Cocoa Wafer Sandwich Cookies with Mint Chocolate
Everyone who has tried these chocolatey Cocoa Wafer Sandwich Cookies with Mint Chocolate Ganache is obsessed. Crispy chocolate wafer cookies are held together with a decadent mint chocolate ganache to make the ultimate chocolate and mint cookie combination. These homemade sandwich cookies are a perfect holiday cookie and are a delicious mash-up of two beloved cookies. Makes 27 sandwich cookies.

2024 update: This post was originally written and published in December 2012. I have update the recipe to make these wafers into sandwich cookies and have removed some ingredients to replace with better ingredients. The post has new images, as well as tons more tips and tricks to make the best cookies. I hope you love them!
I never thought the day would come when I admitted this, but I’m a sucker for food-related television.
The good thing is these shows are few and far between, but the bad thing is, once I get emotionally involved in a show, I’ll watch a series until its completion to cheer on my faves. This was a lot worse when I lived on my own, and I’m thankful I have pared this food programming obsession down a bit in recent years.
More than a few years back, a charming man named Fabio graced the Top Chef kitchens… and he was one of my favorites. Not only did he prepare beautiful and delicious-looking food, but he was wonderfully charismatic
To top it all off, he had just moved to the U.S. from Italy. Since I studied art in Italy, I felt an instant connection, and watching him cook drove home how much I missed the cuisine of the country I fell in love with during my summer abroad.
I followed Fabio on Twitter for a while, and when he tweeted about some Christmas and holiday cookie recipes back in 2012, I knew I needed to give his recipe a try.
I ended up adapting his cocoa wafer recipe and added a mint chocolate ganache to top them off.
Don’t get me wrong: These crispy cookies are fantastic on their own and don’t need any kind of frosting, but since I wanted to vary it up a bit, I figured, ‘Why not give it a shot?’
Why I love this recipe:
As stated above, I adapted this recipe in 2012… and I’ve learned a lot since then.
In the 12 years between then and now, I’ve tinkered with this recipe to remove some of the strange adaptations I made to the initial recipe, as well as tweaked it to make the cookies even more cocoa-forward. I also transformed them from regular cutout cookies with frosting to sandwich cookies because this ganache is an awesome filling for a sandwich cookie.
The end result, at long last, is a delightfully crisp cookie with rich chocolate flavor.
These homemade chocolate wafers, sandwiched with a minty ganache, remind me of a combination between a famous Girl Scout cookie and another famous cocoa wafer cookie.
I have no doubt that I could enjoy the entire batch if given the chance. 😉
Other chocolate cookie recipes we love: Chocolate Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies | Gluten Free Almond Butter Brownie Cookies | Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars | Peppermint Brownie Drop Cookies | Chocolate Gingerbread Biscotti | Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Let’s talk about The Sweetest Season and Cookies for Kids Cancer!
The Sweetest Season is my annual holiday cookie week.
In 2011, I decided to share my favorite Christmas cookies… then invited other bloggers to join me. The celebration grew, we changed the name to make it more inclusive, my friend Susannah stepped up to help and the rest is history.
And now, every year, food bloggers get together to share new holiday cookie recipes.
This year, we’re raising money in support of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer.
Since 2008, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted nearly $18 million to pediatric cancer research in the form of 100+ research grants to leading pediatric cancer centers. More than 35 treatments available to kids battling cancer today were stemmed from these grants.
We’d love for you to help us raise money for this cause! You can donate through our fundraising page.
Currently, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is in a matching window with their friends at OXO. This means OXO will match every dollar up to $100,000 raised through the end of 2024. So whatever money we raise will automatically double!

