Peppermint Bark Cookies

Everything we love about chocolate peppermint bark—creamy white chocolate contrasting a delicate candy crunch—is nestled into the center of these fudgy, soft-baked holiday cookies. The trick to a cookie that’s chewy all the way through is to think of cooling as part of the baking process. Straight out of the oven, these cookies should be just set at the edges but still soft in the center. When cooled on the warm baking sheet, versus transferring to a wire rack, they’ll continue to firm up to a brownie-like texture. Use that temporary softness as a window to press shards of white chocolate into the cookies’ centers and sprinkle with crushed peppermint candy.

We prefer crushed candy canes, not the round old-fashioned hard candies, for the most striking presentation and crispest texture. And be sure to use Dutch-process, not natural, cocoa powder in this chocolate-peppermint cookie recipe. Our go-to is Guittard Cocoa Rouge for its intense, dark chocolate flavor and high-fat content, but Hershey’s Cocoa Special Dark also works.

It’s also important to gently spoon flour into your measuring cup and lightly level the surface with a knife or spatula. Scooping directly into a flour container and packing the measuring cup will result in too much flour per cup and drier cookie dough. Better yet, just weigh your dry ingredients.

Read more: 5 Stunningly Simple Cookies, No Mixer Needed. And head this way for more of our favorite Christmas cookies.