Peppermint Meltaways are delicate, buttery cookies with a soft, crumbly texture that literally melts on your tongue! They’re topped with sweet peppermint frosting and a sprinkle of crushed candy canes for the perfect festive touch. These are the cookies everyone reaches for first on the holiday cookie tray!
Love More Christmas Desserts? Try My Christmas Cookie Bars or this Italian Christmas Cookies next.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
These Peppermint Meltaways are pure holiday magic! They have that delicate, crumbly texture that makes them so addictive—they literally dissolve in your mouth. The peppermint flavor isn’t overwhelming; it’s just right, and the crushed candy cane topping adds a festive crunch that makes every bite interesting.
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Peppermint Meltaways
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 2½ dozen cookies
Description
Peppermint Meltaways are delicate, buttery Christmas cookies with a soft, crumbly texture that melts in your mouth. Made with cornstarch for that signature tender texture, these festive cookies are topped with sweet peppermint frosting and crushed candy canes. Perfect for holiday cookie trays, gift-giving, or enjoying with hot cocoa!
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
For the Frosting & Topping
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons milk (2% or your preference)
- ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
- ½ cup crushed peppermint candies (candy canes or mints)
- A few drops of red food coloring (optional)
Yields: About 2½ dozen cookies
Substitution Notes:
- Butter: For the cookies, stick with real butter—it’s what creates that meltaway texture. For the frosting, you could use margarine in a pinch.
- Peppermint extract: You can use mint extract instead, but peppermint gives that classic candy cane flavor.
- Milk: Any milk works here—whole, 2%, or even almond milk if you prefer.
- Food coloring: Totally optional! I like adding just a drop or two for a soft pink tint, but white frosting is just as pretty.
Instructions
Throw your butter and powdered sugar in the mixer. Beat it for three or four minutes until it looks puffy and lighter. My mom always said this part matters and turns out she was right. Add the peppermint stuff and mix.
Dump your flour and cornstarch in another bowl. Whisk it around. That’s it.
Add the flour to the butter slowly and mix until you don’t see white anymore. Stop mixing once it looks combined because overmixing makes them tough and chewy. The dough looks weird and crumbly. That’s normal don’t freak out.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Stick it in the fridge for thirty minutes minimum. Do not skip this I’m begging you. I skipped it once because I was in a hurry and my cookies melted into one giant gross blob. My husband still brings it up when he wants to annoy me.
Turn the oven to 350. Roll dough into balls about this big. Put them on cookie sheets with space between. I use an ice cream scoop because then they’re all the same size but honestly just eyeball it.
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Bottoms should be barely tan. Tops stay white. If tops are brown you went too far and they’re gonna be dry and sad. Move them to cooling racks fast or they keep cooking on the hot pan.
Beat your butter smooth. Add milk and peppermint and food coloring if you’re doing that. Dump in powdered sugar and keep mixing until it looks right. Too thick add milk. Too thin add sugar. You’ll figure it out.
Wait until cookies are cold. Like actually cold not just cool. I’ve frosted warm cookies before and watched the frosting melt into a puddle while I stood there like an idiot. Spread frosting on each cookie. Throw crushed candy canes on top before frosting dries. Wait thirty minutes for everything to set.
Notes
- Crush candy canes like a pro: Put them in a sealed plastic bag and whack them with a rolling pin. It’s therapeutic AND functional! Just don’t pulverize them into dust—you want small chunks for texture.
- Keep cookies uniform: Use a small cookie scoop to portion the dough. Uniform size means they’ll all bake evenly.
- Test your oven temperature: Ovens can run hot or cold. If your cookies are browning too quickly, your oven might be running 25 degrees hotter than the dial says!
- Soften butter quickly: Need soft butter in a hurry? Cut it into small cubes and let it sit at room temp for 15 minutes, or microwave it for 5 seconds at a time (seriously, just 5 seconds!).
- Common mistake to avoid: Frosting warm cookies. I’ve done this before when I was impatient, and it’s a disaster—the frosting just slides right off!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes + Chill Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredient List
For the Cookies
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
For the Frosting & Topping
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons milk (2% or your preference)
- ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
- ½ cup crushed peppermint candies (candy canes or mints)
- A few drops of red food coloring (optional)
Yields: About 2½ dozen cookies
Substitution Notes:
- Butter: Real butter or go home. The margarine tub stuff makes them taste like sadness. You can get away with margarine in the frosting though nobody will know.
