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These peppermint white chocolate blondies are soft, chewy, buttery bars made from scratch, with white chocolate chips and crushed candy canes stirred right into the batter. A peppermint buttercream icing goes on top, finished with more crushed candy cane. There are no tricky steps, so they’re an easy addition to any holiday cookie tray.

Peppermint bark cookie bars with white frosting and crushed candy cane topping, arranged on a wooden cutting board. — A little heavy cream in the icing makes it spread smooth over the rich, buttery blondies.

White Sugar Lets the Peppermint Shine

Most blondies get their flavor from brown sugar, which is great for butterscotch but tends to drown out something delicate like peppermint. These use plain white sugar instead, so the white chocolate and candy cane are what you actually taste.

The part that trips people up with iced bars is the cutting, since warm icing smears and slides and leaves you with messy squares. Here the blondies chill in the fridge until the icing sets, so they slice into neat bars. They also freeze well, which makes them one of the easier holiday bakes to get done ahead of time.

Ten Years of Candy Cane Season

I’ve been making these blondies for 10 years, and a pan shows up in my kitchen every year as soon as the candy canes hit the store. They started as my traditional blondie recipe, which I adapted with white chocolate chips and crushed peppermint. Once December rolls around there is usually plenty of chocolate on the dessert table, so these are a nice change that still feel like a holiday bake.

Rich White Chocolate, Light Peppermint

The two things people mention most about these holiday dessert bars are the richness from the white chocolate and how light the peppermint tastes. Crushed candy canes go into the batter and onto the top, so the peppermint comes through gently in every bite instead of hitting you all at once. The icing uses just a hint of peppermint extract, which keeps that flavor on the light side. The richness comes from a full cup of butter and the white chocolate chips working together.

If you have extra candy canes, my no-bake peppermint fudge with marshmallows is another way to put them to use.

Pro Tip: If you can’t find candy canes, or just want to speed up the process, you can find pre-crushed candy canes on Amazon. Multi- colored candy canes make them more festive.

Square sugar cookie bars topped with white frosting and crushed peppermint candy.

Why These Stay Dense and Chewy

There’s no baking powder or baking soda in these blondies, so they bake up dense and chewy instead of cakey. Beating the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy is where much of the texture starts, so don’t cut that step short. Once the flour goes in, mix on low speed just until combined, because overmixing can make bars tougher.

If you want a deeper, toffee-like flavor, try some white chocolate blondies with browned butter and a raspberry swirl.

What I’d Tell You Before You Start

Let the blondies cool completely in the pan before you ice them, because warm blondies will melt the icing. The parchment lining lets you lift the whole slab out for easier cutting.
Break each candy cane in half before unwrapping it, and the wrapper slides right off. Crush the pieces coarsely so you still get little bits of peppermint in the bars.
If you don’t have white chocolate chips, a chopped white chocolate baking bar works in their place.
These freeze well. Freeze the cut bars on a baking sheet first, then move them to an airtight container with parchment paper between the layers. If you’re filling a cookie tray, soft eggnog cookies with eggnog frosting freeze well too, so you can bake both ahead.

Everything That Goes Into These Blondies

Ingredients for baking arranged on a counter: a bag of flour, a bag of sugar, white chocolate chips, peppermint bits, two sticks of butter, two eggs, and vanilla extract. — Ingredients for white chocolate blondies.

Ingredients for a dessert recipe: a bag of Dixie Crystals powdered sugar, a pile of crushed peppermint, a stick of Land O Lakes unsalted butter, a carton of heavy whipping cream, and bottles of peppermint and vanilla extract. — Ingredients for Peppermint Frosting.

The exact amounts are in the recipe card below.

Crushed peppermint candy: You’ll need 1 cup in all, about 12 candy canes, with half going into the batter and half on top of the icing. If you’d rather skip the crushing, you can buy crushed peppermint on Amazon, which makes this easier.
Peppermint extract: Use pure peppermint extract, not mint or spearmint extract, since the flavors are different. Measure it carefully, because a little goes a long way.

How to Make Peppermint White Chocolate Blondies

Step 1: Crush the Candy Canes

A meat tenderizer mallet crushing peppermint candies inside a plastic bag. — Crush candy canes in a plastic bag.

Step 2: Mix the Batter

A purple spatula mixing pale cookie dough in a clear glass bowl. — Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

A glass mixing bowl containing creamed butter and sugar, with a spatula and eggshells nearby. — Add eggs and mix well.

A wooden spatula stirs white chocolate chips and crushed peppermint candies into cookie dough inside a glass mixing bowl. — Add white chocolate and peppermint.

Cookie dough with red flecks in a glass mixing bowl with a rubber spatula. — Mix to combine.

Step 3: Bake and Cool

A metal spatula spreading cookie dough with red specks into a parchment-lined rectangular baking pan. — Spread in a 9 x 13 pan.

A rectangular pan of baked cookie bars sprinkled with red candy bits. — Bake and cool in the pan.

Step 4: Make the Icing

Combine the ingredients and beat until smooth. If it’s too thick, add more cream, if too thin, add more powdered sugar.

A flat beater attachment covered in thick, pale cream frosting inside a glass mixing bowl. — Beat the frosting until smooth and creamy.

Step 5: Ice, Top, and Chill

Rectangular sheet cake topped with white frosting and crushed peppermint candy on a wooden serving board.

Bake a pan when the candy canes show up this year, and you’ll give your holiday table a break from all the chocolate.

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Square sugar cookie bars topped with white frosting and crushed peppermint candy on a wooden board.

Peppermint White Chocolate Blondies with Icing

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Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 35

Servings: bars

Calories: 260kcal

Author: Barbara Curry

Equipment

Ingredients

Blondies

1 cup unsalted butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely crushed peppermint candies about 12 candy canes, divided

Icing

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

Crush the candy canes. Place the candy canes in a zip-top bag and crush them with a rolling pin into coarse pieces, about 1 cup in all. Set half aside for the topping.
Make the batter. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 13×9-inch baking pan with parchment paper and grease it with butter. Beat the butter and sugar in a mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated, then beat in the vanilla and salt. Add the flour on low speed, mixing just until combined. Stir in the white chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the crushed candy canes.
Bake and cool. Spread the batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the blondies cool completely in the pan.
Make the icing. Beat the powdered sugar, softened butter, vanilla, and peppermint extract in a medium bowl with a hand mixer. Add the heavy cream and beat until the icing is a spreadable consistency.
Ice and chill. Spread the icing over the cooled blondies and sprinkle with the reserved crushed candy canes. Refrigerate until the icing sets, then cut into squares.

Notes

Let the butter soften to room temperature before you start so it beats up smooth and fluffy with the sugar.
Start checking at 20 minutes, since overbaked blondies turn dry instead of chewy.
For clean squares, cut once the icing has set and wipe your knife between cuts.