I was at the grocery store the other day and found Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints-they were begging to jump into my cart. I bought a few boxes and decided to create a holiday cookie with them. It snowed on Saturday, which was my excuse to stay in my pj’s, turn on the Christmas tunes, and bake the day away. Josh and Caleb assisted me in my baking adventures-we got out the Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints and created a new cookie for the holiday season-Chocolate Chip Peppermint Crunch Cookies.
These chocolate chip cookies have a few Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints tucked inside. I decided to make the cookies even more festive by adding crushed candy canes to the top. I sprinkled each cookie with sea salt before baking because I love a good salty kick in my cookies.
I made these cookies jumbo size by using my muffin top pan. If you don’t have a muffin top pan, I highly recommend you get one. Maybe you can ask Santa:) They are great for making muffin tops, but I mostly use the pan to make giant cookies. You can make these cookies regular sized, just roll them into balls and place them on a cookie sheet. Either way the cookies will be tasty:)
The Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints melted throughout the cookies creating a nice minty surprise. The candy canes made the cookies look pretty and also added a nice minty crunch. If you are looking for a new holiday cookie to bake this year, try these Chocolate Chip Peppermint Crunch Cookies. They are a great cookie to take to a cookie swap, give away as gifts, or to eat all by yourself.
Starting this week, we will be doing some fun holiday giveaways. All of the giveaways will appear on our “On the Side” page, so make sure you are following our RSS feed. You don’t want to miss out-we have some great giveaways planned! Yahoo!
Chocolate Chip Peppermint Crunch Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 Cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
- 2 boxes 3.5 ounce Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints
- 6 large candy canes crushed
- Sea salt for sprinkling on cookies
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If you are making giant cookies, spray a muffin top pan and set aside. If you are making regular sized cookies, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- 2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- 3. To make giant cookies-scoop out ¼ cup of dough and flatten the dough with your hands. Place 3 Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints onto the dough and wrap the dough around the candies. Make sure they are covered. Press the dough into the muffin top pans. Sprinkle crushed candy cane pieces and sea salt over each cookie. To make regular sized cookies-tuck 1 Peppermint Crunch Junior Mint into about 1 tablespoon of cookie dough. Form into a ball and roll into crushed candy cane pieces. Place cookies on baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt.
- 4. Bake giant cookies for 10-13 minutes, until edges just start to turn golden brown. Let cookies cool for 10 minutes in muffin top pan before transferring to a cooling rack. Bake regular sized cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until edges just start to turn golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Have you tried this recipe?
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If you like these Chocolate Chip Peppermint Crunch Cookies, you might also like:
- Double Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies from The Novice Chef
- Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies from Bakers Royale
- Peppermint Marshmallow Surprise Cookies from Barbara Bakes
- Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod
What a great idea! I love the way they look and are baked.
Cheers,
Rosa
Ahhhh, delish!
Another great cookie recipe! Seriously, I don’t even need another website for cookies anymore. You have so many awesome ones!
Ahh, this is awesome!!! This sounds and looks so good. I want a muffin top pan 🙂 I always rip the muffin tops off my muffins haha, what a great idea, Maria 🙂
I need one of those muffin top pans so my cookies can look as pretty as yours! These look delish, what a great use of those junior mints!
Giant cookies are always the way to go. And really, do you need a reason to bake the day away? That’s the best way to spend the day!
Great idea, never would have thought to use a muffin top pan for that.
I love that you made these in a muffin tin! I need to try that more often and I love the recipe….YUM. Perfect for the holidays.
Your recipes always look so delish. I can’t wait to try.
Junior mints are my absolute favorite “candy” out there. In a cookie? Genius!! I have to try these!
They look beautiful, perfect, and yummy. I cannot wait to try them!
Wow… these are perfection!!! What a fantastic and creative recipe Maria!!
These scrumptious, giant cookies would make fun Christmas gifts for neighbors. I should get a muffin top pan.
OH
MY
GOSH
i need these in my life STAT…good thing i have a lunch date with the store!
Why have I never seen these candies before? Holy amazing!
mmm..these look amazing! i love the use of junior mints! how festive!
