These easy Peppermint Oreo Cookies are loaded with cookie chunks and peppermint chips, making them taste amazing! Make a batch for your family this holiday season and watch how quickly they disappear.
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A few years ago I made these chocolate mint cookies, and I have been dreaming about them recently. They seriously taste like a deep fried mint Oreo, and they are heavenly!
For the holidays, I decided to make a peppermint version. And oh my word! These peppermint cookies and cream cookies are seriously one of the best Christmas cookies you will make this year!
They are so easy to make because they start with a box cake mix. I have a serious love affair with easy cake mix cookies!
Why These Oreo Cookies Are The Best
- Easy to make with just a few ingredients.
- Stay soft for days making them the perfect cookie to ship to loved ones.
- Loaded with Oreo cookie chunks and peppermint crunch chips!
- Tastes like Christmas in a cookie!
- Get rave reviews from everyone who tries them.
Main Ingredient Notes
The dough for these peppermint crunch cookies comes together in minutes. In order to keep the cookies from spreading as they bake, you need to refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.
- Vanilla Cake Mix - The dry cake mix is the base to the cookie dough.
- Butter & Cream Cheese - Provides the moisture and fat needed for soft, puffy cookies.
- Egg - One large egg helps to bind the ingredients together.
- Extracts - A mixture of vanilla extract and peppermint extract gives the cookies a great flavor.
- Mix-Ins - Chocolate chips, Oreo cookies, and Andes peppermint crunch chips are my favorite things to add to these peppermint cake mix cookies.
FYI: If you love these peppermint Oreo cookies, you have to try these chocolate peppermint crunch cookies. The same delicious holiday cookie, but in chocolate form!
How to make Peppermint Oreo Cookies
For this holiday cookie, I decided to jazz up these cookies and cream cookies with some peppermint extract and peppermint crunch chips. I have been using these peppermint bits for years, and I'm still obsessed with them.
- Make the dough. Mix together the dry cake mix, softened butter, egg, extract, and cream cheese until a soft dough forms. FYI: These cookies seem to work best with a Pillsbury or Aldi cake mix.
- Add the mix-ins. Stir in the Oreo cookie chunks, chocolate chips, and peppermint crunch bits gently.
- Refrigerate the dough. Keep it in there for at least 60 minutes. The longer you refrigerate, the better. The dough should be able to be scooped and rolled without it sticking to your hands.
- Make dough balls. Use a cookie scoop to divide the dough into 24 scoops. Roll the dough into a ball. Place 12 on a baking sheet with a baking mat & the other 12 in the fridge.
- Bake and cool. Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes, then cool for a few minutes on the hot pan before placing on a cooling rack. Whatever you do, do NOT over bake them! Trust me on this. Yes, the cookies will be very soft and you will think I'm crazy. But cake cookies do set up after cooling.
BruCrew Tip: The cookies may come out of the oven slightly puffy. If you want, you can tap the tops with a flat spatula after 2-3 minutes. It's not necessary, but I like to do that.
Storage Recommendations
On the Counter - Keep the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
In the Freezer - Place cooled peppermint cookies in between layers of parchment paper in a freezer safe bag or container. Freeze for 1-2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Recipe FAQS
The Andes peppermint crunch chips tend to sell out very quickly each year. You can usually find them on Amazon year round. I also saw Andes peppermint crunch thins at Target that could be chopped into chunks.
You can also chop up Ghirardelli peppermint bars or Hershey's candy cane kisses and use those if you can't find the Andes chips.
You can, but I don't recommend it because candy canes melt down so quickly in heat. You could end up with puddles of melted candy in and around the cookies.
You can freeze the scoops of dough, so you can enjoy hot fresh cookies later. Remove the frozen dough balls and let thaw for about 15 minutes before baking. The dough will last up to 3 months in the freezer.
