Soft, fudgy, and rich, these easy vegan peppermint mocha cookies are the perfect holiday, winter, or Christmas cookie. Topped with vegan white chocolate, infused with espresso flavor, and sprinkled with crushed candy canes these are the best cookies for the holiday season!
Originally Published: November 30, 2020 | Updated: November 28, 2022
Why You’ll Love these Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Does anyone else love fun holiday-inspired drinks? I know I love festive flavored drinks and treats as the weather gets cooler. One of my favorites is a peppermint mocha. And what’s better than a festive drink in cookie form?
A while ago, I made my Vegan Espresso White Chocolate Cookies, so today I thought I’d make an adaptation of those. So, here are the best, easy vegan chocolate peppermint mocha cookies!
- Filled with Candy Canes & Vegan Marshmallows
- Rich Chocolatey Flavor with Hints of Espresso & Peppermint Flavor
- Easy 1 Bowl Recipe
The Ingredients
The vegan candy cane cookies are so easy to make and can be made in one bowl! The main ingredients in this recipe are:
- Vegan Candy Canes, or peppermint candies
- Instant Espresso, or instant coffee
- Vegan Butter, Earth Balance Buttery Sticks or Country Crock Plant Butter
- Sugar (white and brown)
- Cocoa Powder
- Vanilla Extract
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Soda & Powder
Substitutions & Add Ins
- Instant Espresso: if you don’t have instant coffee, you can sub in normal ground coffee (however, the flavor will be slightly less intense).
- Chocolate Chips: you can definitely add in vegan dark chocolate chips to the cookie dough for even more richness!
- Brown Sugar: light brown sugar can be substituted for coconut sugar or dark brown sugar.
Helpful Equipment
- Measuring Cup & Digital Scale
- Large Baking Sheet or Cookie Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Cookie Scoop
- Food Processor & Electric Mixer (Optional)
Step By Step Instructions
STEP 1: The first step in making the dough is to cream your vegan butter and sugars together in a large bowl.
To cream the vegan butter and sugar, you could use a hand mixer or just a fork and some elbow grease.
📌 TIP: Earth Balance Vegan Butter has been a go-to of mine for forever. It’s the perfect replacement for normal dairy butter when making vegan cookies! I prefer the sticks over the tub for baking.
STEP 2: You’ll then add in the instant espresso, vanilla extract, and flax egg to the large mixing bowl.
STEP 3: Next, you’ll fold in the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and crushed candy canes.
📌 TIP: In this recipe, I’m using a flax egg as my binding ingredient. To make a flax egg, mix together 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed and 3 tablespoons of water. I let my mixture sit for about 5 minutes to thicken up before adding it to the dough.
Baking the Cookies
Because these cookies are so soft, chewy and a little fudgy, the dough is sticky and soft. This means it needs to be chilled before scooping.
STEP 4: To make the dough easier to work with, you’ll want to chill it for about 30 minutes before baking the cookies.
📌 TIP: This chill time is important to keep the dough from spreading too much when baked, plus it makes shaping the cookies much easier!
STEP 5: After chilling, mix in the vegan marshmallows. The dough should be VERY thick and fudgy. This is okay!
STEP 6: To shape the cookies, scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough at a time into your hands and roll the dough into a ball.
Place the cookie balls about 2 inches apart from each other on the baking tray. This will help the cookies bake more evenly and keep them from spreading into each other! You can also sprinkle some more crushed candy canes on top of the dough if you’d like.
STEP 7: These cookies only take a short 10-12 minutes to bake, so keep an eye on the timer! (I baked mine for exactly 11 minutes.)
STEP 8: After removing the cookies from the oven, you’ll want to let them cool for a few minutes (4-5) on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.
📌 TIP: You can use a cookie cutter to help shape the cookies back into a circle if they’ve spread a little bit.
Decorating the Peppermint Mocha Cookies
I chose to decorate my chocolate candy cane cookies with a drizzle of vegan white chocolate and another sprinkle of crushed candy canes.
Place the cookies on a wire rack with a paper towel underneath for easy clean up. Then, drizzle the melted chocolate on the cooled cookies.
Of course, this is completely optional, but decorating the cookies makes them feel extra festive! (And it’s fun!)
Storage
Room Temperature: keep these vegan peppermint cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Freezer: they also store well in the freezer. Place them in a freezer bag or container and keep in the freezer for 2-3 months.
