Peppermint bar cookies are an easy Christmas cookie bar made with red peppermint shortbread, white chocolate and crushed candy, pressed into one 9 by 13 pan. That makes them a fast cookie exchange pick for Christmas trays, office parties or a school bake sale, since nothing gets rolled or cut out.
Give the pan five minutes out of the oven before the white chocolate chips go on. A surface fresh from 350 degrees is far hotter than white chocolate can take, so the chips scorch and go grainy rather than melting smooth.
The dough is pressed into the pan by hand instead of rolled, so there is no chilling and no cutter. Red gel coloring keeps the bar bright without thinning the dough the way liquid coloring would, and the whole topping is built right in the pan while the base is still warm.
One line to read loosely: the recipe says to top the bars with chips in a single layer, but a cup and a quarter is only about 150 chips and they cover barely an eighth of a 9 by 13 pan. Scatter them anyway, because once softened they spread to a smooth layer about 2 millimeters thick.
Peppermint Bar Cookies
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalA thick red peppermint shortbread presses straight into the pan, then takes a smooth white chocolate top, piped red stripes and a scatter of crushed mints.
Ingredients
Cooking spray
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons red gel food coloring
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
1 1/4 cups white chocolate chips
1/3 cup red candy melts
1/3 cup lightly crushed peppermint candies
Directions
FAQs
Why did my white chocolate turn grainy on top?
It overheated on contact with the hot bar, since white chocolate scorches not far above 110 degrees and the pan comes out at well over 200. Let the pan rest five minutes before the chips go on. That one pause is also why the recipe has to offer a freezer rescue for a topping that will not set.
Will a cup and a quarter of chips really cover the pan?
Not as whole chips, no. That is roughly 150 chips covering about an eighth of the surface, so the pan looks bare when you scatter them. They melt and spread to a thin even sheet of around 2 millimeters, which is all the layer you need.
How long should I actually bake these?
Start checking at 30 minutes even though the range runs to 40. The bar is only about half an inch deep, and a red dough browns at the edges well before the center needs more time. A toothpick that comes out clean is the signal to stop.
Can I use liquid food coloring instead of gel?
Gel is the better choice here because 2 teaspoons of liquid would loosen a stiff pressed dough. If liquid is all you have, cut it to about a teaspoon and accept a softer pink. For a naturally deeper red crumb, our red velvet Christmas tree linzer cookies use cocoa alongside the coloring.
How do I cut the bars without cracking the topping?
Let the white chocolate set fully, then warm a long knife under hot water and dry it before each cut. Press straight down rather than dragging, which is what shatters a chocolate top. If you would rather skip cutting altogether, our butter spritz cookies are piped into shape.
