Holiday cookies: Chocolate Peppermint Bars
Love peppermint patties? Here’s a secret: They’re not hard to make at home. Start with a cocoa shortbread, then add a minty filling and chocolate coating.
They also freeze well, according to recipe author Melissa Clark, part of the New York Times team behind the new cookbook, “Cookies: The Best Recipes for the Perfect Anytime Treat,” (Ten Speed Press, $35).“It’s important to use bittersweet chocolate, at least 60% cacao and preferably more like 72%, and to use all of the chocolate called for, to balance the sweetness of the filling,” she writes.
Chocolate Peppermint Bars
Yield: Serves 36
INGREDIENTS
For the chocolate shortbread:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
For the peppermint filling and chocolate top:
3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 1/4 teaspoons peppermint extract, or to taste
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (at least 60% cacao), chopped
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil (optional)
DIRECTIONS
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches of paper to hang over the sides.
Make the chocolate shortbread:
In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Add the butter and process until a smooth dough forms. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake until firm to the touch and the sides of the crust are beginning to pull away from the pan, about 25 minutes. Cool completely.
Make the peppermint filling:
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the powdered sugar, butter, cream and peppermint extract. Beat until the mixture forms a thick, smooth paste. Press the filling evenly over the shortbread. Chill to set the filling for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
Use the parchment paper overhang to lift the shortbread and peppermint out of the baking pan and onto a cutting board. Cut in a 6-by-6 grid into 1½-inch squares for a total of 36 squares. Place the squares on a rack placed over a parchment-lined sheet pan and let them come to room temperature for about 15 minutes.
In the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt 7 ounces of the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from the heat, add the remaining 2 ounces chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes.
Add the coconut oil, if using, and stir the chocolate until smooth. Spoon 1 teaspoon chocolate on top of each peppermint square, using the back of the spoon to spread chocolate to the edges. Be sure to fully cover the top of the square with chocolate. (Leave the sides exposed, though it’s OK if some of the chocolate drips down.) Repeat with the remaining squares.
Let the squares sit at room temperature until the chocolate is set, at least 1 hour.
Reprinted with permission from “Cookies: The Best Recipes for the Perfect Anytime Treat” by Vaughn Vreeland and The New York Times Cooking. © 2025 by The New York Times Company. Photographs copyright © 2025 by The New York Times Company. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.