Or you can freeze the baked cookies after they have cooled for a few hours. Make sure to place parchment or wax paper between the cookies to keep them from sticking together. Remove and let thaw to room temperature before serving.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
- White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Mint Truffle Kiss Cookies
- Peppermint Mocha Cookies
- Homemade Little Debbie Cherry Cordials
- Mint Chocolate Pudding Cookies
- Mint Meltaways recipe
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Recipe
Peppermint Oreo Cookies
These easy Peppermint Oreo Cookies are loaded with cookie chunks and peppermint chips, making them taste amazing! Make a batch for your family this holiday season and watch how quickly they disappear.
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix (see note below)
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup Oreo cookie chunks
- 1 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch pieces + extra
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips + extra
Instructions
- Add the dry cake mix, butter, egg, extracts, and cream cheese to a mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer until a soft dough forms.
- Stir in the cookie chunks, peppermint crunch pieces and chocolate chips gently. Refrigerate the dough for at least 60 minutes. The longer, the better. The dough should not stick to your hands when you roll it.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Scoop or roll the dough into 24 balls. Place 12 on a baking sheet and the other 12 in the fridge.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes. Do not over bake. The cookies will be very soft and look undone when you take them out.
- Let the cookies sit on the hot cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes, then gently remove them with a thin metal spatula to a piece of parchment paper on the counter.
- If the cookies are extra puffy, tap the tops with the bottom of the flat spatula. Press extra chocolate chips or peppermint pieces into the tops of the hot cookies. Let them sit until completely cool. Store in a sealed container.
Notes
- These cookies seem to work best if a Pillsbury or Aldi cake mix is used.
- Make sure the butter and cream cheese are not overly soft. If they are, your cookie dough may need to be refrigerated longer.
- If you are using a hand mixer, it will take longer for the dough to come together. Keep mixing until there are no butter or cream cheese streaks.
- Cake mix cookies do take longer to set up. These are best after cooling on the counter for a few hours.
- Can't find the Andes Peppermint Crunch pieces, use any type of chocolate peppermint candy bar and cut into small pieces.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 179Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 73mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 1gSugar: 12gProtein: 2g
Nutrition facts are an estimate and are not guaranteed to be accurate. If you need special diet advice, please see a registered dietician.
*The post for Oreo Peppermint Crunch Cookies was first published on December 4, 2013. The post and photos were updated, and it was republished on December 4, 2019.
Barb
I am making these now. One batch with white cake mix, one batch using chocolate mix. Unfortunately I am a bit disappointed as they really don’t have much sweetness. Yes they are loaded with Oreo pieces, Andes pieces, chocolate chips etc, but the taste is a bit dull. Any suggestions on how to sweeten up the remaining chilled dough?
Jocelyn
Wow! You must have an incredible sweet tooth if you didn't think the cookies were sweet. I guess if you really wanted them to be even sweeter, you could roll the dough balls in sugar before baking. Merry Christmas!
Sandra
Do I also use the ingredients on the cake mix box?
Jocelyn
No, you are just using the dry cake mix and the ingredients from my recipe. I hope you enjoy the cookies.
Toni
These are my absolute favorite Christmas cookies to make! Everyone loves them!! I use regular Andes mints, rather than the crunch and they turn out great. I always forget to look for the crunch ahead of time.
Debi
What a misleading photo! The recipe calls for crushed oreos so be ready for dark cookies with no lovely red candy pieces. The taste is alright.
Jocelyn
The recipe actually calls for cookie chunks. You are correct though, if you crush the Oreos the cookies will be dark.
hanna
For the peppermint crunch pieces, that looks kind of like just crushed candy canes, but the notes say to use a peppermint chocolate bar (if you can’t find the peppermint crunch), so is is supposed to be hard candy or like a chocolate bar
Jocelyn
The peppermint pieces are the Andes peppermint crunch baking bits. They are a baking mix that is like white chocolate with peppermint flavor and crunchy bits. I found them again at Target this year. Andes also makes Andes mint thins that I saw at Target as well. You could chop those up to make the bits. Another option are peppermint kisses or any white chocolate peppermint candy bar.
