These White Chocolate Dipped Christmas Cookies are fun to make with the family and great for gifting in holiday cookie boxes!
December is roaring by at lightning speed (though that’s basically its M.O. every year) and we’re transferring from “latke mode” to “cookie mode” in preparation for Christmas.
Speaking of modes, this Thanksgiving my smart oven automatically switched itself into “gobble mode” and turned the chime for the timer into a gobbling turkey for a week. I wonder if I should expect a “santa mode” next.
Pretty sure hearing HO HO HO from the oven when cookies have finished baking would be a wee bit traumatizing. Maybe it’ll play jingle bells. Or maybe we’re past the whole oven existential crisis phase. I’ll keep you posted!
In other news, I have cookies. You can have cookies too.
LET’S MAKE COOKIES!
Christmas Cookie Ingredients
- unsalted butter
- granulated + brown sugar
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- baking soda
- salt
- chocolate chips (mini or regular)
- white chocolate (for dipping)
- soft christmas sprinkles (for decorating)
Q: What kind of cocoa powder should I use?
My favorite brands of plain unsweetened cocoa powder are Ghirardeli 100% Unsweetened Cocoa Powder and Divine Chocolate. For dutch-processed cocoa powder, I like Hershey’s Special Dark Dutch-Processed Cocoa and The Fresh Market’s store brand. Feel free to use your favorite variety!
Dutch-processed cocoa powder will yield darker cookies with more intense chocolate flavor (think super rich brownies) while plain cocoa powder will have more of a milk chocolate flavor in the cookies. Choose your favorite variety, just make sure you snag the unsweetened kind and not hot cocoa mix.
Q: What kind of chocolate chips should I use?
I like to use a combination of regular chocolate chips and mini chocolate chips for the ultimate chocolate-to-cookie ratio but they’re beyond flexible! Feel free to use all mini, all regular, or even chocolate chunks.
Pressing a few extra chocolate chips into the cookies after rolling them into balls is a great way to get those picture-perfect chocolate chips on the top of the cookie. Love it!
Cookie Sizing and Scooping
This easy peasy recipe makes 20 large chocolate cookies made with 3 TBSP dough per cookie or 40 smaller cookies made with 1.5 TBSP of dough per cookie.
I like to use my trusty cookie scoop to portion the dough before rolling into balls.
The large OXO cookie scoop willl portion exactly 3 TBSP of dough for 3.5-4 inch cookies. They’re the size of my palm!
The medium OXO cookie scoop will portion a tablespoon and a half of dough to make 1.5-2 inch cookies.
Q: Can I freeze these chocolate cookies?
Absolutely! After rolling dough into balls, place on a parchment lined pan/plate in the freezer and allow the cookies freeze spaced for around an hour. Then transfer to an airtight container or baggie once frozen. Bake from frozen at 320°F instead of 350°F, then an extra 2-4 minutes to the bake time as needed. These dough balls will be good for one month frozen – if you can resist baking them all!
Right now I have a bag full of these cookies (in dough ball form) as well as my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies tucked away for a rainy day. This way I can bake one (or three!) whenever the craving strikes!
Sprinkle Sources: I’ve had the best luck finding awesome sprinkle mixes at Marshalls and Homegoods as well as some super-cute mixes at Michaels too. Since these are hit or miss, you can always find amazing sprinkles on Amazon too. I love the ManVcakes christmas mix and Wilton’s holiday mix with 6 different sprinkle options.
White Chocolate Dipped Christmas Cookies
Ready to do some holiday baking? Let’s get our cookie on!
White Chocolate Dipped Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature (170 grams)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed (100 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 grams)
- ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (60 grams)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips plus extra for topping
- 10-16 ounces white chocolate
- assorted christmas sprinkles
Instructions
- Set out butter and eggs to reach room temperature. Measure out all ingredients and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt with a metal whisk. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and creamy, for about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add the vanilla.
- Next add flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined, adding chocolate chips towards the end of the mixing process.
- For 20 larger cookies use a large 3 TBSP cookie scoop to portion dough evenly.
- For 40 smaller cookies, scoop 1.5 TBSP of dough per cookie.
- Roll scooped dough into balls (this will keep the tops pretty) and place on a plate or small baking pan. Press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops if desired. If you have some spare time, chill in the fridge for 15 minutes prior to baking for the perfect cookie thickness.
READY TO BAKE?
- Arrange cookies on parchment lined cookie sheet, spaced about 2.5 inches apart.
- Bake large cookies for 11 minutes. Bake smaller cookies for 8-9 minutes. For chewy cookies, cookies will be puffed and center should still look very slightly wet and underbaked still. When they fully cool the center will be chewy and resemble a brownie.
- Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 4-5 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack to fully cool.
- Repeat with remaining cookie dough *OR* place remaining dough balls on a lined plate/pan then transfer to an airtight container or baggie once frozen. I love having a freezer stash of cookies!
READY TO DECORATE?
- Once cookies have fully cooled, melt white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl on 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring between intervals until melted and smooth.
- Dip half of each cookie in white chocolate then transfer to parchment paper and decorate with festive sprinkles right away while the chocolate is still wet. Chill to let chocolate set about 10 minutes.
- Leftover baked cookies are chewy and delicious! Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
More Tasty Holiday Cookie Recipes to Try
- Chocolate Brownie Crinkle Cookies
- Giant Christmas Wreath Cookie Cake
- Red Velvet Cake Cookies
- Valentine Cookie Cake
If you get a chance to try these christmas inspired white chocolate dipped chocolate cookies, let me know! Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
Thank you for the recipe!
Can I use white chocolate chips for melting?
Hi Elaine! I would only use them if they’re a good quality. I grabbed store brand white chocolate chips last night and when I melted them they were lacking in flavor and the texture was off. I have had luck with ghirardelli brand white chocolate chips though!