Cookie Pro Tips
- Make sure your vegan butter is softened: If your vegan butter is melted, the cookies will spread more than they should, and the texture will be less fluffy & soft.
- Accurately measure the flour: Too much flour can create cookies that are too puffy and cake-like. For the best results use a digital scale or use the spoon and level method to measure the flour.
- Chill the dough: Chilling the dough is crucial to this recipe. Skipping this step means the cookies will spread way too much!
FAQ
Yes, you can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer to make the cookie dough. You can mix the cookie dough on medium or medium-low speed.
Yes! This vegan peppermint cookie dough can be frozen. Place scoops of the dough onto a cookie sheet and place the tray in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Once the cookie dough has solidified, you can transfer the dough balls to a freezer bag. The cookie dough can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.
I don’t recommend using oil instead of vegan butter in this recipe. However, dairy-free butter can be substituted 1 for 1 with dairy-based butter in this cookie recipe.
The weather, elevation, and different brands of butter (which contain different amounts of moisture) can all affect the moisture content of the cookie dough. If your dough looks dry, try adding 1 tsp of water or dairy-free milk like soy milk at a time until the dough can easily be rolled into balls
LOOKING FOR MORE HOLIDAY BAKING IDEAS & VEGAN COOKIE RECIPES?
- Vegan Cranberry Almond Shortbread Cookies
- Classic Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Espresso White Chocolate Cookies
- Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Eggnog Thumbprint Cookies
- The BEST Fudgy Vegan Brownies
- Air Fryer Cut Out Sugar Cookies
- Cherry Bonbon Shortbread Cookies
Did you make This vegan Chocolate Peppermint Mocha Cookie Recipe?
I’d love to know! Leave a star rating and comment below!
Easy Vegan Peppermint Mocha Cookies
Soft, fudgy, and rich, these easy vegan peppermint mocha cookies are the perfect holiday, winter, or Christmas cookie. Topped with vegan white chocolate, infused with espresso flavor, and sprinkled with crushed candy canes these are the best cookies for holiday baking!
Ingredients
Cookies
- ½ cup vegan butter, softened
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar, loosely packed
- 1 flax egg, 1 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tbsp water (let sit for 5 minutes to thicken)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp instant espresso
- ¼ cup of cocoa powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned into a measuring cup, not scooped from the bag
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp crushed vegan candy canes, about 3 candy canes
- 3 tbsp mini vegan marshmallows, chopped small (optional)
Topping
- ¼ cup vegan white chocolate
- ½ tbsp coconut oil
- Crushed vegan candy canes
Instructions
Making the Dough
- In a medium-sized bowl, cream the vegan butter, white sugar, and brown sugar together until the mixture is lighter in color.
- Add in the flax egg, vanilla extract, and instant espresso. Add in the cocoa powder and mix to combine.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt on top of the wet ingredients. Sift the dry ingredients together with a fork and then fold them into the wet ingredients. The mixture should form a sticky dough.
- Fold in the crushed candy canes.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This will help keep the cookies from spreading too much when baked and make the dough easier to work with.
Baking the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- After chilling the dough, fold in the chopped mini vegan marshmallows if using.
- Using a cookie scoop, roll 1 tbsp of dough at a time into a ball. Place on a nonstick or greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart from each other.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. (I baked mine for 11 minutes)
- Once removed from the oven, let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes. Then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
Decorating
- To decorate the cookies, melt the vegan white chocolate and coconut oil together in a small bowl in the microwave. Microwave the chocolate for 2 minutes, stopping every 30 seconds to stir.
- Drizzle the chocolate on top of the cookies. Immediately top with crushed candy canes while the chocolate is still wet. Let the chocolate cool & set, and enjoy!
Notes
- I found the easiest way to crush my candy canes was in a mini food processor.
- Make sure to not over bake the cookies! They should appear just baked right out the oven but will continue baking some as they cool on the baking sheet.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 14 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 169Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 1gSugar: 11gProtein: 2g
Nutritional info is an estimate.
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I would love to read the comments, but they seem to be hidden….
How long do these cookies last?
How is the best way to store them?
I definitely want to make these!
Hi Jo! These cookies will stay fresh at room temperature for about 2 days. I typically store them in an air-tight container (like a Tupperware) or a ziplock baggie. After 2 days I usually freeze them so they stay moist. You can place them in a freezer-proof ziplock or wrap them very well in plastic wrap to freeze them.