Gluten-Free Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cookies
Now that Thanksgiving is over, I’m all about the holiday baking! How about you?
Sunday afternoons spent watching holiday movies on the Hallmark channel, drinking hot cocoa and baking lots and lots of gluten-free cookies. Sounds like a dream, right?
We had our first big snowfall of the season in Chicago this past weekend and I wasn’t wanting to leave the house. So that’s exactly what I did! Holiday movies, hot cocoa and baking!
While I was drinking my hot chocolate, I thought it would be such a tasty treat to combine my favorite winter beverage with my chocolate cookies. What resulted was a chewy chocolate gluten-free cookie infused with peppermint extract and topped with a giant marshmallow, crushed candy canes and a chocolate drizzle. Serious hot chocolate vibes, friends.
These peppermint hot chocolate cookies are so easy to make, but look so impressive for holiday parties. You can even place them in a cookie tin and wrap with a bow for a delicious edible gift idea.
Don’t let the toppings of these hot cocoa cookies intimidate you. I promise they’re simple.
At it’s most basic level, we have a regular chocolate cookie. It’s what you do after it comes out of the oven that makes it magical. As soon as those chocolate cookies are baked, you place half of a large marshmallow on top so that it sticks to the cookie while it cools.
Then, all you do is drizzle melted chocolate over the top and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. I like to let it harden completely before serving. However, if you wanted, you could eat these warm with the ooey gooey melty chocolate on top. Then it would REALLY taste like hot chocolate!
Table of Contents
Are candy canes gluten-free?
Yes. Typically regular red and white candy canes are gluten-free and do not contain any gluten ingredients. However, there are a few things to watch for if you’re on a gluten-free diet or baking for someone who is.
Always check ingredients as there are tons of flavored candy canes on the market. You also want to watch for cross contamination for candy canes produced on the same equipment or in the same facilities as gluten.
I have not found any candy canes to be certified gluten-free (yet!), but I have found plenty of brands who make candy canes in a dedicated gluten-free facility. The brand I tend to see in my local grocery store is Spangler and it’s produced on dedicated equipment.
Tips for Making Gluten-Free Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cookies
- You’ll definitely want to chill the dough for at least an hour to have plump, chewy cookies. If you don’t, you’ll have flat cookies. Still delicious, but flat.
- This recipe calls for using half of a large marshmallow to place on top of the chocolate cookies. I’ve found one whole marshmallow is too overpowering. You can use mini marshmallows if you prefer, but they tend to roll off the cookies so I find a big one easier to manage.
- Make sure you let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the sheet pan before moving to a wire rack.
- I place parchment paper (or even a paper towel) underneath my wire rack since I drizzle chocolate over the cookies after they’ve cooled a bit. This helps with cleanup!
- If you aren’t a fan of peppermint, just replace the peppermint extract with vanilla extract and leave out the crushed candy canes on top!
Baking this holiday season? Try these other gluten-free Christmas recipes!
It doesn’t get easier than these 3-Ingredient Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies. They’re a favorite in our house when we’re in need of a shopping trip and are craving something sweet!
I always keep the dough for these Gluten-Free Cranberry Pistachio Icebox Cookies in my freezer during the winter. All you need to do is slice and bake. Perfect if you have some unexpected company come over!
If you’re looking to decorate some cookies this season, then my Gluten-Free Peppermint Candy Cane Sugar Cookies are for you! They’re a great simple design for those who haven’t decorated cookies before but are wanting to start!
Reindeer Poop is a fun Christmas treat that looks just like the real thing! But tastes better… I swear! Similar to puppy chow, but with a little twist!
Gluten-Free Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cookies Recipe
Chewy chocolate cookies with chocolate chips are topped with fluffy marshmallows, a chocolate drizzle and crushed candy canes in this easy gluten-free peppermint hot chocolate cookies recipe. They taste just like a big mug of hot chocolate.. just in cookie form!
Gluten-Free Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 + 1/4 cups gluten-free flour blend (320g)
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (if your blend does not include it)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (75g)
- 1/2 tablespoon baking soda (8g)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 + 1/4 cups unsalted butter (softened)
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure peppermint extract
- 1 + 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided (210g))
- 9 large marshmallows (sliced in half)
- 2 candy canes (chopped or crushed)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together gluten-free flour blend, xanthan gum, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream together butter and sugar with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add in eggs and peppermint extract and mix until combined.
- Add in dry ingredients, a little bit at a time, and mix until just combined. Stir in 3/4 cups of the chocolate chips.
- Refrigerate dough for at least an hour before baking.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop out the dough into 18 balls and place on the baking sheet, leaving at least 2 inches between each ball.
- Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes, until edges are set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on the pan before placing on a cooling rack.
- As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, place half of a marshmallow on top of each cookie.
- To melt the chocolate, add the remaining half cup of chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted. It typically takes about 1-2 minutes total.
- Drizzle chocolate over the cookies with a spoon or a pastry bag. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Allow chocolate to set completely before serving.
Notes
- You’ll definitely want to chill the dough for at least an hour to have plump, chewy cookies. If you don’t, you’ll have flat cookies. Still delicious, but flat.
- This recipe calls for using half of a large marshmallow to place on top of the chocolate cookies. I’ve found one whole marshmallow is too overpowering. You can use mini marshmallows if you prefer, but they tend to roll off the cookies so I find a big one easier to manage.
- Make sure you let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the sheet pan before moving to a wire rack.
- I place parchment paper (or even a paper towel) underneath my wire rack since I drizzle chocolate over the cookies after they’ve cooled a bit. This helps with cleanup!
Nutrition
I’m Megan
A gluten-free food blogger from Chicago and lover of all things food, showing you gluten-free can be easy and delicious, too. Let’s make gluten-free stress free together! Read more…
Could I make these with an egg substitute? My daughter has gluten, egg and nut allergies. Really want to bake some cookies with her this christmas but trying to find something festive enough!
Hi Anj! I haven’t made these egg-free before, but you can try substituting 2 tbsp of ground flax meal with 5 tbsp of water and let it sit for 5 minutes before mixing it into the batter. I haven’t tried it in this recipe though so I can’t say for certain that it will work. One of my other holiday egg-free cookie recipes are my gluten-free vegan ginger molasses cookies or my gluten-free vegan red white and blue cookie cups (Just use regular butter and then try some green and red candies on top instead of berries). Hope this helps!
I used a psyllium husk egg and they turned out.
Made these today and very happy with the way they turned out! The only difference I had was in the overall yield. Not sure how large your cookies were but using a cookie scoop I ended up with approximately 70 cookies which is fine as I’m giving quite a few away. Great overall flavor. These could be my new favorite Christmas cookies!
Glad you enjoyed these, Kim! My cookie scoop is a large one – 2.25 oz which makes these cookies about 4-inches in diameter. I’ll update that in the post to make it clearer! Thanks!
I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 GF flour. I also used psyllium husk instead on egg (1tsp whole psyllium husk:3tsp water). I should have pulled them out of the oven a little earlier (I cooked for 12 minutes), so they were a little crispy.
Easy and tasty, although I like a strong peppermint taste, so I would probably add more peppermint extract next time.