Dark Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies

Soft baked dark chocolate sugar cookies, filled with fluffy mint buttercream. These chocolate mint sandwich cookies are simple to make, but look so elegant with the piped mint cream filling and a sprinkling of granulated sugar for sparkle. And with the addition of black cocoa powder in the cookies, they taste like mint Oreos.

You might also love these high altitude recipes for mint Oreo fudge brownies, mint chocolate chip cake, and no churn mint chocolate chip ice cream.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Chocolate + Peppermint. I absolutely love dark chocolate with peppermint, whether in the form of peppermint patties, Andes mints, or chocolate cookies with mint buttercream. The richness of the dark cocoa powder is perfectly balanced by the cool, minty filling.

Versatile Recipe. If mint isn’t your favorite flavor, you can just make a vanilla buttercream filling to sandwich between the cookies. Or try espresso buttercream, peanut butter frosting, or really any flavor that you love with chocolate. These would also make beautiful Linzer cookies, with a cutout in the top cookie to show the buttercream peeking through.

Fresh Tasting for Weeks. These cookies can be kept in the refrigerator for a week (or longer), or in the freezer for several months. I actually think they get better and better over time.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude. Note that today’s recipe will work at any altitude, since there’s no leavening in the cookies.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Cookies

• Chocolate Sugar Cookie Dough. For the cookies, I used my recipe for chocolate sugar cookies. These cookies hold their shape perfectly, and they have a rich chocolate flavor that’s not too sweet, so they’re wonderful paired with a sweet buttercream. Note that for a deep black color, I used 1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder and 1/4 cup black cocoa powder.

Buttercream

• Unsalted Butter. If you use salted butter, just omit the extra salt in the recipe. Also, for a whiter buttercream, substitute half the butter with vegetable shortening. For my chocolate mint sandwich cookies, I really like the stark contrast of the white buttercream with the black cookies.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Meringue Powder. Adds stability and improves the texture.
• Vanilla + Peppermint Extracts. Flavor. Do not use mint extract, which has a spearmint flavor.

Instructions

Cookies

• Prepare the Chocolate Cookie Dough as instructed, then wrap the dough and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, before rolling it out.
• Prep your baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
• Working with half the dough at a time, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Use enough flour underneath and on top of the dough to keep it from sticking. Roll the dough out to an even thickness, nearly 1/8 inch thick.
• Cut as many cookies as you can with a 2 1/2 inch round or square fluted cookie cutter. Place the cut cookies on the baking sheets, spaced 1 1/2 – 2 inches apart.
• Gather up the dough scraps, roll them out again, and continue cutting as many cookies as you can. You should be able to cut about 40 cookies, depending on the size of your cutters and the thickness of the dough.
• Place the pans in the refrigerator and chill the cut cookies for 1 hour. If you like, prick the cookies with a wooden skewer or the end of a cake tester, to make a decorative pattern, as shown in the photos.

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes. If you gently turn one over, it should be baked through and flaky looking, with no appearance of raw or wet dough underneath.
• Cool the cookies on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before filling with buttercream.

Filling

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing until clumpy. Add the extracts.
• Increase the speed to medium, and whip the buttercream for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl down several times, until very light and fluffy.
• Fit a piping bag with tip 4B, and fill with the buttercream.
• Turn half the cookies over with the bottom side facing up, and pipe the buttercream onto the cookies. Place another cookie on top and press down gently.

• For a decorative finish, sprinkle your chocolate mint sandwich cookies with a little granulated sugar.
• Keep the cookies stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months. Let come to room temperature for a few minutes before serving.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these chocolate mint sandwich cookies soft or crunchy?

The chocolate sugar cookies are not crunchy, but also not as soft as something like a lofthouse cookie. They have a soft but firm, buttery texture that’s just wonderful. They actually get softer after they’re filled with buttercream and stored in the refrigerator, so I prefer to make these at least a day in advance before serving.

Do these cookies spread?

The dough will not spread at all as it’s baked, so the shape of your cookie cutters will be perfectly preserved. They may slightly puff or bubble on the surface, which is due to the water in the butter evaporating and creating pockets of steam.

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