What you need to make this recipe:
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- Sheet pans
- Parchment paper or nonstick baking mats
- Kitchen scale
- Large bowl
- Whisk
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- Plastic wrap
- Wax paper
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutters in your shape of choice (I used 2.5″ round cookie cutters)
- Wire cooling rack
- Cookie tins or other airtight containers for storage
- Tipless icing bags, for the ganache filling
Let’s talk ingredients!
In addition to the tools above, you’re going to need some ingredients to make this recipe, too! Chances are, you might already have some of them in your fridge or pantry. Scroll down to the recipe card for the full measurements and instructions.
Here’s what you need to grab at the grocery store:
- All-purpose flour — we like to use unbleached AP flour in our household, but the regular kind works, too. I have not tried this with a gluten free flour blend.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder — this is not the same as hot cocoa mix. What you are looking for is 100% cocoa powder. Hershey’s brand is a reliable staple in my kitchen. You do not need Dutch-processed cocoa powder. (This is processed differently than natural cocoa powder.) That said, you can use Dutch process cocoa because we are not using any ingredients that would impact the recipe by using that.
- Kosher salt — salt is key in baking. Medium grain kosher salt (like Diamond Crystal) is my favorite. You can use a similarly sized sea salt. Table salt is saltier than kosher salt. If you use salted butter, skip the salt.
- Baking powder — make sure it’s fresh! This is not the same thing as baking soda.
- Unsalted butter — be sure to remove the butter from the fridge ahead of time so it can soften, or follow this tutorial on softening butter. Cold butter will not cream as easily or give us the best results.
- Granulated sugar — this is also referred to as white sugar. Don’t use brown sugar in this recipe as it behaves differently when baked.
- Espresso powder — instant espresso powder adds a deeper mocha flavor to these cookies.
- Egg — be sure to get the egg out about 30-45 minutes ahead of time and make sure it is at room temperature before baking. I always set my egg out with the butter. It should be a large egg.
- Pure vanilla extract — always use a high quality vanilla extract in your baking recipes for the most flavorful results.
- Bittersweet chocolate chips — or a different chocolate chip, if you prefer. I think milk chocolate chips would yield a too-sweet ganache, but semisweet chocolate chips could work here, along with dark chocolate chips, if you’re into that.
- Pure peppermint extract — this adds the fabulous mint flavor to our ganache. There is no substitute.
- Half-and-half — this thins out the ganache. If you use milk, your ganache will be a little more runny.
I have lots of tips for choosing the best ingredients for cookies here in my Cookies 101 guide.

Customizations and substitutions
These chocolate wafer cookies are so delicious by themselves! You don’t have to decorate them at all. But here are a few ways you could mix things up:
- Use different shaped cookie cutters. I used a round biscuit cutter for this recipe, which works well for cookies anytime. At the holidays, try this recipe with trees, stars or gingerbread men shapes. For Valentine’s Day, you could do heart shapes. The sky (or your cookie cutter collection) is the limit.
- Use black cocoa powder. Swap regular cocoa powder for the same amount of this for a different look.
- Skip the sandwiches and just frost them. They are super tasty this way, and this is how I initially served them. You can use this easy sugar cookie icing in different colors and decorate them with sprinkles for a fun twist on a holiday classic.
- Finish them with a sprinkling of powdered sugar for a beautiful black-and-white result.
- Make ice cream sandwiches. These would be so good filled with ice cream. Go with vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, mint chip — whatever goes with chocolate will be good here! I have a full ice cream cookie sandwich tutorial for you.
- Swap out the sandwich cookie filling for another frosting, like creamy peanut butter frosting, sweetened whipped cream or even homemade Oreo cream.

How to make Homemade Chocolate Wafer Cookie Sandwiches with Mint Chocolate Ganache Filling
Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. Set aside.
Measure the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. These are the dry ingredients. Whisk together until combined, then set aside.

Cream together the butter, sugar and espresso powder. Do this in a separate bowl, but please note that we’re going to use an electric mixer, so you’ll need a large bowl with a hand mixer OR the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
This will take about 2-3 minutes.

Add the egg and vanilla to the butter mixture.
Beat until fluffy and wonderfully fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

Pour the flour mixture into the butter mixture.
Start on a low speed, and mix until just combined.

Transfer the cookie dough onto a long sheet of wax paper on a flat surface. Sprinkle with a little cocoa powder to prevent sticking. Press another sheet of wax paper on top of it.
Roll the cookie dough out until ¼” thick with your favorite rolling pin.
DID YOU KNOW?
If you don’t have a rolling pin, you can use a wine bottle to roll out the cookie dough.

Refrigerate the rolled-out cookie dough for 30-45 minutes. This will help firm up the dough and make it to where you can cut out the cookies and transfer them without them ripping or falling apart.
Some people might form this into a log of dough and then roll it from there, but I like to initially roll the dough and chill it flat because it chills faster and also makes working with it a little quicker. Also, I have a hard time rolling the dough thin enough once it’s in log form, and you might, too.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Once completely chilled, cut cookies into rounds with a cookie cutter of your choosing.

Gently transfer them to the prepared baking sheets. The cookie dough should not spread much, so they can have about 1″ between them without issue.
Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until firm, in the preheated oven. The baking time is dependent on the thickness of the cookies, so keep an eye on them! Yours could take 10-12 minutes if they’re a little thicker than the ones shown here.

Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cookies are cooling, make the ganache.
Warm the chocolate chips and half-and-half in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave. I like to do this in 30-second increments until the chocolate is soft.
Give it a stir, then pour in the mint extract and stir until completely combined. It will be thick and luscious.
Once the cookies have cooled, set them out in two rows to make the sandwich cookies. Make sure you have an even number of cookies for this step.

Flip half of the homemade chocolate wafer cookies over to where the bottom of the cookie that was on the baking sheet is facing up. These will be our bottom cookies. Leave the other half as is.
Use a knife or offset spatula to spread the ganache on the bottom cookies.

Place another cookie on top of the ganache to make the sandwich. Repeat until all the sandwiches have been made.
Enjoy!

How to store and freeze:
Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week. Do not store with other cookies because the peppermint flavor will seep into the others. These are meant to be kept by themselves.
You can also roll them out and cut out shapes, then freeze them on a tray and bake them from frozen. The texture will be a little different because of the freeze, but they’ll still be tasty.
You can also freeze baked cookies and thaw them later for a party.

Erin’s Easy Entertaining Tips
We love these Dark Chocolate Wafer Cookies with a Mint Chocolate Ganache, and everyone we’ve shared them with has loved them, too.
Here are some fun ways to share and entertain with them throughout the holiday season and beyond:
- Add them to a holiday cookie tray to share with friends, neighbors and teachers.
- Make these for a cookie swap party or any kind of party! Who doesn’t adore chocolate?
- Add them to dessert trays, party menus or even a hot chocolate board.

Frequently Asked Questions
You certainly can, but I do not recommend it because the cookies will not hold their shape as you attempt to transfer them to the prepared cookie sheet.
Quick tips and tricks to the best Mint Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Chocolate Ganache
- Don’t skip the chill. This helps the dough cool off and makes it easier to work with. If you don’t chill it, your cookies will not hold their shape between your work surface and the pan.
- Similarly, roll them thin. This will make the end result cookies wonderfully crisp.
- Swap out the filling with your favorite. If you’re not into mint chocolate, use a classic chocolate ganache frosting. You could also make a whipped cream filling or even a peanut butter one, if that sounds good.
Here’s how you make these cookies in your own kitchen…

Cocoa Wafer Sandwich Cookies with Mint Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
Chocolate Wafer Cookies
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 180g
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 45g
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt 3g
- ½ teaspoon baking powder 2g
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened (1 stick / 113g)
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar 250g
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder 2g
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4g
Mint Chocolate Ganache
- 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips 180g
- 1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract 5g
- ¼ cup half-and-half 62g
Equipment
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Instructions
- Line two sheet pans with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. Set aside.
- Measure the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Whisk together until combined, then set aside.
- Cream together the butter, sugar and espresso powder using a hand mixer or a stand mixer in another bowl, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla to the mixture, beating until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the flour mixture into the butter mixture, mixing until just combined.
- Transfer the cookie dough onto a long sheet of wax paper sprinkled with cocoa powder. Sprinkle the top of the cookie dough with additional cocoa powder to prevent sticking. Press another sheet of wax paper on top of it. Roll the cookie dough out until ¼" thick.
- Refrigerate the rolled-out cookie dough for 30-45 minutes. This will help firm up the dough and make it to where you can cut out the cookies and transfer them without them ripping or falling apart.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Once completely chilled, cut the cookies into rounds with a cookie cutter of your choosing. Gently transfer them to the prepared baking sheets. The cookie dough should not spread much, so they can have about 1" between them without issue.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until firm, in the preheated oven.
- Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cookies are cooling, make the ganache.
- Warm the chocolate chips and half-and-half in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second increments until the chocolate is soft. Give it a stir, then add the mint extract and stir until completely combined. It will be thick and luscious.
- Once the cookies have cooled, set them out in two rows. For one half, I flip them over and use this as the bottom cookie for the sandwich. I leave the other half as is. Be sure that you have an even number of cookies for this step.
- Use a knife or offset spatula to spread the ganache on top of the bottom cookies. Place another cookie on top of the ganache to make the sandwich. Repeat until all the sandwiches have been made.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition

About the Author:
Erin Parker is a Southern gal living in Texas with her husband and two daughters. She started The Speckled Palate to share what she was cooking as a newlywed… and over the years, it’s evolved to capture her love for hosting. Specifically, the EASIEST, lowest key entertaining because everyone deserves to see their people and connect over good food. Learn more about her…
These look delicious! I love the ganache on top, the pretty snowflake form, and of course, the chocolate. Yummy. I don’t think I could find a prettier Christmas cookie. Pinned!