- Peppermint extract: The regular mint kind works but tastes more like toothpaste. Peppermint is the Christmas flavor.
- Milk: Use whatever’s in your fridge. I’ve used expired milk before and nobody died.
- Food coloring: One drop makes them pink which looks cute in photos. Skip it if you want they still taste the same.
Why These Ingredients Work
Cornstarch is the magic here. It makes the cookies soft instead of crunchy like normal cookies. I don’t understand the science I just know it works. Real butter tastes a million times better than fake butter and you can tell the difference. Powdered sugar doesn’t leave weird crunchy bits everywhere. The peppermint extract is what makes your kitchen smell like you have your life together during the holidays. Crushed candy canes on top make them crunchy and also pretty.
Essential Tools and Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer – Don’t try mixing butter by hand unless you want your arm to fall off
- Mixing bowls – Two of them
- Whisk – Any whisk you’ve got
- Baking sheets – The ones you already own are fine
- Wire cooling racks – I just use my oven grates half the time
- Small offset spatula or butter knife – Whatever spreads frosting without destroying cookies
- Plastic bag and rolling pin – For smashing candy canes which my kids fight over doing
- Parchment or wax paper – So cookies don’t stick when you stack them
How To Make Peppermint Meltaways
Step 1: Cream the Butter and Sugar
Throw your butter and powdered sugar in the mixer. Beat it for three or four minutes until it looks puffy and lighter. My mom always said this part matters and turns out she was right. Add the peppermint stuff and mix.
Step 2: Combine the Dry Ingredients
Dump your flour and cornstarch in another bowl. Whisk it around. That’s it.
Step 3: Mix the Dough
Add the flour to the butter slowly and mix until you don’t see white anymore. Stop mixing once it looks combined because overmixing makes them tough and chewy. The dough looks weird and crumbly. That’s normal don’t freak out.
Step 4: Chill the Dough
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Stick it in the fridge for thirty minutes minimum. Do not skip this I’m begging you. I skipped it once because I was in a hurry and my cookies melted into one giant gross blob. My husband still brings it up when he wants to annoy me.
Step 5: Shape the Cookies
Turn the oven to 350. Roll dough into balls about this big. Put them on cookie sheets with space between. I use an ice cream scoop because then they’re all the same size but honestly just eyeball it.
Step 6: Bake to Perfection
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Bottoms should be barely tan. Tops stay white. If tops are brown you went too far and they’re gonna be dry and sad. Move them to cooling racks fast or they keep cooking on the hot pan.
Step 7: Make the Peppermint Frosting
Beat your butter smooth. Add milk and peppermint and food coloring if you’re doing that. Dump in powdered sugar and keep mixing until it looks right. Too thick add milk. Too thin add sugar. You’ll figure it out.
Step 8: Frost and Decorate
Wait until cookies are cold. Like actually cold not just cool. I’ve frosted warm cookies before and watched the frosting melt into a puddle while I stood there like an idiot. Spread frosting on each cookie. Throw crushed candy canes on top before frosting dries. Wait thirty minutes for everything to set.
You Must Know
Chill the dough for real. Warm dough equals flat gross cookies. I’ve made this mistake twice and cried both times.
Butter texture matters. Should be soft but not shiny or greasy. Press your finger in and it should leave a mark but not go all the way through.
These burn fast. Like really fast. Set a timer and don’t leave the kitchen to check your phone or you’ll burn them. Ask me how I know.
Personal Secret: Recipe says it makes enough frosting but it doesn’t. Not for me anyway. I make double frosting because I pile it on thick. Also I eat a bunch while I’m working. Sometimes I just grab a spoon and eat it straight. My husband judges me but whatever.
Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks
- Smashing candy canes: Ziploc bag plus rolling pin. My kids love this part. Don’t pulverize them into powder you want chunks you can see.
- Cookie size: Little ice cream scoop from Target for six bucks. Life changing. Everything bakes evenly now.
- Oven temperature: Get a thermometer thing. Mine runs hot by like eighteen degrees. Explains so many burnt cookies from the past few years.
