The Ingredients—What You’ll Need

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (nice and soft)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 teaspoon milk (any kind will work)
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup flour (all-purpose and heat-treated)
• 2 tablespoons crushed peppermint candies
• 2 tablespoons white chocolate chips (optional, but why wouldn’t you?)

Now, Let’s Make Edible Peppermint Cookie Dough

1. Cream: In a small bowl, use the back of a spoon (or a rubber spatula if you prefer) to cream the softened butter and sugar together until light colored and smooth. Since we aren’t baking this dough, there’s no need for equipment or hand mixers. Just put a little elbow grease into it.
2. Wet Ingredients: Next, stir in the vanilla extract, peppermint extract, milk, and sea salt. Stir this until everything is fully combined.

1. Dry Ingredients: Now it’s time to add the heat-treated flour. Make sure it’s cooled if you just heat-treated it today. Mix this in well—the dough should be smooth, but thick enough to hold its shape. You don’t need to worry about overmixing edible cookie doughs.
2. Fold in the Peppermint Candies and White Chocolate Chips: Fold in the crushed peppermint candies and white chocolate chips (if you’re using them, and of course, I recommend you do, haha).

1. Enjoy Immediately or Store: Once your dough is thoroughly mixed, you can dive right in. Serve it up in two small bowls (or just grab a spoon and go for it 😁). If you prefer, you can also refrigerate the dough for 3-4 days. Just make sure to let it come up to room temperature before enjoying it after it’s been chilled, since cold cookie dough is usually rock solid.

Heat-Treating Flour

One quick note about heat-treating flour—it’s a super important step when making edible cookie dough because raw flour can carry bacteria that aren’t killed in the baking process, since we aren’t actually baking this dough. You can treat it at home by placing the flour in a microwave-safe bowl and heating it for about 90 seconds, stirring it every 30 seconds or so.

The Dough Details

Now, you might be wondering why a you should try an edible peppermint cookie dough? While traditional sugar cookie and chocolate chip cookie doughs are always a win, I think peppermint feels the most festive—especially when the holidays are right around the corner. The crushed peppermint candies in this cookie dough add just the right amount of crunch too. It tastes just like Christmas. It’s so, SO good.

Want To Get Creative? How To Customize Your Dough

• Chocolate Peppermint Twist: Fold in dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of white chocolate for a classic mint-chocolate combination that tastes a little bit like peppermint bark.
• Festive Sprinkles: Swap the crushed peppermint candies for red, green, and white sprinkles if you’re looking for something even more festive (and less pepperminty).
• Peppermint Mocha: Add a dash of instant coffee powder to the mix for a cookie dough that mimics the flavors of a peppermint mocha—perfect if you’re a fellow coffee lover.

One of the best things about this edible peppermint cookie dough, besides that it’s incredibly festive and totally delicious of course, is that it’s a fun alternative to traditional cookies. And because there’s no raw egg or untreated flour, it’s safe to eat straight from the bowl, so there’s zero waiting involved.

So, grab a spoon, throw on some holiday music (you know you want to), and treat yourself to a bowl of this pepperminty cookie dough goodness. Happy baking (or in this case, no-baking) my friends.