over barely simmering water. When smooth, stir in ¼ teaspoon of each extract and the coconut oil. Taste and add more peppermint extract if needed. Keep chocolate warm and fluid, over hot water. (Or temper chocolate, adding the extracts after tempering.)

  3. To Coat the Cookies

    1. Step

      6

      Working 1 cookie at a time, use a spatula or shallow slotted spoon to submerge the cookie in chocolate, gently pressing it down to the bottom of the bowl. Slowly lift it out, letting chocolate drip evenly off the sides to make a smooth, thin coating on top. Gently shake off excess chocolate and place cookies on a rack to cool. After about 15 minutes, start checking to see if the chocolate has set. Touch the center with a finger; when chocolate is firm, almost cool, and only a faint mark remains, sprinkle tops evenly with candy cane dust and bits. (If you do it too soon, the candy cane bits will begin to melt.)

    2. Step

      7

      Store in the refrigerator in airtight containers, in layers separated by parchment paper.

Ratings

5

out of 5

638

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Cooking Notes

Chris B.

I just made these again this year, so I was able to correct some problems I had with this recipe last year.
I used a pound and a half of chocolate to cover the cookie, last year I had to stop in the middle and melt and temper more chocolate.
More importantly I dried them on cooling racks last year and they Stuck. This year I dried them on parchment. Perfect.
This may be my favorite Christmas cookie of all time, even more so than almond crescents!

Nancy

Looks great! How do you temper chocolate?

Kim

Three things I discovered that made this recipe easier: 1. Roll the balls in cocoa powder—lightly—and tap off excess powder before pressing the balls with a glass. This method will keep the balls from attaching to the underside of the glass. 2. Use a fork to lift the cookies from the melted chocolate. Tap off excess chocolate and run a butter knife or rubber spatula under the fork to remove dripping chocolate. 3. Set dipped cookies on parchment paper instead of a cooling rack.

John

Save your time and get the same thing from Trader Joe's. About 2.99 for 18 of the little guys. They're delicious!

Su

A simple way to avoid the fuss of rolling into balls and smashing thin: form the dough into a cylindrical log, wrap in parchment, and refrigerate a few hours. Make 1/8" slices with a sharp knife. Uniform, snappy cookies.

Sally F

Can use wax paper or silicone mat to let chocolate dipped cookies harden. Recommend tempering chocolate in double boiler as it takes a long time to dip etc. and needed to gently reheat a couple times. Also recommend for cookies, ONLY at the "flatten the balls with the bottom of a glass" step - to consider sweet cocoa mix as the unsweetened powder can add a touch of bitterness to the top of a lovely sweet minty cookie.

Gabixa K.

I think you can also use a potato masher to help dunk. It would be easier then using a spoon or doing whatever it says in the recipe. I wasn't able to try so don't get mad at me if it doesn't work. I just saw it on GBBS when someone was dipping their fondant fancies.

Nancy M

I put the cookies that I did dip on parchment, rather than a rack, and they did detach nicely, Thanks for the tip!

Kate

Everyone is making the “dipping” process way harder than it needs to be! If you’re willing to temper extra chocolate(some will go to waste). Place your cookies on a cooling rack and drizzle your tempered chocolate slowly over the cookie. Allow to cool. Flip. Drizzle over other side then place crushed can’t canes on top. No messy dipping required! Cookies looked beautiful.

Nancy M

The cookie itself is great, I just followed the recipe. I tried, for the first time to temper chocolate. I followed (or tried to) Mark B. instructions on this website. It sounds simple enough, but one needs a really good thermometer (which it turns out, I didn't have). I ended up frosting the top of the cookie with chocolate rather than dipping it. If I try this again, I would add the coconut oil to the melted chocolate and try dipping it that way.

Josseline

Not worth the time, effort and mess. The end result was disappointing... I tempered the chocolate... Went fine. It was the dipping part that did me in. Cookies cracked in chocolate; the chocolate coat was uneven. Finally it failed the taste test...bitter. I throw out the batch of three dozen cookies.

MaryEllen

Made these cookies for the first time this Christmas. The cookies were easy but dipping them was a labor of love. My mother-in-law loved them so it was worth the effort, but this is not a cookie I would make more than once a year.

Amy Christine

These cookies are delicious. They take an extraordinary amount of time to prepare. If you're feeling meditative and have a few hours to make cookies, give it a go. Notes:1. I needed about 50% more melted chocolate chips to coat the cookies.2. It helps to use more than one cookie sheet or it will take 45 minutes to bake 36 cookies.3. Wrap the glass you intend to use to smash the dough balls with parchment paper (rubberband works) to keep from sticking to the glass.