I’d never think to add junior mints to my cookies but mostly because they’d never stand a chance at sticking around long enough to be baked with! lol I love peppermint junior mints. I’ve been buying them for years and just about get giddy when I finally see them in Nov and Dec!
These are beautiful!! Now I”m on the hunt for those candies.
I will be on the lookout for those Junior Mints!
I need these jr mints in my life. Then these cookies will be in my belly. For sure.
Ooooh, I haven’t seen those junior mints yet, they sound delicious! Great cookie idea!
Love the combination of flavors you have going on. And junior mints are soooo good!
I could just imagine how sweet and delicious these cookies are. Perfect Christmas treat!
Happy Monday!
What a great add in! I’ve never seen that flavor of junior mints. Looks so pretty. And cooking them in the muffin tins is a brilliant idea. So festive!
So festive! I love the idea of making JUMBO cookies with a muffin top pan! 🙂
Maria, These look delicious! Where did you find the Peppermint Junior Mints?
I’m going to use these for neighbor gifts!
I found them at Smith’s:)
Yum! We just made chocolate chip peppermint bark cookies last night using some of the crushed up Andes peppermint bark pieces you can find now. Mixed those with mini chocolate chips. My DH and 5 yr old son loved them!!! Such good flavors together. I’ll keep an eye out for the Junior Mints now, too.
We also made some little choclate cookies and topped them warm out of the oven with either the Andes peppermint bark pieces or the Andes creme de menthe pieces which melt and make a delicious little bite to pop in your mouth. SO good, and the red and green are so festive!
These are perfect to leave out for Santa
I’m definitely going to be on the lookout for those jr. mints now!!
Perfect little Christmas cookie! I need to be on the watch for those mints.
I love when we are inspired by things that just so happen to jump into our shopping carts. 😉 These look great. My 3 year old love chocolate chip cookies & peppermint-I’ll have to make these soon. Maybe the big guy in red would love them. 🙂
Junior Mints are one of my favorite types of candy–this peppermint crunch version has got to be amazing, and even more so i cookie form! Also, that’s a great way to use a muffin-top pan! And who doesn’t love a giant-sized cookie? 🙂
I would love to have a muffin top pan. I love how thick these are, absolutely beautiful. Great flavor combo!
Maria! Great minds think alike! I just made some very similar last night for my cookie swap!! I am so glad I made extra! 🙂
I never would have thought to use a muffin top pan to make cookies! Cool idea! =)
I love that you put crushed candy canes on top of the cookies! Can’t wait to try!
I am in crazy cookie love! I have a bunch of candy canes that I can’t wait to use in this!
P.S. Thanks for linking to me girl!! 😀 You’re the best!
Can I just say that I LOVE the size of these babies? Fab!
So festive for the holidays!
These cookies look awesome!! I love my muffin top pan!!
Lovely! Using peppermint candies is a great idea!
yay minty chocolatey cookies! these sound delicious! i’ve never had the peppermint crunch junior mint but i imagine them to be awesome! yumm 🙂
OH my word! Thee look amazing!
I have minty cookies today, too! Great minds xoxoxo
I just saw those jr. mints at the store recently and thought they would be fun in a baked treat. Of course you beat me to it.
These remind me of the cookies I have sitting on my counter that I’m currently trying to ignore. Which means they must be delicious!
These cookies look amazing!! Perfect for the holidays!
How have I not seen those Junior Mints yet? I just bought the new Dove peppermint bark chocolates… those were begging to be put in my shopping cart.
These are so festive and perfect for the upcoming holidays!
These cookies are so pretty…and look super delish. The coloring of the cookie is perfect for the holidays and your pictures of them are beautiful.
I love this little pan! And I recently did chocolate peppermint cookies… and then peppermint marcarons… they’re just so good for the holidays. Happy Holidays!
LOVE the idea of the crunch inside the cookies. Wow. So festive!
You always make the best cookies, these look so festive and just delightful!
Tis the season for peppermint! Great cookies 🙂
these are so festive! i wish we had those junior mints around here–i’ve been looking!
Oh wow cookies using a muffin top pan?!And Peppermint Crunch Junior mints?! You are a woman after my own heart!
