For the cookies:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about a couple minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add in one egg at a time, wiping down the sides of the bowl in between each addition. Mix in the vanilla and mint extract.
2. Add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed until a cookie dough forms, about a minute or so. Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough into balls onto a non-greased cookie sheet, placing them a few inches apart. I do about 6 cookies per standard-size baking sheet.
3. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, or until the centers have just set. Right after the cookies come out of the oven, you can use a spatula to gently press the edges of the cookies into perfect circles if they are not already so. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat until all the cookie dough has been used.

For the frosting:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about a couple minutes. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the powdered sugar until smooth. Mix in the mint extract and the red food coloring until desired color is achieved.

Assemble:

1. Once the cookies are completely cool, assemble the cream pies. Frost the bottom side of half the cookies with about a couple tablespoons or so of frosting, not going all the way to the edges of the cookies. Top all the frosted bottoms with the rest of the cookies as “tops” and gently press each cream pie together.
2. You can either roll each cream pie in the crushed candy canes, or use your hands to sprinkle and gently press the crushed candy canes into the frosting showing on the sides. Enjoy!