Description
Homemade chocolate chip peppermint cookie cups deliver festive holiday cheer with rich chocolate and cool mint flavors. Crisp cookie shells cradle silky chocolate ganache, creating an irresistible dessert you will savor with pure delight.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (220 grams) light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar (for peppermint filling)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 cups (480 milliliters) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (30 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
- ¼ cup (30 grams) black cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 oz (226 grams) cream cheese, full fat
- 1 cup (240 milliliters) heavy whipping cream, chilled
- 1 tsp peppermint extract
- Red color gel
- Chopped candy canes
Instructions
- Preheat Preparation: Heat oven to 350°F (175°C) and thoroughly coat cupcake tins with non-stick spray or butter.
- Dry Ingredient Fusion: Whisk flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda in a mixing bowl until uniformly combined.
- Wet Ingredient Transformation: Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, then integrate eggs and vanilla extract, mixing until silky smooth.
- Dough Assembly: Delicately fold dry ingredients into wet mixture, creating a rich chocolate cookie dough with minimal stirring.
- Baking Configuration: Distribute dough evenly into cupcake tins, filling each cavity two-thirds full for optimal shape and rise.
- Oven Performance: Bake 10-13 minutes until edges firm and centers remain slightly soft, developing a perfect cookie cup texture.
- Shaping Technique: Immediately after removing from oven, press a rounded measuring spoon into each warm cookie to create signature indentations.
- Cooling Process: Rest cookie cups in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack for complete cooling.
- Filling Preparation: Whip heavy cream to stiff peaks, simultaneously blending cream cheese, powdered sugar, and peppermint extract until velvety.
- Filling Composition: Gently fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture, creating a light, airy peppermint cheesecake filling.
- Filling Deployment: Pipe peppermint cheesecake filling into cooled chocolate cookie cups using a piping bag.
- Finalization: Refrigerate filled cookie cups for 30 minutes to set filling and intensify flavor, then garnish with crushed candy canes for a festive finish.
Notes
- Perfect Indentation Technique: Press the bottom of a rounded measuring spoon immediately after baking to create uniform, deep wells without breaking the warm cookie cups.
- Prevent Overmixing Disaster: Stir dry and wet ingredients gently to maintain a tender, soft cookie texture and avoid developing tough, dense cookie cups.
- Filling Stability Tip: Whip heavy cream to stiff peaks before folding into cream cheese mixture to ensure a light, stable peppermint cheesecake filling that holds its shape.
- Cooling and Setting Strategy: Refrigerate filled cookie cups for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld and filling to set firmly, creating a more cohesive and delicious dessert experience.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 25
- Calories: 195
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 100 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 21 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 40 mg