Rich, fudgy chocolate cookies stuffed with candy cane buttercream. A festive favorite!
I have a confession. I bought 3 huge boxes of candy canes and am using them in recipes left and right. Hopefully you love candy canes as much as I do? Right?
What we have here today is a fudgy chocolate cookie sandwich stuffed with candy cane buttercream in the center.
What is candy cane buttercream? Glad you asked.
The delightfully festive buttercream starts just as any basic vanilla buttercream—butter, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and a touch of milk. I use this classic recipe anytime I want a vanilla frosting.
Simply grind up some candy canes and sift the candy cane “dust” into the vanilla buttercream. The dust gives the buttercream just enough peppermint flavor and a charming light pink hue, which I think is gorgeous paired with the dark chocolate cookies! I love a pretty cookie.
Confession. I ate some leftover candy cane “dust bunnies” with a spoon -> minty powdery perfection! Candy cane dust will be the loudest, but sweetest thing you’ll food processor will ever make. 😉
The cookies themselves are worth writing home about. They have cocoa powder, rich melted chocolate, and mini chocolate chips in the dough—a triple chocolate threat. Would you have it any other way? The cookies are rich and dense, just like brownies. My version of a “brookie”—or brownie cookies.
The cookies are a chocoholics pure dream and the perfect “bread” for the minty candy cane buttercream. The absolute best part of these cookies is that they stand the true cookie test—remaining soft, even the next day. To keep the frosting fresh, be sure to store your extras in the refrigerator. If you have any extras, that is. We didn’t. 😉
My intense fudgy cookies aren’t for the faint of heart and do require a few steps. For a short cut, try using my Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies instead! Cake mix short-cut, I’m all about those sometimes.
You and your family are going to just love these cookie sandwiches this holiday season!
More Festive Peppermint Picks:
- Chocolate Peppermint Thumbprints
- Peppermint Bark & Peppermint Bark Fudge
- Peppermint Mocha Cookies
- Peppermint Frosted Chocolate Cookies
- White Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes
Chocolate Fudge Cookies with Candy Cane Buttercream
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 24 sandwich cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Rich, fudgy chocolate cookies stuffed with candy cane buttercream. A festive favorite!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cookies
- 1 cup + 1 Tablespoon (133g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 cup (21g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (I use 1 package Baker’s Semi Sweet chocolate)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (180g) mini chocolate chips
Candy Cane Buttercream Frosting
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 and 1/2 – 3 cups (300-360g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1–2 Tablespoons (15-30ml) heavy cream or milk
- 1/2 cup candy cane dust, sifted (about 8–10 candy canes pulverized in a food processor)
- optional: crushed candy canes for rolling
Instructions
- Make the cookies: Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave for about 1 minute. Stir. Continue to melt in 30 second increments until fully melted and smooth. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla. Set aside. With an electric or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth and creamy—about 1 minute. Beat in the sugars, scraping down the sides every 10 seconds or so. The mixture will be granular.
- Mix in the beaten egg/vanilla until incorporated. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients on slow speed. Fold in the mini chocolate chips. Do not overmix at any point in this process.
- Chill dough for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Scoop about 1 Tablespoon of dough and roll into a slightly flattened ball. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies have just begun to set with the centers still appearing very soft. They will firm up as they cool.
- As the cookies cool, make the buttercream: Beat the butter for 1 minute with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 2 and 1/2 cups of sifted powdered sugar and slowly mix on low speed. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 1 Tablespoon of cream/milk. Beat for about 1 minute. Manually stir in candy cane dust. If your buttercream needs to be thicker, add more powdered sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk/cream. If frosting is too sweet, add a pinch of salt.
- Frost the bottom end of a cooled cookie and top with another to make a sandwich. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Fine Mesh Sieve | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Hi Sally,
Can I use Dutch process cocoa powder in this recipe?
Hi Caroline, yes, you can use dutch process cocoa in this cookie recipe.
Hi, can this recipe be doubled? Thank you
Hi Roxanne, sure can!
Hi Sally, what is the longest the dough can be refrigerated? Could I make the batter and refrigerate for 24 hours and then bake them? Thanks!
Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem. The dough may be a little too hard to roll after 24 hours, so you can let it soften at room temperature for 10-30 minutes. Enjoy!
These turned out fantastic! My kids helped so it was a mess as always but fun and delicious. We put the icing in a bag and piped it onto the bottom cookie for easy filling. Total hit!!
My sweet tooth little sister loved them. In fact, my whole family did. If you are a fan of candy canes, you’ll love these cookies.
Hi Sally, I LOVE your website and I can’t tell you how many wonderful recipes and desserts I’ve made that are now family classics!
I was wondering if the peppermint buttercream could be used as frosting for a chocolate cake? I’ve made your chocolate cream cheese Bundt cake (AMAZING!) and was thinking of making that recipe in two cake pans and layering with the peppermint buttercream. What do you suggest?
Hi Emily, You can make that cake in two layers or simply follow the recipe for Triple Chocolate Cake and use the sour cream version in the recipe notes. I recommend using the peppermint frosting from these Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes (which uses peppermint extract instead of crushed candy cane).
Hi Sally! I’m super excited to make these..however for some reason all of the stores are out of candy canes…its either that its too close to Christmas or that we live way up in Northern Idaho?! My question is..can I substitute peppermint extract in the frosting instead of actual candy canes?
Hi Nicole, Yes you can use peppermint extract! Just remember it is very strong so I recommend only adding 1/4 tsp and tasting it before adding any more!
Hey! I am wondering if I could use semi sweet chocolate chips instead of Baker’s bars? I just have them on hand already and wanted to try whipping these up for an event! I tried to make the Candy Cane Kiss cookies with my regular flour instead of the King Arthur and they spread and didn’t look as pretty. 🙁 So now I’m nervous to try substituting anything haha! Hopefully I can grab some Baker’s bars before then but I ALWAYS have semi sweet chocolate chips around.
Hi Megan! Unfortunately, chocolate chips don’t melt down in to the proper consistency. (They contain stabilizers so they don’t easily melt in the oven.) I recommend following the recipe and using the pure chocolate.
Im going to make the cookies ahead of time(2 weeks). Can I freeze the cookies? (I will frost them at a later date).
Yes! See my post on how I freeze cookies!
Hi Sally!!! I’ve been making your cookies the whole time and I bookmarked this recipe already! I have a question, how many grams is 8 oz? Thanks anyway 🙂
About 450g. Thanks Shania!
I made these for a Cookie Exchange party and they were a hit! These are the best chocolate cookies and the frosting was super easy to make. Thanks again, Sally!
Hi! Just found this recipe! Its says you used 1 package of Baker’s semi sweet chocolate, chopped. The bars I found are 4 oz., So did you use 2 baking bars, or a bag/ 8oz of semi sweet chocolate chips?
Thanks!!
Hi Terri! Bakers used to sell 8 oz bars, but now they have been reduced to 4oz within the past year. So you’ll need two 4 oz.
These were amazing! I wanted a new cookie to bake for my school’s Secret Santa, and I thought these would be perfect. And they were! Only, we had a snow day on the last day (when I was going to bring in the cookies). This meant my family got to eat them, instead, and they thoroughly enjoyed them. Now that my Christmas vacation is almost done, I’ll be making them once again. Thanks so much for posting and sharing.
I made these a few weeks ago. #1, my family and coworkers devoured them within hours. Some said they were the best thing I’ve ever made, and I’d like to think I’m a pretty well-seasoned baker. #2, the buttercream… deadly. I was eating it by the spoonful. Keep posting, not like I need to tell you twice. I love your recipes and your posts are fun to read. Thanks! 🙂