Christmas is all about the traditions. It's in the foods we eat, the friends and family we visit, the gifts that we give, and the music that we play.
While I don't have all that many traditions of my own, there are a handful that I hold dear. Unfortunately, most had to be set aside this year, but I'm grateful that I was still able to keep up my annual holiday baking.
I may not be sharing it with friends the way I normally do, but I'm sure no one will be complaining when they find a box of cookies on their doorstep this weekend.
This year, I want to help you get into the holiday spirit with a little something I'm calling the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies.
From December 14 to 25, I'm posting a new holiday cookie recipe each day. Did you miss one? You can catch up on my Christmas Cookies page.
So for Day 5 of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, I'm sharing one of the cookies I make every single year without fail. These Chocolate Mint Crackles are soft and cakey, with a deep dark chocolate flavour and just a hint of mint tucked away under a snowy white coating of icing sugar.
Revisiting An Old Favourite
These cookies have been a mainstay of my Christmas baking for the past decade and a half. I even wrote a blog post about them in my very early days as a blogger, though the original photos don't nearly do them justice, so I figured they were due for a proper treatment.
(If you want a good giggle, though, please do feel free to check out the original post.)
I've always loved the combination of chocolate and mint, and it works particularly well here, giving these tender cookies a little unexpected oomph that you just don't get from a plain chocolate cookie.
If you're not a fan of mint, you can replace the mint extract for vanilla, or you can play around and add some espresso powder for a mocha version.
How This Cookie Gets its Dramatic Coating
What makes these cookies extra-special is the icing sugar coating, which is covered in deep crackles that expose the dark chocolate beneath.
It's dramatic and showy, but it's actually dead simple. All you have to do is shape the chilled dough into balls, then immediately roll in icing sugar until generously coated. The oven does the rest of the work, as the surface will crack as it bakes.
Some recipes require roll the balls in granulated sugar first, but I don't find it makes much of a difference, so I just skip it because I'm lazy like that. If you really want to get a perfect icing sugar coating, though, you can certainly go ahead and do it.
More Ways to Enjoy Chocolate and Mint Together
Can't get enough of this classic combination? Here are a few more ways to add it to your holiday baking:
- Double Mint Chip Cookies from Crumb
- Candy Cane Mocha from Crumb
- Homemade Peppermint Patties from Worn Slap Out
- Chocolate Mint Bliss Balls from It's Not Complicated Recipes
- Mint Chocolate Cheesecake Dip from Homemade in the Kitchen
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Chocolate Mint Crackles
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
Description
These irresistibly cakey cookies have a deep, dark chocolate flavour with a festive hint of peppermint. They're rolled in icing sugar before baking to create a snowy white coating that crackles as it bakes to reveal the dark chocolate underneath.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp peppermint extract
- ¼ cup icing sugar
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
- In a second mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the peppermint extract and the dry ingredients, and stir until a thick dough comes together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 1 hour.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400F and line a large baking sheet with parchment.
- Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out dough and roll into balls. Roll the balls in icing sugar until coated, and place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2” apart.
- Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are just barely set with deeply crackled tops. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool off completely before transferring to an airtight tin for storage.
Notes
Making in Advance: The prepared dough can be stored in the fridge overnight, then baked as usual.
Storage: Finished cookies will keep for up to a week in an airtight container. I don’t recommend freezing the finished cookies as the icing sugar coating won’t survive thawing.
- Prep Time: 1 hr 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Cooies
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Canadian
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