During the holidays each year, I try to come up with a fun new cookie recipe. Sure, I enjoy making the usuals like gingerbread, chocolate chip, and oatmeal cookies (and no one complains about eating them, either), but there’s just something fun about letting creativity take over to come up with new flavor combinations.
I have a soft spot in my heart for what I like to call “red cup season.” You know, the season when Starbucks switches over to the red holiday cups! There are few things that get me into the Christmas mood like a steaming coffee in a red cup from Starbucks.
Though lately I usually opt for unsweetened coffee, finding many drinks too sweet for my tastes, I still enjoy the occasional peppermint mocha from Starbucks. There’s just something about the combination of coffee, chocolate, and peppermint that makes me weak in the knees. When I was working full time and going to the office every day, I would pick one up in the morning on my way to work (more often than I’d like to admit!). And, I always loved the way my office would smell like a peppermint patty for the rest of the morning!
So, as I was dreaming up new cookie flavors this year, I decided to try my hand at a peppermint mocha inspired cookie. I had a bag of Candy Cane Kisses in the pantry just waiting for some inspiration, so I settled on a peppermint mocha version of the traditional peanut butter blossom cookie. I was thrilled with how the cookies turned out, and I may just have to add them to my list of “usual” cookies for next Christmas!
Peppermint Mocha Blossoms
(Makes approximately 4 dozen)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- About 1/2 cup granulated sugar to coat cookies
- Approximately 4 dozen Candy Cane Kisses, unwrapped
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease your baking sheets, or line with parchment, and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and espresso powder until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then add the vanilla and peppermint extracts.
Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture until the dough comes together.
Roll tablespoons of the dough into balls and coat with granulated sugar. Place on the baking sheet and bake for 9-10 minutes.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before pressing a Candy Cane Kiss into the center of each cookie. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Oh yum! I am such a sucker for peppermint mochas. I would go to town with these!
These look awesome! I love those candy cane kisses :)
These sound wonderful Jen! I love the chocolate-mocha cookie so I’ll definitely have to give these a try!
I have to make these! Adding them to the list:)
I have a feeling I would enjoy these much more than the drink. They look awesome Jen.
These are adorably festive. What a sweet idea.
I love those drinks too but bet I would love these cookies more; they sure are prettier! Nice job Jen.
Jen these cookies are awesome! I love that you made peppermint mocha latte inspired cookies. I also don’t really get their sweetened drinks and just opt for drip, but I could gobble down a whole batch of these cookies! I’ve been seeing these candy cane kisses on everone’s blogs but i haven’t seen them in a store yet.
Try this with York peppermint bites or coffee crisp bites
Love these! I think I’ll make them for my daughter, also a seasonal Peppermint Mocha junkie. We even took a picture this year to document her first “Peppermint Mocha of the season”. :) Did I mention that she’s 12? Thanks, Jen!
I am absolutely addicted to the Candy Cane kisses. If I can manage to hold out from eating the remainder of the bag I’m going to make these : )
I have never tried those candy cane kisses before, but this recipe makes me want to go buy a bag and make these amazing cookies.
xo
I love to make gingerbread cookies and sometimes put them in a “kit’ with various decorating options, tubes of icing, boxes of raisins, etc… I use holiday plastic containers to put them in; they are a hit with friends who have children who love decorating them. College kids love them in exam care packages, too.
I would love to make these cookies , but we are not for sure what espresso powder is ? I am not a coffee drinker and could not find it at walamrt , please help , JOANNA
Joanna – You can find espresso powder in specialty baking shops. However, a fine substitute would be instant espresso or instant coffee granules. You’ll most likely find instant coffee in the regular coffee aisle. I know my grocery store also has instant espresso in the Italian and Mexican sections of the store.
Those looks great. I love that the cookie is mocha.
Jen, these are so adorable!!! Love the red and white on the dark cookie! I bet they are delicious!
I so want to make those! That’s the trouble with Christmas . . . so many cookies, so little time.
Thank you for sharing your recipe! These look really delicious. In fact, I will be gathering the ingredients to bake these tomorrow. I was just curious, the espresso and the cocoa powder: did you use sweetened or unsweetened versions? Mostly, I’m trying to figure out which kind and brand of cocoa powder to use.
Nikko – I used unsweetened cocoa powder and unsweetened espresso powder. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
The flavors that blend in this cookie are terrific. So pretty.
Oh yum! Those look amazing. That dough itself looks worth making these :)
That top shot is gorgeous! How did you do that?
It’s an espresso cup so the cookie just rested on top… Shot it on a piece of white foam board (light reflector turned on its side) w/ Lowel lights… And, a bit of overexposure on the camera. It was a lucky shot to say the least!
I HAVE to make these before Christmas. They look so festive and I love those kisses!
I could not find candy and kisses any where I substituted York peppermint bites
Made these tonight, they are amazing!! I can’t stay out of them! I subbd instant espresso powder because I had it in the grocery store. The kisses just make these. Glad I was hoarding three bags, all our grocery stores within a 45 min drive (each way) are already sold out.
Thank you for this delicious cookie! I signed up to bake 10 dozen cookies for a teacher appreciation project and had planned to do a rolled and decorated peppermint mocha cookie. Let’s just say I ran out of time and was looking for a quick and easy cookie to use instead. Thanks goodness I found this! Baked up 3 batches quick as could be, and the staff and teachers were amazed. They will never know how easy they are, hardest part; waiting for them to cool so I could box them up! Thanks again for a yummy cookie!
I made these yesterday for all my friends as Christmas presents and they LOVED them! I couldn’t find instant expresso powder so i used instant coffee instead. If any of you are making this substitution, I would suggest putting more than the 2 Tbls otherwise there wont be a coffee flavor.
Anyway, these were amazing. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Awesome. I made them tonight. I used 3 Starbucks via packs, and they turned out great. I could have used one more for even more “pop” and it wouldn’t have been too much. Thanks for the recipe:):):)