Soft Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Peppermint Glaze
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It is that time of year where my oldest daughter starts feeling festive and asks me to make "those soft Christmas cookies with the peppermint candy that you let us crush and put on top". This Peppermint Sugar Cookie recipe with peppermint glaze is not only visually pretty with its festive crushed peppermint topping, but it also delivers on taste with its buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture and cool peppermint glaze.
Recipe Overview: Soft Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Peppermint Glaze
- ⏱ Prep Time: 25 minutes
- 👩🏻🍳 Baking Time: 10 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 35 minutes
- 🍞 Serving: 24
- ⚡ Calories: 304 calories per serving
- 🍂 Flavor Profile: Tender, buttery sugar cookies with bright peppermint flavor, topped with a sweet, minty glaze.
- 👌 Difficulty: Easy — simple to mix, shape, and bake for home bakers.
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- Recipe Overview: Soft Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Peppermint Glaze
- This peppermint sugar cookie recipe is a favorite for 3 reasons:
- Peppermint Sugar Cookie Recipe Ingredients:
- Instructions:
- Top tips for making the best Christmas peppermint cookies:
- Variations for this peppermint sugar cookie recipe:
- FAQ
- Other recipes you will enjoy:
- pin for later
- Soft Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Peppermint Glaze
Whether you’re baking for the holidays, a cookie exchange, or just because, these cookies are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser! Classic sugar cookies also make their appearance in our Christmas season, but these are just a delicious way to add a peppermint twist to your Christmas cookie recipes round up.
This peppermint sugar cookie recipe is a favorite for 3 reasons:
- Because of how simple it is. The cookie dough gets mixed in one bowl and the creamy peppermint frosting comes together so easy too. You don't need cookie cutters for this recipe, they bake into such beautiful fluffy round shapes using only a cookie scoop.
- They never fail. I've made these countless times and you know how sometimes a batch of cookies fails for unknown reasons, I've never had this recipe fail.
- They are soft and delicious. The cookies really have such a soft delicate bite, paired with the hint of peppermint in the glaze and crunch of the crushed candy canes on top, it's just so good.
Peppermint Sugar Cookie Recipe Ingredients:
- 1 cup soft butter
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 4 ½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon cream of tarter
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Candy cane pieces
Instructions:
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream butter and both sugars with the paddle attachment.
- Then add vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and peppermint extract on medium speed.
- When that's smooth, add your flour mixture.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper or those silicone baking sheets.
- Use the smallest cookie scoop to form balls and then place dough balls on your tray, don't flatten.
- Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes.
- Cool.
Glaze ingredients:
2 tbls melted butter
¼ cup milk
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon peppermint extract (optional)
Glaze Instructions:
- Whisk until nice and smooth, this can be done with a hand whisk or in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, it takes a bit of work to get it smooth.
- Put that in a piping bag or Ziplock bag and spread on the cookies, or use a spoon to scoop about half a tablespoon on each cookie.
- Crush peppermint candy or sticks with a rolling pin, and sprinkle onto the glaze before it dries.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.
Top tips for making the best Christmas peppermint cookies:
- Use butter and eggs at room temperature for the best baking results.
- Using the best quality ingredients always make a big difference in baking cookies.
- Do not over work the dough.
- If you’re not a peppermint fan just scale back or omit the peppermint extract and or candy cane, just make sure to replace the extract with a different one, like almond.
- Use a cookie scoop to get nice uniform cookies.
- Make sure not to overbake your cookies. This may seem like an easy concept, but a lot of time people think their cookies need just “one or two more minutes”. Cookies continue to bake on the sheet after they are removed from the oven.
Variations for this peppermint sugar cookie recipe:
One of the best thing about these peppermint cookies is that they are so easy to customize to make them the perfect soft sugar cookies for your holiday theme like Halloween, Easter and even baby or bridal showers. You only need to switch out the extracts to completely change these into a different flavor. Almond extract would be AMAZING in place of peppermint for seasons other than Christmas.
FAQ
No, chilling isn’t required. The dough will be soft, so letting it rest for about 5 minutes makes it easier to handle. If you do make it ahead, just let it sit at room temperature for a bit before scooping.
Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature. They stay soft and fresh for about 4–5 days.
Yes—both the dough and baked cookies freeze well. For convenience, scoop the dough into balls and freeze them on a baking sheet, then transfer to a container or bag. You can bake them straight from frozen with a slight increase in bake time.
It’s best to wait. Freeze the cookies plain, then add the glaze and peppermint topping after they’ve thawed for the freshest flavor and texture.
Other recipes you will enjoy:
White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies
pin for later
Soft Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Peppermint Glaze
Equipment
- kitchenaid mixer
- cookie scoop
- cookie sheets
Ingredients
- 1 cup soft butter
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 4 ½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon cream of tarter
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Candy cane pieces
Glaze ingredients:
- 2 tbls melted butter
- ¼ cup milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract optional
Instructions
Instructions:
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate large bowl.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream butter and both sugars with the paddle attachment.
- Then add vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and peppermint extract on medium speed.
- When that's smooth, add your flour mixture.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper or those silicone baking sheets.
- Use the smallest cookie scoop to form balls and then place dough balls on your tray, don't flatten.
- Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes.
- Cool.
Glaze Instructions:
- Whisk until nice and smooth, this can be done with a hand whisk or in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, it takes a bit of work to get it smooth.
- Put that in a piping bag or Ziplock bag and spread on the cookies, or use a spoon to scoop about half a tablespoon on each cookie.
- Crush peppermint candy or sticks with a rolling pin, and sprinkle onto the glaze before it dries.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.
Notes
Top tips for making the best Christmas peppermint cookies:
- Use butter and eggs at room temperature for the best baking results.
- Using the best quality ingredients always make a big difference in baking cookies.
- Do not over work the dough.
- If you’re not a peppermint fan just scale back or omit the peppermint extract and or candy cane, just make sure to replace the extract with a different one, like almond.
- Use a cookie scoop to get nice uniform cookies.
- Make sure not to overbake your cookies. This may seem like an easy concept, but a lot of time people think their cookies need just “one or two more minutes”. Cookies continue to bake on the sheet after they are removed from the oven.