- Butter softening: Chop it up small and leave it out twenty minutes. Microwave makes it melty and weird.
- My biggest mistake: Frosting hot cookies then crying about it. Do not do this.
Flavor Variations & Suggestions
- Chocolate: Take out two tablespoons flour add two tablespoons cocoa. Get chocolate candy canes at Target after Halloween when they’re cheap.
- Not Christmas: Vanilla extract instead of peppermint. Rainbow sprinkles instead of candy canes. Now you can make them in June.
- Lemon: Lemon extract plus lemon zest. No candy on top. Really good in summer with iced tea.
- Almond: Almond extract instead. Sliced almonds on top instead of candy canes.
- Extra minty: Peppermint oil not extract. Just one drop because it’s super strong. I did three drops once and couldn’t eat them.
Make-Ahead Options
December makes me want to scream so anything I can make ahead helps.
Early dough: Make dough three days early. Wrap it tight in plastic. Keep in fridge. If it gets too hard leave it out ten minutes before rolling.
Freeze balls: Roll all the balls. Freeze on a cookie sheet. When frozen dump in a freezer bag. Good for three months. Bake straight from freezer add two minutes.
Freeze baked: Bake cookies cool them freeze them plain. Three months. Frost whenever.
Freeze finished: Frost them completely. Let dry totally. Freeze with parchment between layers. Two months.
Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips
- Cornstarch is required. Without it these are just boring butter cookies.
- Hot cookies break really easy so leave them on the pan one minute before moving.
- If dough’s still mushy after thirty minutes leave it in the fridge longer. Sometimes my fridge sucks.
- Frosting gets harder sitting which is good because then it doesn’t smear everywhere when you stack them.
- These don’t spread much so whatever shape you roll is what you get basically.
- Room temperature ingredients or nothing mixes right. Cold butter won’t cream properly.
Serving Suggestions
I make a huge cookie tray every Christmas with like six different kinds. These ones always look the best. Good with hot chocolate. Good with coffee. Good by themselves at midnight when everyone’s asleep and you’re wrapping presents.
For gifts grab cheap tins at Dollar Tree. Layer cookies with parchment. Write on the lid. Add a bow. Everyone thinks you spent fifty bucks at a fancy bakery. Just smile and say thanks.
Parties I put them on my wedding cake stand and dust with more powdered sugar so they look snowy. They disappear in like twenty minutes. Hide some for yourself before people arrive or you won’t get any.
Just make them okay? First bite is like Christmas exploded in your mouth in a good way. House smells incredible while they bake. Kids can help without destroying everything. They’re basically perfect.
How to Store Your Peppermint Meltaways
Room Temperature: Any container with a lid for a week. Parchment between layers or they stick. I use old butter tubs.
Refrigerator: Two weeks in a sealed container. Cold makes them softer which is weird but nice. Let them sit out fifteen minutes before eating.
Freezer: Plain cookies three months. Frosted cookies two months. Use parchment between layers always.
Reheating: Don’t. Eat them room temp. Frozen ones sit on counter thirty minutes.
Allergy Information
Contains: Dairy and gluten
Dairy-Free: Earth Balance or whatever plant butter. Oat milk works. Check candy canes some have milk powder which is weird.
Gluten-Free: Get the Cup4Cup flour or King Arthur 1:1 kind. Make sure cornstarch is gluten-free. Taste is slightly different but still works.
Nut-Free: No nuts. Check candy canes if allergies are severe.
Egg-Free: No eggs here.
Questions I Get Asked A Lot
Why did my cookies spread into flat puddles?
Didn’t chill long enough. Or butter was too warm. Has to be cold before baking. This happened to me once and I almost threw the whole pan in the trash.
My dough is too crumbly and won’t hold together—help!
Butter wasn’t soft enough probably. Or you overmixed. Squeeze dough in your hands hard. Still crumbly? Add milk half teaspoon at a time.
Can I make these without the frosting?
Sure roll them in powdered sugar while warm. Or eat plain. They’re good both ways. Frosting makes them prettier though.
The frosting is too thick/too thin—what do I do?
Thick add milk tiny amounts. Thin add sugar tiny amounts. Should spread easy but not run off cookie.
💬 Tried this recipe? Leave a comment and rating below! Did you make them? How’d they turn out? What’d you change?
