These Chocolate Chunk Peppermint Cookies are allergy-friendly Christmas cookies that will wow everyone! They’re so fudgy and delicious, nobody will be able to tell that they’re gluten-free & vegan!
Vegan Chocolate Cookies With Peppermint
Yep, a favorite holiday cookie of nearly everyone, but when you bake a batch that is vegan, gluten-free, and egg-free? Well, that just makes these vegan Christmas cookies downright addictive!
Vegan cookies (and for that matter, all other vegan recipes) have no animal products or byproducts in them. You will find NO eggs, wheat, bulgur, or rye flour in the recipe, either.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Below is an overview of the ingredients and recipe. Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card below for the complete details and nutrition information.
- Gluten-free flour – 1:1 flour, like Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 GF flour, works best or a flour with xanthan gum added.
- Cocoa Powder – Use Dutch-processed cocoa powder for the best taste. Dark cocoa powder will also work if you prefer a richer chocolate taste. Plus, it’s a great source of antioxidants!
- Dairy-free milk – Use your favorite unsweetened non-dairy drinking milk, like almond, coconut, or oat milk!
- Vegan butter – If you don’t have vegan butter, don’t worry, coconut oil works just fine. Or real butter if you are not vegan.
- Peppermint candies – You can buy crushed peppermint or crush up some candy canes.
- Dairy-free chocolate chips – Or chocolate chunks in the cookies – you can get either/both from Enjoy Life Foods.
- Unrefined sugar – I used xylitol and coconut sugar. Or you can use white cane sugar and brown sugar.
- Vinegar – In vegan baking, vinegar (combined with baking soda) is often used to provide the necessary structure that eggs would typically provide. We promise that your cookies will not taste like vinegar after baking!
- Peppermint and vanilla extract – I love using real peppermint extract with a touch of vanilla, or 2 drops of peppermint essential oil for a more soothing aftertaste.
How to Make Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Beat butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer for about 1-2 minutes or until they are creamed together. Add vanilla, and mix to combine.
- In another mixing bowl, sift the gluten-free flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together.
- Working in batches, add the dry mix to the sugar and butter. The batter will be thick and crumbly.
- Pour in the milk and peppermint extract, and mix again. Then, gently mix in the vinegar (do not over mix).
- Fold in the chocolate chunks and crushed peppermints.
- Cover batter. Then, chill the batter in the freezer for 20 minutes or the fridge for 60 minutes or up to 24 hours.
Pro Tip – Chilling cookie dough controls spread as it solidifies the fat (butter or oil) in the cookies. So as the cookies bake, the fat in the refrigerated dough takes longer to melt than room-temperature fat. Which prevents too much spread.
- While batter is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper, and set it aside.
- Remove the batter from the fridge or freezer. Using a medium cookie dough scoop (1 ½ to 2 Tablespoons), scoop out dough, and roll it into a ball.
- Coat each cookie in sanding sugar or sprinkles (optional). Then, place them on the baking sheet.
- Bake cookies on the center rack for 10-14 minutes, depending on the type of flour you use.
- Remove the cookies from the oven, and let them cool on the tray before touching them. They will set and harden as they cool.
- Store the cookies in a Ziplock bag or container. They are best when kept in the fridge, but room temperature will be fine for 5-7 days.
More of Our Favorite
Vegan & Gluten-Free Christmas Cookies
Vegan Peppermint Chocolate Cookies
- Total Time: 59 minutes
- Yield: 14 –16 cookies 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Delicious Vegan Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Peppermint! Gluten Free and easy to make Christmas cookies!
Ingredients
recipe updated 12/2022
- ½ cup (113 grams) plant-based butter, room temp
- ½ cup cane sugar or xylitol
- ¼ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (180 grams) Gluten-Free 1:1 Flour (See notes for substitution)
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-processed, if you can find it)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine kosher salt
- ¼ cup non dairy milk
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons distilled vinegar
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chunks or chips
- ⅓ cup crushed peppermints or 4 candy canes, crushed
- Optional sanding sugar or sprinkles to coat (dye-free sprinkles)
Instructions
- Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the ingredients with an electric mixer or stand mixer for about 1-2 minutes or until they are creamed together. Add vanilla, and mix to combine.
- In another mixing bowl, sift the gluten-free flour and cocoa powder together. Whisk in the baking soda and salt.
- Working in batches, add the dry mix to the sugar and butter. The batter will be thick and crumbly.
- Pour in the milk and peppermint extract, and mix again. Then, gently mix in the vinegar (do not over mix).
- Fold in the chocolate chunks and crushed peppermints.
- Cover batter. Then, chill the batter in the freezer for 20 minutes or the fridge for 60 minutes or up to 24 hours.
- While batter is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper, and set it aside.
