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Bring Whoville to your kitchen with these adorable peppermint kissed Grinch Cookies. They are the cutest treat to serve after carving the roast beast!
Even the Grinch Would Approve
Every Who down in Whoville likes these cookies a lot… but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, well, he likes them too! (Clearly my baking skills are better than my poetry skills) 😆. My kids are crazy about these fun Grinch cookies. We love baking them up and enjoying them while watching the movie. It’s a fun tradition that really doesn’t take a lot of time, especially because you just use a cake mix to make the dough. They are so easy to make, even your littlest kitchen helpers can join in on the fun!
Put them on a plate for neighbors along with any of our other Christmas Cookie Recipes including these cute Candy Cane Cookies and our famous Gingerbread Man Cookies!
🩷 Heidi
Key Ingredients
- Cookie batter ingredients: For the batter, all you need is a vanilla (or white) cake mix, a couple eggs, softened butter, peppermint extract, vanilla extract, and some green food coloring. That’s it!
- Powder coating: The powdery cookie coating is made from a mixture of powdered sugar and cornstarch.
- Hershey’s Kisses: For the kisses in the center of the cookie, I like to use the candy cane Hershey’s kisses but you can really use any kind, or if you want you can just leave them off and only use a candy heart.
- Candy hearts: For this you can use any kind of candy heart you can find. I had some big heart sprinkles left over from Valentine’s day so I used those but you can also use “Red Hots” candies or cinnamon gummy hearts (fruity hearts probably won’t taste great with the chocolate).
How to Make Grinch Cookies Step-by-Step
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Unwrap candy cane Hershey’s Kisses and set aside.
- Mix cake mix, butter, and eggs until well combined.
- Add peppermint extract and green food coloring. Mix just until blended.
- In a small bowl, whisk powdered sugar and cornstarch. Scoop dough into balls and roll in the sugar mixture to coat.
- Arrange dough balls 1 inch apart on the baking sheet and bake 8–10 minutes, until set but not browned.
- Remove from oven and immediately press a Hershey’s Kiss into the center of each cookie.
- Let sit 5–7 minutes until the Kiss softens, then gently press a heart-shaped sprinkle on top.
- Cool completely on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.
Expert Tips for Making Grinch Cookies
Dough too sticky? If the dough feels too soft to roll, pop it in the fridge for 20–30 minutes. This helps the cookies keep their shape while baking.
Use gel food coloring for the brightest green: Liquid food coloring can make the dough too wet. Gel gives you that perfect Grinchy green without messing with the texture.
Don’t overbake! Take the cookies out when the tops look dry but not browned. They’ll finish setting on the pan and stay soft and chewy.
Press the Kisses in right away: Add the candy cane Hershey’s Kiss as soon as the cookies come out of the oven so the chocolate can melt over the warm cookie.
Try a different flavor: Try almond or vanilla extract instead of peppermint for a different flavor. You can also use a white chocolate kiss instead of a peppermint one.
Make Ahead and Storage Tips
Honestly, these take hardly any time at all to make so I usually make them fresh, but if you want to make them ahead of time (for a class party etc…) you can make the dough up to 2 days in advance, cover, and refrigerate until ready to bake. Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! White or vanilla cake mix gives you the brightest green color. A yellow cake mix will throw off the color a little bit but will still taste great.
Nope! The candy cane flavor adds a fun peppermint twist, but regular Hershey’s Kisses, Hugs, or even chocolate hearts work great. You can also leave them off completely and just add heart sprinkles or candies for a simpler version.
Of course! The green food coloring is just for fun so they look like the Grinch. Your cookies will still taste delicious without it. If you’d like a natural tint, try a few drops of matcha.
More Fun Christmas Cookies
Have you tried these Grinch Cookies? I’d love to hear what you think! Drop a comment below and let me know how you liked them. And don’t forget to take a pic and tag us on Instagram @favoritefamilyrecipes! 📸🎄
Grinch Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (13.25 ounce) box vanilla cake mix
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- green gel food coloring
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 30 candy cane Hershey kisses
- 30 large heart sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper and set aside.
- Unwrap candy cane Hershey kisses, place in a bowl and set aside.
- Mix cake mix, butter, and eggs with a hand held or stand mixer until well combined.
- Add in the peppermint extract, vanilla extract, and green food coloring to achieve your desired color. Mix on low speed just until combined. The batter will be thick and sticky.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and cornstarch.
- Scoop the dough with a small cookie scoop and roll the cookie dough balls in the powdered sugar mixture to coat.
- Place about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, just until the cookies are set and the top of the cookies appear dry, but not browned.
- Remove the cookies from the oven, keeping them on the baking sheet, immediately press a candy cane Hershey kiss into the center.
- Wait 5-7 minutes to allow time for the kiss to melt and press a heart-shaped sprinkle on each melted Hershey kiss.
- Remove from baking sheet and cool completely on a wire rack. Store in airtight container.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Love the bright green color! Can you tell us whatb was the name of the gel color you used? thank you!!!
Hi Elaine – it is such a beautiful color! It’s the “Leaf Green Gel” coloring from Hobby Lobby that is the “Sunny Side Up Bakery” brand. I also love the Americolor soft gel leaf green color from Amazon. Hope this helps!
I can’t wait to try these. They are so cute and festive! They just make you smile. What size cookie scoop did you use?
It was a 1 Tablespoon scoop. Hope this helps!
It does. Thanks so much for your quick response!