Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Cups

These Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Cups are the perfect make-ahead treat for the holidays. Dark chocolate cookies filled with a whipped peppermint cheesecake and topped with crushed candy canes!

Ring in the holidays with these festive Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Cups!

These cookie cups are a spin off of the Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies I made last year. These cookies are crazy popular on the blog right now, and I can understand why.

Chocolate and mint is one of the best combos out there! And candy canes just scream holiday season. You really can’t go wrong. 

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The filling for these Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Cups is a peppermint infused cheesecake mousse that goes perfectly well with the dark chocolate cookies.

I use black cocoa powder to give my chocolate cookies that deep, rich color and as a bonus it also gives them a bit of an Oreo flavor. You can use regular cocoa powder instead if you like.

The candy cane swirl was actually really easy to do, except of course I overcomplicated it.

What I ended up doing (and what worked best) was to just stripe the inside of a pastry bag with red color gel. I used a small, food-safe paintbrush, and made two stripes on opposite sides and then filled the bag carefully with the cheesecake filling.

I had bought red sparkle gel and red decorating gel and tried those first, using them to stripe the bag. The results were very pale and lackluster, so I went with the color gel. Naturally, that was the easiest and cheapest option since I already had it!! Sigh.

I topped them all off with some chopped candy cane for a bit of extra flare, but you could leave this off.

If you’re a fan of candy canes and chocolate, you’re going to love these Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Cups.

As a bonus, they’re easy to make AND they freeze super well (except for the chopped candy cane, sprinkle that on before serving). You can make these guys weeks in advance, place in an airtight container, and stick them in the freezer for up to a month.

Holiday baking made easy!

Looking for more Cookie Cup Recipes?

• Eggnog Cheesecake Cookie Cups
• Apple Crisp Cookie Cups
• Turtle Cookie Cups
• S’mores Cookie Cups
• Baileys Cheesecake Cookie Cups

Tips for these Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Cups:

• I used red color gel and a food-safe paint brush to stripe the inside of the pastry bag to create the candy cane swirl.
• You can freeze these for up to 4 weeks, but leave the chopped candy cane off when freezing and sprinkle that on before serving.
• If you don’t have black cocoa powder you can just use regular cocoa powder.
• If you’re looking for more holiday goodies to bake, check out my Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies, Eggnog Cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Cake, and White Chocolate Candy Cane Cake!

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Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Cups

4.64 from 11 votes

These Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Cups are the perfect make-ahead treat for the holidays. Dark chocolate cookies filled with a whipped peppermint cheesecake and topped with crushed candy canes!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings 20

Calories 300kcal

Author Olivia

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

Chocolate Cookie Cups:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted
• 1/4 cup black cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar packed
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Peppermint Cheesecake Filling:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream chilled
• 8 oz cream cheese full fat
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• red color gel
• candy canes chopped

Instructions

 

Chocolate Cookie Cups:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Spray two regular sized cupcake tins with cooking spray.
• Whisk together flour, cocoa powders, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Beat butter and sugars on med-high until light and fluffy (approx. 2-3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time and vanilla. Beat until combined. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.
• Using a large cookie scoop (3 Tbsp) scoop dough into muffin tins.
• Bake for approx. 10-13mins or until mostly set, but still soft in the middle.
• Remove from oven and immediately use a small jar or container to press firmly down in the center to create a well. 
• Cool in pans for 10mins, loosen each slightly by twisting it in the pan. Cool for 5 more minutes then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Peppermint Cheesecake Filling:

• Whip heavy cream until stiff peaks (ideally with a cold whisk and in a cold bowl).
• In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, and peppermint extract until smooth. 
• Add whipped cream into cream cheese mixture and beat until combined.
• Using a small food-safe paintbrush, paint two stripes on the inside of a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Carefully fill with cheesecake filling.
• Pipe a swirl into cooled cookie cups and refrigerate until set (approx. 1-2 hours).
• Sprinkle with chopped candy canes if desired.
• Serve chilled and eat within 2-3 days. Or freeze for up to 4 weeks (without chopped candy cane).

Calories: 300kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 3gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 71mgSodium: 174mgPotassium: 94mgFiber: 1gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 640IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 1.1mg

The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this is important to you, please verify with your favorite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.

Originally published Dec 3, 2017