16 Peppermint Dessert Recipes Perfect For The Holiday Season

Peppermint Divinity
Photo:

Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

Peppermint desserts are a delicious sign that the holiday season is in full swing. Once peppermint candy canes hit store shelves, we know it's time to indulge. The cool red and white candies—no matter if they're hanging from the Christmas tree as decoration or incorporated into the table settings for holiday parties or Christmas dinner—are a quintessential part of the season. Serve a decadent peppermint dessert after the traditional Christmas spread or bring one to your next holiday party. Crumble these crunchy hard candies atop a cake, bake it in a slice of chocolate heaven, or sprinkle it over a cool ice cream dessert. Our favorite cool peppermint recipes show the many ways to use peppermint candies in desserts, drinks, and everything in between. No matter which way you choose to incorporate peppermint into your Christmas confections, these delicious mint desserts will have guests grabbing seconds.

01 of 16

Chocolate Peppermint Cake

Chocolate Peppermint Cake
Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Kathleen Varner

This centerpiece-worthy, three-layer cake is fluffy, tender, and ultra-rich. Chocolate cake layers and minty Italian meringue are topped off with soft peppermint candies for a fun and festive holiday look. Leftovers can be refrigerated up to three days.

02 of 16

No-Bake Dark Chocolate-Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

No-Bake Dark Chocolate-Peppermint Sandwich Cookies
GREG DUPREE; FOOD STYLING: EMILY NABORS HALL; PROP STYLING: AUDREY DAVIS

Store-bought wafers get a serious upgrade with peppermint cream filling and a melted chocolate coating. The result? Homemade, holiday-worthy cookies that no one will believe didn't require a single minute of baking.

03 of 16

Peppermint Divinity

Peppermint Divinity
Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

Making this vintage candy recipe should become a Christmas tradition for you and your kids or grandkids. Divinity is a classic candy made with granulated sugar, corn syrup, and stiffly beaten egg whites. We've tweaked the usual recipe by swapping out the nuts for crushed peppermint candies. 

04 of 16

Peppermint Cake with Seven-Minute Frosting

Peppermint Cake with Seven-Minute Frosting
Hector Manuel Sanchez

How gorgeous is the pink buttercream layer in this festive cake? The frosting on the outside of the layers cooks for seven minutes in a double boiler—hence the name. Press crushed peppermints on the sides of the cake for extra sparkle.

05 of 16

Chocolate-Peppermint Cheesecake

Chocolate-Peppermint Cheesecake
Hector Sanchez

This decadent cheesecake can be prepared two days in advance, which makes it the ultimate make-ahead dessert for the busy holiday season. Crushed chocolate wafers form the crust, while chocolate morsels sweeten the cake. Don't worry if your cheesecake cracks; the light and fluffy layer of whipped cream will cover it.

06 of 16

Peppermint Meltaways

Peppermint Meltaway Cookies
Micah A. Leal

These festive cookies live up to their name and "melt away" in your mouth, leaving behind a rich and delicate peppermint sweetness. The use of powdered sugar in the cookie dough and cornstarch mixed into the flour transforms the cookie into something that feels like a cloud on your tongue. Plus, this airy recipe calls for just 20 minutes of hands-on time.

07 of 16

Christmas Buttermints

Christmas Buttermints
Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

We'll have a tray of these pretty vintage candies out for guests all holiday season. The classic recipe is a little tricky and requires expert candy-making skills. But with our simplified Christmas Butter Mints, which require no cooking and only a few kitchen staples, you can whip up a batch in no time. 

08 of 16

White Chocolate-Peppermint Blondies

White Chocolate-Peppermint Blondies
Iain Bagwell

This cookie bar recipe has a high yield, so everyone on your Christmas list can get a few. The icing is quick to prepare and apply after the blondies have cooled. Dress with candy-striped mints and cut into Christmas-tree-shaped triangles.

09 of 16

Duke's Peppermint Fudge Brownies

Duke's Peppermint Fudge Brownies
Mary Britton Senseney, The Duke's Mayonnaise Cookbook

This delectable treat comes from the Duke's Mayonnaise CookbookMayonnaise is the secret to the fudgiest brownies you've ever baked. Add melted dark chocolate and a crushed peppermint topping, and you'll have a holiday dessert that will put any peppermint bark to shame.

10 of 16

Chocolate-Peppermint Swirl Sandwich Cookies

Dog Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Victori Protasio; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Torie Cox

These adorable cookie sandwiches will spruce up any dessert table this Christmas. Our recipe pairs chocolate sugar cookies with a peppermint-cream-cheese filling. Achieve the swirl by adding stripes of red food coloring gel inside your piping bag.

11 of 16

Chocolate-Peppermint Crackle Cookies

Chocolate-Peppermint Crackle Cookies
Linda Pugliese, Hector Sanchez; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas, Buffy Hargett Miller

We think Santa would be thrilled to see these crackle cookies by the tree on Christmas Eve. The dough can be prepared up to five days in advance. For the best "crackle" effect, reroll balls in powdered sugar just before baking to cover any exposed dough.

12 of 16

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice-Cream Cake

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice-Cream Cake
Jennifer Davick

This dreamy ice cream cake is the ultimate make-ahead dessert—you can use your favorite devil's food cake mix as a time saver. Layer the cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream and top with a rich chocolate ganache and chopped crème de menthe chocolate mints.

13 of 16

Red Velvet Peppermint Cake

Red Velvet Peppermint Cake
Caitlin Bensel

Transform a classic red velvet cake into a festive holiday dessert by adding peppermint extract to the rich cream cheese frosting and garnishing the cake with peppermint-candy stripes. This recipe combines a yellow cake batter with the red velvet, swirling the two for a pretty interior.

14 of 16

Peppermint Pie

peppermint pie
Photographer: Frederick Hardy II, Food Stylist: Margaret Dickey, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley

This cool, creamy dessert has a chocolate-cookie crust and marshmallowy, peppermint-flavored filling. While the crust requires a short pre-bake, the rest of the preparation only needs freezing before serving. You can leave out the red food coloring if desired.

15 of 16

Candy Cane Cookies

Candy Cane Cookies
Joy Howard

These whimsical cookies are flavored with peppermint and twisted into candy cane shapes. A nicely chilled dough will be easier to work with when you make them. We like the pop of red and green, but other festive holiday hues like light blue or pink would also work nicely.

16 of 16

Mint Meringue Christmas Trees

Mint Meringue Christmas Trees
Greg DuPree; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl Jones

To create the Christmas trees, spoon the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe a large dollop of egg white mixture onto a baking sheet, and then pipe two slightly smaller dollops on top to create a tree shape. Decorate each tree with melted chocolate and a candy star.

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