Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

One of my favorite food combinations is mint and chocolate.  I don’t mean they heavy, cloying mint taste that comes from adding mint extract.  The taste I am trying to achieve is a separate mint taste and a separate chocolate taste.  This recipe achieves that, these cookies are quite addictive!

I originally started making these cookie when my aunt made a batch for me while I was still in high school.  They were like nothing I had ever tasted and I have used (and treasured) her recipe ever since.  The cookie itself is a dark chocolate cookie with a fudge like texture on the inside.  The outside of the cookie is crisp and has a nice dusting of sugar that was rolled into the cookie ball before baking.

The mint doesn’t come from an extract or from a cream paste.  Instead, these cookies have mint chocolate chips in them.  As happens in a traditional chocolate chip cookie, the chips get soft but hold their shape during baking.  This means that each bite of cookie will have the rich chocolate taste from the cocoa and the tangy taste of the mint chocolate chip.  Delicious!

Chocolate

Knowing which type of chocolate to use is important to every baker.  While there are many varieties of chocolate that can be used when baking, most recipes will call for either unsweetened dark chocolate (also called baking chocolate), cocoa powder (also unsweetened and sometimes called Dutch chocolate), semi sweet (usually in the form of chips) or white chocolate).  For this recipe you will want to use chocolate powder or cocoa.  This is unsweetened and has an intense chocolate taste.  It is very bitter by itself but when it is mixed with sugar and vanilla it becomes a delicious taste treat.

Chocolate Mint Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter.  You can use margarine or shortening.

2 eggs at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cups Dutch cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup mint chocolate chips

1/4 cup extra sugar for rolling the cookie dough balls in before baking.

Instructions

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Grease or line with parchment paper two baking sheets.

I like to use my stand mixer for this recipe.  The dough is heavy and sticky and a stand mixer makes quick work of the mixing.  Stir the chips in by hand.

In your mixer’s bowl, cream the butter.  Add the sugars, eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl blend the dry ingredients except that chips.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and mix until blended.

Stir in the mint chocolate chips by hand.

Measure out a rounded spoonful of the dough, roll into a ball and roll around in the extra sugar.

Place the sugar coated balls on your baking sheets about2 inches apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.  The top of the cookie should be firm and a bit crisp.

Remove to a cooling rack.

This recipe makes about 36 cookies.