This is a new holiday spin on my beloved Chocolate Pistachio Cookies. With a buttery sugar cookie base, rich chocolate ganache, and topped with crushed candy canes for a kiss of peppermint crunch, this easy cookie screams holiday!
The dough does need to chill for 1-2 hours so plan accordingly. I often make sugar cookie dough the day before I want to bake them.
I used about half a box of candy canes to get a half cup of crushed candy canes. I unwrapped each candy cane, put them in a ziplock bag, and tapped them with a hammer until they broken into perfectly sized pieces. Let the ganache cool slightly before topping the cookies. These cookies are at their prettiest day one, as peppermint can bleed a little, but a week later, they’re still equally delicious!
Peppermint Ganache Sugar Cookies
For the cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
For the topping:
8 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate bars
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup candy canes, crushed
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar on high. Mix in egg and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix just until combined.
- Divide dough in half and flatten into disks. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, roll portions of dough out to about 1/4″ thickness. Use a large round cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes, let cool for one minute on the cookie sheet, then remove from sheet and cool completely.
- To make the ganache, chop the chocolate and set in a heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it’s bubbling around the edges, then pour over chopped chocolate and let stand for 2-3 minutes before whisking until smooth. Let the ganache cool slightly before spooning a bit of ganache in the center of each cookie, letting it ooze towards the edges.
- Sprinkle with crushed candy canes, then refrigerate the cookies for 10-15 minutes to set the ganache. Store at room temperature.
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Happy baking,