Samantha
We've used crushed candy canes many times and these are our favorite cookies.
Elaine
What if I don't have cake mix but I have cake flour ?
Jocelyn
Cake mix and cake flour are two very different ingredients, so that would not work. A cake mix has other added ingredients to make the final product rise and to be sweet. Cake flour is just fine flour.
Natalie
Would a chocolate cake mix work
as well?
Jocelyn
It sure would 🙂 In fact, I have a chocolate version on the blog too. https://insidebrucrewlife.com/chocolate-peppermint-crunch-cookies/
Carolyn
I made these GLUTEN FREE and they were amazing!! I subbed Aldi’s gluten-free white cake mix and gluten-free Oreos and they were delicious. Yummy! Thank you for the recipe.
Jen
These are great thank you!! Mine came out fluffy and perfect texture. I ended up chopping up the Andes mints, and the Oreo cookies I used were snickerdoodle. Pillsbury vanilla cake batter was used. I’m not a baker so my cheap hand mixer did not handle the batter well so I ended up just using my hands to mix after the butter, egg, cream cheese, and half dry ingredients were mixed. I let sit in fridge for 2 hours then rolled about 30 cookies. They are very sturdy, a tid bit chewy which I like, and tons of wonderful Christmas flavors! Thank you for sharing such a great recipe!!
Kristin
Can you use milk chocolate chips instead of the dark chocolate?
Jocelyn
Yes! You can honestly use whatever type of chocolate chip you prefer! White chips are good too! I hope you enjoy the cookies!
Melissa
When we use the oreo cookie pieces should we use the whole oreo broken up into pieces or just the outer cookie part and not the cream? Does it matter?
Jocelyn
I chop up the whole Oreo, cream included, for these cookies! I hope you enjoy them!
Debra
These are delicious. Everyone loved them. I found the Andes peppermint crunch at a Winn Dixie store.
Kelly
Alright, so found this recipe last year and the taste is amazing! Made them again this year, and flavor is still amazing (I use candy canes crushed up with no problem), but they always come out very flat and look absolutely nothing like the cookies in the pictures. Especially once you mix the oreos in, they are mostly black with some candy cane colors mixed in. Again, They have the absolute best flavor so I don't care, but I have to tell people because they look awful lol. How to get them to not turn out flat and also not black from crushed oreos? I follow recipe completely (except for candy cane sub), and the dough was even in the fridge for over a day because something came up and I couldn't make them right away.
Jocelyn
I am glad you are loving the cookies! They are one of our favorites and we make them every single year! The biggest thing I have found with these cookies is that certain cake mixes seem to bake flat vs other ones. I'm not sure because the amounts are the same. My favorite mixes to use are Aldi brand and Pillsbury. They seem to work the best for keeping a puffy shape. As for the look...are you using crushed Oreos or chopped Oreos? If the cookies are too finely chopped and mostly crumbs, it will turn the dough dark. I roughly chop the cookies so they are still in big pieces. Then try to stir them in very gently with a spatula not a mixer. I hope that helps and you are able to get the cookies to bake puffy! Also, another tip is that you can use Andes peppermint crunch THINS or Hershey's candy cane kisses chopped up in place of the peppermint baking bits.
Jessica
Mine came out so flat and sticky. What gives?
Jocelyn
How long did you refrigerate the dough? Also, did you use just the dry cake mix with the ingredients listed?
Mackenzie
What if I can't find peppermint extract? I am going to check more tomorrow.
Jocelyn
You can also just use all vanilla if you can't find the peppermint. The candies add a lot of peppermint flavor too.
Lucille
Hi, I’d love to make this recipe and I’m new to cooking. How many eggs do I need, how much cream cheese, butter,pillsbury cake mix and chocolate chips? Thank you! It sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try!
Jocelyn
At the bottom of the post is a printable recipe card with all the ingredients and amounts and how to make the cookies. I hope that helps and you enjoy the cookies!
