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These Healthy Peppermint Bark Cookie Cups taste like you’re eating FUDGE! A fun holiday dessert that’s completely guilt-free! No flour & no sugar in the extra fudgy cookie dough! (gluten free, dairy free, egg free, vegan)

Healthy Peppermint Bark Cookie Cups

© Amy's Healthy Baking
Yields: 12 cookie cups
These cookie cups are wonderful for holiday cookie trays — or simply making and eating at any point during the holiday season! They have the same texture as fudge, and they’re full of bright mint and rich chocolate flavors (similar to 72% dark chocolate!). They’re best if eaten the same day they’re made, but leftovers will keep for at least three days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature. (See Notes below!)
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Ingredients 

  • ¾ cup (60g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
  • ¼ cup (30g) oat flour (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
  • ¼ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 ½ tbsp (21g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
  • 6 tbsp (90mL) unsweetened vanilla almond milk, warmed
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp peppermint extract
  • ½ cup (96g) Lakanto Classic Monkfruit Sugar Substitute
  • 3 tbsp (42g) chopped white chocolate
  • optional: crushed candy canes, for topping

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 300°F. Coat 12 mini muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray. Line each with 2 strips of parchment paper. (See Notes below!)
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, oat flour, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, stir together the melted butter or coconut oil, almond milk, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract until fully combined. Stir in the Lakanto Classic Monkfruit Sugar Substitute. Add in the cocoa powder mixture, and stir until just incorporated.
  • Using a spoon and spatula, drop the cookie dough into the prepared muffin cups. Moisten your fingers with a bit of water, and gently press the cookie dough into the muffin cups until the tops are flat. (Re-moisten your fingers in between each one! See photo underneath the recipe.)
  • Bake at 300°F for 8-9 minutes. (Do not overbake! The centers should still feel soft and underdone.) Let the cookie cups cool in the pan for 15 minutes before carefully lifting them out by the parchment paper and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature. Then let them rest for at least 1 hour once at room temperature to allow them to fully set.
  • Just before serving, carefully peel the parchment paper strips from each cookie cup. Add the white chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 10-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until fully melted. Spread a small amount of the melted white chocolate on top of each cooking cup, and top with the crushed candy canes (if using).

Notes

IMPORTANT COOKIE DOUGH NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: This cookie dough is really sticky, and that’s intentional! That’s what gives these cookie cups their fudge-like texture. Do not touch it with your bare hands! Use a spoon or spatula, or moisten your hands with water first.
 
IMPORTANT MEASURING NOTE: It’s really important to measure the oat flour and cocoa powder correctly! Use this method or a kitchen scale. Too much of either will dry out your cookie dough, and too much cocoa powder will make your cookie cups taste bitter, instead of rich and chocolaty (they taste similar to 72% dark chocolate!). Oat flour is a bit more absorbent than wheat-based flours, so using too much will quickly dry out your cookie dough. If that happens to you, stir in additional milk (1 teaspoon at a time!) until all of the dry ingredients are fully incorporated and the cookie dough is somewhat sticky.
 
FLOUR NOTES + ALTERNATIVES: I show you how to make your own oat flour at home here!
 
White whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, and all-purpose flour may all be substituted for the oat flour. (See below for gluten-free options!)
 
COCOA POWDER NOTE: Use regular unsweetened cocoa powder! I don’t recommend substituting Dutched or special dark cocoa powder. These have a different acidity level, which will affect the taste and texture of your cookie cups.
 
PEPPERMINT EXTRACT NOTE: If you’re using crushed candy canes as a topping, then you can decrease the peppermint extract to ¼ teaspoon instead. However, if you’re a huge fan of mint flavor, then it’s also fine to leave it as ½ teaspoon!
 
MILK NOTES + ALTERNATIVES: Any milk may be substituted for the unsweetened vanilla almond milk. It’s important that the milk is warm! Cold milk will immediately re-solidify the melted butter or coconut oil. If this happens to you, pop your bowl in the microwave for a few seconds to re-melt them (just make sure your bowl is microwave-safe first!).
 
WHITE CHOCOLATE NOTE: I highly recommend bars of white chocolate! White chocolate chips typically contain stabilizers, which make the resulting white chocolate much thicker when melted. If your melted white chocolate is thick or goopy, then add a small amount of neutral-tasting oil (⅛ to ⅜ teaspoon) to thin it out and make it easier to spread.
 
CANDY CANE NOTE: I crushed 2-3 miniature candy canes to sprinkle on top of one batch of these cookie cups. One full-sized candy cane would also work. The crushed candy canes will dissolve if these cookie cups are stored in an airtight container, which is why they’re best if eaten the same day they’re garnished!
 
PARCHMENT PAPER NOTE: Do NOT skip the parchment paper! It’s really difficult to get these cookie cups out of the muffin pan if you don’t use liners of some sort. (Trust me; I mangled a lot of batches while testing this recipe!) Regular pleated paper liners will work in a pinch, but the cookie dough still sticks to them, even if you coat the muffin pan AND the pleated paper liners with cooking spray. Parchment paper definitely works the best!
 
For the best results, cut 24 strips of parchment paper that are approximately ¾” thick and 3 ¾” wide. (Many rolls of parchment paper are 15” wide, and I divided that by 4 to get the 3 ¾” wide measurement. You don’t want them much wider than that, or else they’ll “bump” into their neighbors and make it harder to keep them in place!). You’ll use 2 strips for each mini muffin cup. Press them down into the mini muffin cup in an X (rather than a +) to prevent them from bumping into their neighbors. See my photo below the recipe for a visual — it’s much easier to see a photo than describe with words! ;)
 
CLEAN EATING OPTION: Substitute chopped dark chocolate bars for the white chocolate, and omit the crushed candy canes for topping.
 
GLUTEN FREE OPTION: Use certified gluten-free oat flour, or make your own out of certified gluten-free oats. (I show you how here!) Alternatively, substitute a store-bought gluten-free flour blend for the oat flour (and make sure it contains xanthan gum!).
 
DAIRY FREE + VEGAN OPTION: Use coconut oil or stick-style vegan butter instead of unsalted butter. Use vegan-friendly white chocolate, or substitute vegan-friendly dark chocolate instead.
 
HOW TO STORE: Store leftover cookie cups inside of an airtight container. They’ll keep for at least three days if stored at room temperature or at least six days (if not longer!) if stored in the refrigerator. If using crushed candy canes, then these cookie cups are best if eaten the same day they’re made. The candy canes will dissolve when stored inside of an airtight container, regardless of whether stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
 
DOUBLING: This recipe is easily doubled!
 
{gluten-free, egg free, dairy free option, vegan option, clean eating option, low fat, lower sugar}
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I'd love to hear what you think of it in a comment below! If you take a picture, tag @amys.healthy.baking on Instagram or use the hashtag #amyshealthybaking.