Nancy L

I agree, the dipping was a mess. I spent 4 hours on this (tempering)and ended up having to smear the top (of the cookie) with the chocolate rather than dipping. I still have a lot of chocolate left.I do plan on reheating it and putting it on top of another batch no that it is tempered.

Nancy L

to my surprised the chocolate did get tempered, but dunking the cookie didn't work.

Holli

I made one mistake and that was making the cookies too large (think chocolate chip cookie size). When I make them next time they will be slightly larger than a half dollar. The cookie is excellent!

me

Made the recipe exactly and they were really good, a huge crowd favorite. Easily made 65 or so cookies, I imagine others who ended up with fewer weren’t making them small enough. I tempered the chocolate and had to re-temper once it began to harden. There wasn’t quite enough to dip the last few, so I switched to drizzling for those and it worked just fine.

JennyO

I have made these every year since they were published - they are a family favorite at Christmas! I have tried different methods, including chilling as a log and cutting thin slices. I always had trouble with sticking when flattening even with cocoa powder. I think I got it right this year - brought the chilled dough to room temperature, rolled 15 gram pieces into balls, then put a piece of plastic wrap over the bottom of a glass to flatten. No sticking at long last!

Marie

A commenter suggested using a potato masher to dunk the cookies in chocolate and that worked very well.

EMS

Make this several times every Christmas and it’s always a hit. I never use the chocolate coating though, I just make royal icing with peppermint extract — it’s a lot less work and the cookie stands up on its own! The only thing I will say is that I’ve made this at least a dozen times and it’s never made more than 4 dozen (yield says 5)

Kelley K.

Amazing. Really 500g of chocolate is too much to melt, leaving me with a jar full of now hardened chocolate to use somehow. I had no issues “tempering”/melting the chocolate in a 4cup Pyrex measuring cup over a small milk pot. Even without a wire rack for cooling, I lowered each cookie into the chocolate sauce with a metal spatula. No crumbling at all, even though I used GF flour! Just wait for the cookies to cool completely is my thinking. I’ve found a new Christmas tradition staple.

HSK

Can I sub vegetable oil for the coconut oil which I do not have? If not, what is a good substitute?

Jul

The coconut oil helps to firm up the chocolate, I believe.

Lydia

Delicious, beautiful cookie. I learned: 1) Beware micro plastics in your peppermint candy crush! Used a plastic baggie and my rolling pin for a perfect combo of peppermint dust and chunks. Held bag to the sunlight and found numerous micro holes! Will use a clean folded kitchen towel next time, brush off with pastry brush. 2) Roll dough in parchment paper, refrigerate, 1/8 inch slices require about 9 mins to bake. Flatten with bottom of glass over small square of parchment paper.

Lydia

3) Freeze and thaw before dipping4) Temper double the chocolate. Used 2 TBSPNs Grape Seed Oil, extracts. 5) Kitchen tongs and small spatula; dunk entire cookie face down into melted chocolate. Lift underside with small spatula, position at 90 degree angle on kitchen tongs, drip dry (ish), lay on parchment paper. No finger contact. Freeze between sheets of parchment paper. Serve with ice cold drink or warm fingers will melt chocolate while eating.

ScK

Needed much less cooking time if one follows the 1/8 inch thickness. Also chocolate never became thin enough to dip - took forever and not sure the results were worth the time! Also recipe says 2 tbs. Coconut oil but not clear if one is expected to add that to the chocolate (as recipe says add 1/4 tsp?).

Mina

I think it's just weirdly written--it says "When smooth, stir in ¼ teaspoon of each extract and the coconut oil," but I think it means "When smooth, stir in ¼ teaspoon of each extract. Stir in the coconut oil."

Vduncan

What a great cookie! A few more steps involved but worth every one of them. I found if you use the bigger candy canes you only need four or five of them.

dhwsmith

Used a one inch (3cm) scoop on very cool dough. No hand rolling into balls needed. Then covered scoops of dough with plastic wrap and pressed. No sticking problems. Did have problems with chocolate. After tempering, 90 degree temp was not liquid enough to dip. I spread it on with a small spatula.

Anne

+1 on rolling your dough into logs, chilling and slicing - this is much easier than the rolling into balls step. Also, I am wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a good (natural) - tasting peppermint extract? My (mainstream brand) had a very artificial thing going on.

Karen

Disappointed. I wanted to like this cookie. Flavor falls flat.

you need to put in two cups of chocolate

You need to put two cups of chocolate

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Chocolate-Mint Thins With Candy Cane Crunch Recipe (2024)
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