Kelly
I made these last night. Very yummy and different!! How long are they good for if kept in Tupperware? Or if frozen, how long do they keep once thawed? Just wanted to share some with some family and trying to figure out the best way to do that!
Jocelyn
I'm glad you like them. They usually stay soft and delicious for 3-4 days if kept in a tightly sealed container. You can also freeze them in single layers and keep in a tightly sealed container or bag for up to a month. I hope your family enjoys them too!
Michelle
I don't have unsalted butter on hand but I do have salted butter and margarine. Can I use either to replace the unsalted butter?
Jocelyn
Yes, you can use the salted butter and they will be just as good. I would not use the margarine because it does not bake the same. I hope you enjoy the cookies!
Sylvia
Made these today. Didn’t turn out quite as fluffy as yours, but still very tasty! Do they freeze well, or what should I do if I’m not giving them away for 3-4 days?
Jocelyn
They usually stay soft and delicious for 3-4 days if kept in a tightly sealed container. If you freeze them in single layers and keep in a tightly sealed container or bag they should keep for up to a month. I hope everyone else enjoys them too!
Anya
Hi, I made these cookies today and I wanted to know why not bake the cookies for more than 10 minutes in the oven? I let the cookie dough sit in the fridge for a little over an hour and let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes after baking them at 350 deg for 10 minutes. After letting the cookies cool down, I felt as if the cookies were still too soft and undercooked so I put them back in the oven for another 5 minutes. They came out a little better but I still felt like they just weren't right. Trying to make these for Christmas goodies and want them perfect!
Jocelyn
Cake mix cookie are definitely different than regular cookies which is why they seem so soft when you take them out of the oven. I never bake cake mix cookies more than 10 minutes because they will set up when they are completely cool. They will still be soft when you move them off the cookie sheet, but once they are cool they are fine. I hope that helps and you enjoy the cookies.
Laura
Can you make the dough the night before and bake the next day?
Jocelyn
Yes, just cover it and refrigerate it until you are ready to bake cookies. You will need to set the dough out for about 10-15 minutes because it will be pretty hard after being refrigerated that long though.
Marissa
Hi! These cookies are incredible!! Made a couple changes and wanted to comment since it’s been some time! I doubled the batch to make more cookies, probably got around 60 or so? I followed the dough ingredients but I didn’t double the peppermint extract; it was perfect! Not too strong when you bite into the cookie.
Since I doubled the batch I used 15 oreos cut up, about a cup or so of mini chocolate chips (used what I had in the house) and I cut up 12 pieces of Ghiradelli peppermint bark (the individually wrapped ones).
Thanks for a great recipe!!
Felicia
Thank you for this, I was trying to figure out how many Oreos were in a cup lol!
Mary Beth Zsiros
Can you use chopped Andes candy for this recipe?
I can’t find the other kind.
Jocelyn
These candies disappear so quickly every year!!! I found the Andes Peppermint Crunch Thins at Target. You can unwrap and chop up 1 packages of those to get 1 cup of pieces. Ghirardelli also has bags of peppermint chunks that you can chop up and use if you can't find the crunch thins. I hope you enjoy the cookies!
Kiwi @ Kiwi Recipes
These cookies look so amazing! I just bought the ingredients I needed, but couldn't find peppermint crunch... Could I just crush up regular candy canes, or would they be too hard?
Jocelyn
You could...but candy canes tend to bake up chewy in cookies. I think the only place to buy the peppermint crunch is amazon right now. It is a seasonal item so stores don't carry year round.
Deb
I got mine at Winn Dixie store f one is near you.
Jacky
Did you use candy canes still? That's what I have bought to make these with
Jocelyn
I haven't made these cookies with candy canes...just the peppermint crunch bits. I know Target has the peppermint crunch thins that you can chop up and use for the baking bits.
Hailey
Enjoying your site! Bookmarking this one for later. Thanks!