Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Bars

Dark Chocolate Chip Peppermint Cookie Bars – a perfectly balanced sugar cookie dough combines with rich dark chocolate and warm notes of peppermint, bringing the holidays to your taste buds in just one bite! If you’ve been looking for a way to enhance your traditional chocolate chip cookie bar recipe, this is it! 

If you’re a fan of chocolate and peppermint too, you’re going to love these other holiday recipes; Peppermint Surprise Crinkle Cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Brownie Cake, Peppermint Bark, and Christmas Tree Peppermint Bark.

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Christmas is just around the corner, and that means one thing: Christmas baking! One of my favorite cookie bar mixes this year is this dark chocolate chip peppermint cookie bar recipe. The crushed peppermint candy combined with the dark chocolate chips adds a festive flavor and look. 

Not to mention, these dark chocolate chip cookie bars are easy to make for a holiday party or as a gift. It’s simple to whip up at home with ingredients you likely have on hand already. The best part? You can customize it with your favorite flavors – I’ve included peppermint candy because it’s perfect for this time of year!

They are soft and chewy, with a slight crunch from the peppermint. They’re the perfect treat to follow a big Christmas feast.

You can’t ever go wrong with chocolate and peppermint!

Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Bars

• Holiday Gift: These chocolate peppermint cookie bars are excellent send-away gifts if you have family and friends over for the holidays. Place your cookies in a box and adorn it with ribbon for a sweet and elegant gift for your loved ones.
• Festive Taste: These chocolate cookie bars with crushed peppermints taste like Christmas. They are one of those foods that instantly transport you to the Christmas season. These cookies feature chocolate to bring you happiness and peppermint to get you in the mood for a party.
• Easy-to-Prepare: These Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Bars may sound intimidating, but they are actually rather simple to create. My recipe includes a list of all the ingredients as well as an easy-to-follow baking technique. My chocolate peppermint cookie bar recipe will undoubtedly impress your loved ones.

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Ingredients You Need To Make This Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Bar Recipe

(full printable recipe at the end of this post)

• Pantry staples: all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda, granulated sugar, brown sugar
• Flavoring: vanilla extract and peppermint extract
• eggs
• dark chocolate chips
• crushed peppermint candy – I use the bags of crushed peppermint candy. The grocery store usually sells them during the holidays by the chocolate chips, or you can get them on Amazon.

How to Make Dark Chocolate Chip Peppermint Cookie Bars

ONE: Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13 cake pan with parchment paper leaving an overhang on all sides to easily lift the bars from the pan when cool. Set aside.

TWO: Make the cookie dough by creaming the butter and sugars and add the other wet ingredients (per the full recipe below), then the dry ingredients.

THREE: Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and bake,

FOUR: Once cool, lift the parchment out of the pan using the overhang, place it on a cutting board, and slice into squares or bars.

Storage

Store your chocolate peppermint cookie bars on the counter in an airtight container for up to a week. Place them in a spot away from direct sunlight. If you reside in a hot and humid climate, you should keep your cookie bars in the refrigerator.

Tips

Middle Rack: For best results, bake your cookie bars sheet in the middle oven rack.

Soft Butter: Do not substitute the butter for margarine. This recipe is best with real butter. Additionally, make sure you allow the butter to come to room temperature before using it. Room temp butter is still cool to the touch, yet your finger should be able to make an indent in the butter without sinking.

Crushed Candy: I get the bags of crushed peppermint candy, which are usually found near the chocolate chips or holiday baking section in the grocery store, or find them on Amazon.

Cutting the bars: To get perfectly cut cookie squares, chill the pan cookie bars before cutting them. Cold chocolate peppermint cookie bars will cut more cleanly than bars that have been left at room temperature.

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar FAQs

How do you know when cookie bars are done?

Your cookie bars are ready when you insert a toothpick into the middle of the pan, and the toothpick only pulls out with a few moist crumbs on it. You don’t want to overcook your cookie bar, or it won’t be soft and chewy. If you pull the toothpick out and it is covered in batter, it will need more time.

Can I make the cookie bar dough ahead of time?

Yes, you can store the cookie bar dough in the refrigerator for up to three days. Just make sure you cover it with plastic wrap. When you are ready to bake, allow the cookie dough to reach room temperature and then begin baking. 

Should I refrigerate the cookie bar dough?

In this recipe, the cookie dough does not need to be refrigerated prior to baking. But, chilling cookie dough is almost always a good idea. It gives the flavors time to mingle before baking. Chilling cookie dough also allows the fats to become solid yielding thicker cookies.

How do you cut bar cookies cleanly?

To cut the perfect cookie bars, start by lining your pan with parchment paper (leaving an overhang). This will allow you to easily remove the uncut bars from the pan once they have completely cooled. 

Chill the pan of cookie bars before cutting them. Cold chocolate peppermint cookie bars will cut more cleanly than bars that have been left at room temperature.

Remove the chilled uncut bars from the pan and place them on a cutting board. Run your knife under hot water, then carefully wipe it dry. Use a ruler and a warm knife to cut into 12-20 servings. If you want clean edges on all of your cookie bars, you will want to trim the edges that were against the side of the pan. NOTE: you may need to wipe off the knife between cuts, and reheat with more hot water as needed.

How many cookie bars can I get from a 9×13 pan?

For 12 servings: Cut the short side into three equal parts, then the long side into four equal parts (you may want to use a ruler as a guide). This will yield fairly large chocolate chip cookie bars!
For 15 servings: Cut the short side into three equal parts, then the long side into five equal parts (you may want to use a ruler as a guide). This will yield a standard-size serving.
For 20 servings: Cut the short side into four equal parts and the long side into five equal parts (you may want to use a ruler as a guide). Use this when you need to get the most servings from your 9×13 pan.

What kind of chocolate chips should I use? 

That’s up to you! Go with milk chocolate, semi-sweet, white chocolate, or stick with dark chocolate. Whatever your preference is will work just fine in these cookie bars.

How do you crush candy canes? 

I like crushing my peppermint candies in a Ziploc bag with the flat side of a meat tenderizer, but you can also use your rolling pin or even a hammer and then smash away! Whatever method you use, make sure to take your time and be careful not to crush the candy into powder. You want pieces that are about the size of pop rocks – visible yet small enough to chew with no discomfort.

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