Buttermint Cookies are so supremely soft, delicious and creamy! There are a few “secret ingredients” in the batter to make them extra rich and delicious!
I have a hardcore obsession with creamy, buttery peppermint. I’m not talking about a peppermint hard candies, although they’re all well and good. I’m talking about the combo of rich white chocolate mixed with cool peppermint. It’s an over the top sweet combo that I generally only indulge in for one month a year.
Is your mind blown at my self control?
Full disclosure, it more about seasonal aspirations than restraint…mint feels like winter just the same as pumpkin feels like fall. It’s all very basic, actually.
What’s not basic are these cookies. They are loaded with deliciousness in the form of cream cheese, pudding mix, white chocolate and crushed minty candies. Oh and butter. I did these right, you see.
Which brings me to the name…I’ve called these Buttermint Cookies because the flavor reminds me so much of those sweet pastel-colored candies that I adore.
There are some epic baking ingredients happening up in here. Cream cheese makes these cookies rich and thick…pudding mix amps up the vanilla flavor while giving them a gorgeous texture and the crushed mint bits add pepperminty flavor but also bits of subtle crunch throughout. So much to love here.
Oh and I also used a smidge of this…
It’s Pure Peppermint Extract. My favorite is Nielsen-Massey.
I bought my candies already crushed, but you could simply buy peppermint hard candies and work out some of your stresses crushing them with a rolling pin.
The dough comes together very easily, and there is no chill time necessary and I pressed white chips on top before I baked them so they are just as pretty to look at as they are to eat. It’s all in the details.
They’ll bake up thick and beautiful…
I used a thin steel baking sheet lined in parchment paper to bake them. If you use a thick or insulated baking sheet your cookies not not spread and stay very tall. The type of baking sheet you use really matters when your cookie baking!
These cookies definitely deserve a coveted spot on your holiday baking list!
Print
Peppermint Cream Cheese Pudding Cookies
- Yield: 24 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 egg, plus 1 yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 (3.4 ounce) Instant Vanilla Pudding
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup crushed peppermint candies
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the cream cheese and butter for 1-2 minutes on medium speed until smooth. Add in the brown sugar, egg, yolk, the vanilla and peppermint extracts, baking soda, salt and dry pudding mix. Mix until smooth, about 1 minute scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and mix in the flour until just incorporated.
- Finally stir in the peppermint candy and the white chips.
- Using a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets 2- inches apart.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes until the edges are golden and the centers are just set.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
You can make these cookies smaller, using a medium cookie scoop as well. Bake them for 8-10 minutes.
Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days.
I plan to make these soon. I so love buttermints. I was kinda hoping these cookies included them when I read the tittle. have you ever tried baking with them?
I haven’t… but I am quite certain that you could!
We would love to try these for Christmas. So many people ask for a peppermint treat that time of year.
★★★★★
When I have to crush up peppermint candy (Often starlight mints) I use a wooden hammer that I got from a seafood restaurant, or my wooden meat tenderizing hammer that is made out of wood. I just lay the mint on the granite counter-top and one strike usually is sufficient. A metal hammer is too much and tends to pulverize the candy to chips and a lot of powder.
Great tip!
Whaaaaaaat! This is so genius. If there is one thing that I will happily eat until I get sick, it’s anything creamy AND minty. I’m in trouble…
Oh my, how creative, I would have never thought of this.
I want to make these for all the peppermint lovers in my life! That cream cheese dough is so perfect.
These cookies look cute and yummy!
These cookies look so delicious Shelly! Just a heads up…Andes sells broken up peppermint bark pieces/chips which could replace having to break up candy canes etc. I think it would be a great replacement and I’ll probably bake them using the Andes Peppermint Bark Baking Bits! Thanks so much for sharing with us ?
I have some of those in my pantry! I was thinking of using them but I wanted the crunch of the peppermint! Let me know how your come out I want to try that!
What’s not to love? Buttery, pepperminty and full of chocolate – pinned!
These cookies are going in my Christmas baskets this year.
And after all the years of baking, I learned something new. I never knew that baking on a thin steel baking sheet is better for spreading cookies. I have all different kinds of baking sheets, and could never figure out why one time the cookies spread, and the next time the same cookies don’t spread as much.
You are never to old to learn!!!!!!!!
I have found that same dough, same oven temp, different baking sheet gets you different results! It’s actually frustrating for people (and me) when you see a picture of a cookie and follow the recipe exactly but yours come out flat, or maybe don’t spread at all! I totally get it, and I can see how these cookies might not spread as much if you use an insulated or thick pan 🙂 Just wanted to give a heads up!
I want to make these for my recipe group’s cookie exchange next Wednesday (Dec 9th). I always bake on PC stoneware, so I’ll let you know how those turn out too.
great!! can’t wait to hear!