- Remove the batter from the fridge or freezer. Using a medium cookie dough scoop (1 ½ to 2 Tablespoons), scoop out dough, and roll it into a ball.
- Coat each cookie in sanding sugar or sprinkles (optional). Then, place them on the baking sheet.
- Bake cookies on the center rack for 10-14 minutes, depending on the type of flour you use.
- Remove the cookies from the oven, and let them cool on the tray before touching them. They will set and harden as they cool.
- Store the cookies in a Ziplock bag or container. They are best when kept in the fridge, but room temperature will be fine for 5-7 days.
Notes
Substitution – Real butter can be subbed for plant based butter. Substitute a homemade flour blend for the store-bought Gluten-Free 1:1 Flour blend by whisking together: 1 cup gluten free All-Purpose flour, ½ cup oat flour and ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum.
Baking Tip – Chilling cookie dough controls spread. If you prefer flatter cookies, press the dough balls down a little bit before baking. Each type of flour will vary with how the cookies spread.
- Prep Time: 15
- chill time: 30
- Cook Time: 14
- Category: dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 200
- Sugar: 16.5 g
- Sodium: 140.4 mg
- Fat: 10.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.3 g
- Fiber: 1.8 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 15.4 mg
These are AMAZING. I made them for my coworkers and they couldn’t stop raving about them. I made a double batch using your recipe as-is, using 1 tsp of peppermint extract. 12 minutes in the oven, let cool, and refrigerated overnight. I made a few without rolling in sprinkles just to compare and everyone agreed they prefer them with the sprinkles. It gives them a nice zing.
Thanks for the feedback Amanda! So glad everyone loved them!
This is perfect for my mom, who is Gluten-Free! Perfect Stocking Stuffer for her! So long as my dad takes her out of the house for a couple of hours…
These cookies are very tasty and I’ve now made them twice. However mine spread out way more then the photos. I followed the instructions to a T (I even have an oven thermometer)
Oh no! That is so strange. Did you use 1:1 flour?
The “1:1” type of gluten-free flour is crucial. Don’t use regular GF flour.
I don’t usually cook vegan (was making these for a friend) and didn’t know that 1:1 is a special blend of GF flour. I made these with regular GF flour and they didn’t hold their shape and were sticky to the touch. My vegan friend explained the 1:1 type of GF flour contains xanthan gum which helps with binding the dough (adding structure). And yes, I did refrigerate the dough before cooking (almost an hour) and they still didn’t hold their shape when baked.
Even though the resulting cookies were sticky and super-soft (fall to pieces when picked up), the flavor was still good. I would definitely try these again with the right type of GF flour.
Also, I did 1 tsp of peppermint extract and they were very strongly flavored. Next time I will try the suggested 1/2 peppermint and 1/2 vanilla.
Thanks for sharing your experience! It will be helpful for others who are wanting to make these cookies.
Can’t wait to try these !!! Can I swap out gf flour for almond flour?
i don’t think that would work with these, but try my almond flour cookies and maybe add cocoa powder 😉 https://www.cottercrunch.com/almond-flour-cookies-vegan-paleo/
Can I use regular flour and regular sugar if I’m. If I’m not going for gluten/sugar free?
Sure, that should work!
Bob’s Red Mill flour is the best! I love how you colored these a peppermintyy color. 🙂 Bookmarking to try next week. 🙂
aren’t they the best? Truly a blessing to have wonderful products!
You are the vegan cookie Goddess. I bow before you.
I love the Enjoy Life brand. It’s what I use for all my City Hippie granola flavors too.
Nothing better than peppermint and chocolate together – and it cookie form, how could it be wrong?
right? So agree!
These cookies turned COMPLETELY flat in the oven and didn’t turn out AT ALL! I followed the recipe exactly and let the dough chill in the fridge overnight. The dough is delicious and I was so excited to enter them in the Cookie competition I have tomorrow. Now I’m screwed!
Oh no! I’m so sorry that happened. Did you use 1:1 flour with xanthan? You could roll them in a ball and cover with chocolate. I do that with edible cookie dough or brownie batter all the time. 😉 https://www.cottercrunch.com/strawberry-dark-chocolate-gluten-free-brownie-bites/
I just made them again (check out my instagram stories), and they worked great! so let me know what flour you used. I updated the notes again in the recip.e
I could eat a whole sheet of these! Thank sweet baby Jesus for cookie season!
amen bro! Haha!
I would NOT be complaining if someone gave me these for Christmas!
Chocolate peppermint cookies are perfect for the holidays! These are so festive!
Anything with chocolate and peppermint is a WIN!
Now these would make the perfect gift for my GF friends! They look absolutely delish. Thanks for all the tips!
These cookies look soooo good! Perfect for Christmas!
THanks Natalie! I agree, but a little bias. 🙂
These are the most festive cookies ever!