That’s so cool that you made these in a muffin top pan! They look perfect Maria. Pepperminty good 🙂
As @Donna said i like the cruch insinde the cookie also. It does the cookie more special.
These cookies look fantastic Maria! I have been trying not to open this link – for fear that I will race to the kitchen to make them. Alas, here I am. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
These look amazing! I love peppermint choc combo and in cookie form….ugh, heaven help me.
I want to make these but am having troubles finding the jr mints peppermint crunch. Where can I find them? Thanks
I found them at Smith’s (Kroger) grocery store. If you can’t find them you can use regular Junior Mints.
I made this this am, and am considering getting the muffin top pan, just for this recipe.
this recipe is great, it gives me an idea to make some yummy pepermint sugar cookies.
and on a side note i just love your blog it has helped me alot, i have a fiance who is vary picky when it comes to food and hates vegtables and your blog has helped me find a way to introduce vegtables to him.
My husband would love these. He’s a huge chocolate & peppermint fan!
Such a cute recipe; very festive. Love this idea of the crunchy sweetness. Yummy!
These look very yummy! I love Junior Mints!! You are so creative!
So sad. I was so excited to make these I ran out this morning to get the ingredients and I went to 4 different stores and can’t find the Jr. Mints. I live in VA and we don’t have a Smiths.
Do you have Kroger? If you can’t find them you can use regular Junior Mints.
These look incredible! You have combined some of my favorite things! I am obsessed with junior mints but have NEVER thought to pt them in cookies! Can’t wait to make these with my kids!
I love this blog, and today I decided to finally try out a recipe from it. I am in the middle of making these because they looked so good. As I added the flour, the texture seemed way too stiff. Is it supposed to be 2 3/4 cup flour instead of the posted 3 3/4 cup? I think I will go ahead and mix a little butter with an egg to add and see if that saves it!
Sorry you had trouble, but I used 3 3/4 cups flour and the cookies turned out great!
These look so festive – and they sound awesome! I haven’t seen the Peppermint Crunch Jr. Mints, but I’ll have to look. I’ve never heard of a muffin top pan either….I’ve really got to get out more!!
What an awesome take on the chocolate chip cookie. Such a perfect treat for this season. Yum.
Chocolate chip cookies with a holiday kick! Great idea 🙂
For the smaller sized cookies, after you roll them in the peppermint do you just put the formed ball on the cookie sheet? Or do you flatten it out a bit?
I just found the special junior mints at Target and I’m really excited to make these for a family Christmas party.
Thanks!
Place them on the cookie sheet and gently press them down with your palm, don’t flatten them all of the way though:) Enjoy!
I made this recipe, and it’s really good.
These look SO good, Maria!!!
LOVE this recipe! I picked up some of these Junior Mints at our Five Below store.
Just a quick question… do you think I can freeze the dough before plunking the Junior Mints in the middle? Then defrost and pick back up at #3 above??
Sure, just make sure it is defrosted so you can tuck the mints in. Enjoy!
Thanks for strtaing the ball rolling with this insight.
Can’t find those Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints anywhere now that this recipe has been on for a while. I’m going to try with regular Junior Mints. Hope it works!
Yes, regular Junior Mints will work!
I made these last night and they were delicious! I couldn’t find the Junior Mints though so used Andes Peppermint Crunch Chips and used dark chocolate chips. These will now be a regular in the list of Christmas cookies. Thanks!
I found the peppermint crunch jr mints at Target finally. I made 3 batches of these. Yes 3. Hands down my new favorite Christmas cookie. These are on my permanent holiday baking list. Thank you!!!
I know these are a few years old but holy cow do they look good!!
I love these cookies!! I have been making these for several years now for Christmas. Thanks for the recipe!!!!
I am so glad you love the cookies!
I love chocolate chip cookies and these Peppermint Crunch Jr. Mints are one of my favorites at Christmas so this recipe looked like pefection. Until, however, I tried making the small version and it was a disaster. Dough was so thick nearly impossible to mix in choc chips, Jr. Mints melted and ran out the sides while baking, and the crushed candy canes melted and burned around the edges and became stringy. 🙁 Any suggestions would be welcome – I clearly need help on all fronts!