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Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies (Gluten-Free)

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These Gluten-Free Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies are one of the absolute best gluten-free Christmas cookie recipes!  They’re perfect to bring to parties, to have for an afternoon snack, and Santa will love them! Stack of 4 Crinkle cookies with powdered sugar, chocolate and peppermint, on pink tissue paper.

If you’re going to a holiday cookie exchange or any Christmas party, I’m telling you, if you bring these Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies, everyone will love you.

Everyone!

When my oldest son was only five-years old, he was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, and is therefore gluten-free — forever.

Since then, in addition to all of my other recipes, I’ve focused a lot on gluten-free baking — especially cookies. And Christmas or not, this is one of our favorites. (It’s tied with these Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.)

Powdered sugar coated Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookie on Parchment paper.

Ingredients for Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies

  • crushed peppermint candy canes or peppermint candy canes – The smallest size candy canes typically come loosely wrapped, as opposed to the the larger ones, which are very difficult to unwrap. So purchase the former.
  • 1 to 1 gluten-free all-purpose flour – This recipe has also been tested with Cup4Cup Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour, which consistently yields good results.
  • salt – I almost always bake and cook with Kosher salt. (It’s coarse and salts foods in a subtle way that enhances their flavor without making them taste salty.)
  • baking powder
  • cocoa powder – This one is my favorite.
  • unsalted butter – I always bake and cook with unsalted butter so I can control exactly how much salt is in the recipe.
  • sugar
  • pure vanilla extract – Nielsen-Massey Vanilla is excellent.
  • eggs
  • semisweet chocolate chips – Use your favorite brand.
  • white chocolate chips – Use your favorite brand.

Several baked Chocolate Crinkle Cookies with Peppermint on parchment-lined baking sheet.

How to Make Them

(More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.)

– Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

– In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. In a large bowl, combine melted butter with the granulated sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the eggs and stir until they’re fully incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and mix until you no longer see any dry spots.

– If you’re using whole (not pre-crushed) candy canes, unwrap the candies and add them to a large zip-lock bag. Place that bag into a second bag and remove the air from both. Use a smooth-surfaced meat mallet or the bottom of a small skillet to gently pound on the bag to break them into tiny pieces. The smaller the better — about half of it should be almost a powder and the rest should be in pieces somewhere between the size of rice grains and corn kernels.Remove 1 tablespoon of the crushed candy canes and set aside for garnish.

– Fold the rest of them into the dough, with the semisweet and white chocolate chips.

– Shape the cookie dough into balls, about 1½ tablespoons each, placing them on the parchment-lined sheet pan as you go. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour, and up to two days.

– About 15 minutes before you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F and line another sheet pan with parchment paper.

– Add powdered sugar to a shallow bowl and roll each ball of dough through it — placing them on the parchment-lined sheet pan as you go, with a couple inches between them. Sprinkle each one with a pinch of the remaining tablespoon of crushed candy canes.

– Bake in the preheated oven just until they no longer look doughy, have flattened out by about 50% and are “crinkled,” about 8 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes. Repeat until all of the cookies are baked.

Crushed peppermint candy canes on a black surface.

Recipe Tips

  • You can purchase pre-crushed candy canes or use about 24 (2.5-inch) peppermint candy canes as follows:  (This route takes about 10 extra minutes and is generally less expensive.)
  • You can make these with regular all-purpose flour if keeping them gluten-free isn’t important to you.

Stack of 5 Peppermint Chocolate Crinkle cookies on pink paper.

Hopefully these gluten-free Christmas cookies will be a highlight of your holiday season!

More gluten-free cookie recipes:

Stack of 5 Peppermint Chocolate Crinkle cookies on pink paper.

Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies Recipe

Valentina K. Wein
These Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies are the best gluten-free Christmas cookies! They're perfect to bring to parties, to have for an afternoon snack, and Santa will love them!
*Makes about 4½ dozen cookies.
*Please note that only ½ hour of the prep time is active.
5 from 9 votes
Print
Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 8 mins
Refrigeration Time 1 hr
Total Time 1 hr 38 mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 26
Calories 184 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

Instructions
 

  • Prep the pan. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
  • Prep the peppermint. If you're using whole (not pre-crushed) candy canes, unwrap the candies and add them to a large zip-lock bag. Place that bag into a second bag and remove the air from both. Use a smooth-surfaced meat mallet or the bottom of a small skillet to gently pound on the bag to break them into tiny pieces. The smaller the better -- about half of it should be almost a powder and the rest should be in pieces somewhere between the size of rice grains and corn kernels.Remove 1 tablespoon of the crushed candy canes and set aside for garnish.
  • Make the batter. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free flour, sifted cocoa powder and baking powder. Mix to blend and set aside.
    In a large mixing bowl, combine the melted butter with the granulated sugar, vanilla and salt. Then add the eggs and stir until they're fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth.
    Add the dry ingredients and mix until you no longer see any dry spots.
  • Add candy canes & chocolate chips. Remove 1 tablespoon of the crushed candy canes and set aside for garnish. Fold the rest of them into the dough, with the semisweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips.
  • Shape. Shape the cookie dough into balls, about 1½ tablespoons each. Roll them between your hands to make them smooth, placing them on the parchment-lined sheet pan as you go. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour, and up to a couple of days.
  • Set oven and prep another pan. About 15 minutes before you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F, adjust a rack towards the center of the oven and line another sheet pan with parchment paper.
  • Prep to bake with powdered sugar and candy canes. Add the powdered sugar to a shallow bowl. Gently roll each ball of refrigerated dough through it -- placing them on the parchment-lined sheet pan as you go, with a couple inches between them. Sprinkle each one with a pinch of the remaining tablespoon of crushed candy canes that were set aside.
  • Bake. Bake in the preheated 350°F oven just until they no longer look doughy, have flattened out by about 50% and are "crinkled," about 8 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes. Repeat until all of the cookies are baked.

Notes

Calorie count is only an estimate.
Keywords cookies for a party, great for cookie exchange, holiday cookies, gluten-free Christmas cookie recipes
Have you tried this recipe?I'd love to see it on Instagram! Tag me at @cookingontheweekends or leave a comment & rating below.

 

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Comments

  2. Melissa says

    A perfect example of gluten-free food being beautiful and delicious! Eating at restaurants can be a bit of a pain (and embarrassing to the “normal” eaters in my family) but we do what we must to stay healthy.

    Reply

  5. Helen says

    It’s very lovely that you create tasty things for your son to eat. I do feel it’s important that just because you can’t have something, you shouldn’t do without at all.
    Your recipe does sound very tasty and worthy of any Christmas treat situation.

    Reply

  9. Jane says

    So delish! Love that you’ve cracked the candy canes up into it – they never get eaten round here so this is a great way to use them up 🙂

    Reply

  10. Adrianne Jamieson says

    What super cute and festive looking cookies!! I love how perfect they are for this time of year. It is great that you have been able to come up with cookies that your eldest can eat. I will give these a go, cheers!

    Reply

    • valentina says

      Thanks so much, Adrianne! I hope you love them, and I wish you a very happy holiday season! (A delicious one, too!)

      Reply

  14. Isabelle Cody says

    Hey Valentina, thanks for taking the time to share this. My younger brother was also diagnosed with Celiac disease 3 years ago. But like you said, it’s not life-threatening and easy to manage. He is still doing pretty fine with it.

    Reply

    • valentina says

      Hi Laurel, Thanks for writing in. Is your gluten-free flour a “cup for cup,” or “1 to 1?” If so, you don’t need to use the full amount, but since it’s for cookies, I’d still use some. (For a cake of muffins, something made in a pan, it wouldn’t be as imperative, but gluten-free cookies really need help holding their shape.) I wouldn’t use less than 1/4 teaspoon if you’re using one of the aforementioned flours. Otherwise use the full 1/2 teaspoon. I hope this helps and I hope you love the cookies! 🙂 ~Valentina

      Reply

  16. David @ Spiced says

    That really would be a challenge eating out with gluten sensitivity. It feels like things have gotten better in that area, but I’m sure it’s still not easy. It’s awesome that you have this gluten-free cookie recipe for Christmas! This sounds super fudgy and delicious…just the way I like my chocolate cookies! Yum!

    Reply

    • valentina says

      Fudgy and delicious, indeed. And yes, it’s much easier to be gluten-free these days. Thanks for checking out my recipe, David. As always! 🙂 ~Valentina

      Reply

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