Mint Chocolate Cookies

Although I still love cupcakes, I decided it was time to move on to other endeavors. I decided to go with my other personal favorite (and who doesn't love them), cookies! I was in the mood to bake and I couldn't wait until later this week when I'll hopefully be starting my Valentine's Day cookies. So I consulted Martha (not the actual Martha, although that would be awesome, but one of my many Martha Stewart cookbooks) and decided to try the Milk-Chocolate Cookies (page 79) from her Cookies book (or Double Chocolate Cookies as she calls them on her website). But as usual, I decided to tweak the recipe a slight bit. I decided instead of Milk Chocolate cookies, I would make Mint Chocolate cookies. My boyfriend had suggested it to me over Christmas, and this recipe seemed to be the best to adapt, but it was one of the several things that unfortunately got axed from my list of about 15 things to make for the holidays. I still had the box of Andes Chocolate Mints in my pantry, so I decided to give it a shot.


The recipe calls for 8 ounces of milk chocolate-- 4 of it chopped for melting, and 4 of it cut into chunks to fold into the dough. In my slight alteration of the recipe, I used 4 ounces, or 1/2 cup, of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I didn't have any milk chocolate in my stash) and the box of Andes Mints which the package claims is 4.67oz. If you can't find the box in your grocery store, just get between 25-30 candies from the bulk candy bins, or swipe them from the restaurants that give them out as after-dinner mints! (Not really. I'm not condoning theft.. but if they're just sitting in those little bowls by the door...) I put the chocolate chips and a stick of butter in a glass bowl to melt over a pan of water while I chopped up the Andes. Once the chocolate was melted, I mixed it with sugar until it cooled slightly before adding the eggs. The recipe says to put the chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in all together, but the chocolate was still pretty hot and I didn't want scrambled eggs in my cookies. Once that was mixed, I added in the sifted flour and cocoa mixture and mixed until just combined, then folded in my chopped mints. Scoop them out on a cookie sheet with a cookie or an ice cream scoop, bake them for 15 minutes, and out come lovely chocolate cookies! They're slightly crunchy around the outside edge, and soft and chewy in the center. They've got the just the right amount of mint flavor, enough to be noticed, but not too much to overpower the chocolate. These are perfect treats to serve after dinner! You get dessert and after-dinner mints all in one! These will definitely be making an appearance again in future holiday and non-holiday baking adventures.

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Mint Chocolate Cookies
(This is my variation Milk Chocolate Cookies found in Martha Stewart Cookies, page 79)
Makes about 3 dozen




1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
4 ounces milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 box (4.67oz), or 25-30 pieces, Andes Mint Candies, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
2. Melt chocolate chips with butter in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; let cool slightly.
3. Put chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Fold in Andes mint pieces.
4. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack, about 15 minutes (cookies should still be soft). Let cool on parchment on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment at room temperature for up to 3 days.