Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

My husband loves Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.  And key lime pie.  And sugar cookies.  

But other than that he's not really a dessert kind of person.  We don't eat a lot of junk food in our house for that purpose.  And because if I do make something sweet I know I'll be the only one eating it and my thighs would not thank me for that one bit.

I do have those moments where my sweet tooth is screaming for some junk food and I don't have the willpower to say no.  So when Chris came home a few weeks ago talking about a dessert recipe he found online I knew I was going to have to try it.

You can find the original Mint Chocolate Chip Recipe on allrecipes.com.  I'm sure that as soon as you see the picture your mouth will start to water like mine did.

There were just a few issues I had:

-I don't like using prepackaged cookie mix (usually because I can't have it due to allergies) so I made chocolate chip cookies from scratch and just added the other ingredients to make them minty and delicious!

-I could not find creme de menthe baking chips at my grocery store so I substituted Andes mints (I love going to Olive Garden just to get one at the end of my meal!).

-Instead of mint extract I used peppermint extract.  It was all I had on hand at my house and I didn't feel like running out to the store!

Okay!  I think that's about all the issues I had.  Here is how I made the cookies:

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

Original Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe: 

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

Additional ingredients:

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

6 drops green food coloring

1 package of Andes Mints (this equals 1 cup)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until creamy.  Add eggs; beat well.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating well.  Stir in peppermint extract, food coloring, mints, and chocolate chunks.
3. Using a spoon place dough onto ungreased cookie sheet (about 2 inches apart).
4. Cook for 8-10 minutes then let them cool for 3 minutes.
5. Serve warm or let them cool completely and store in an air-tight container for later.

Delicious Desserts: Soft Sugar Cookies

I've been looking for an excuse to make knockoff lofthouse sugar cookies and I think I finally found one!

This weekend my dear husband and I are going to a cookout.  My best friend's husband is finally back after being away for five months for Army training so we're celebrating his birthday and his return with an epic bbq.  He's going to make his famous bacon explosion (it's a heart attack waiting to happen...but yummy) and bbq chicken.  I'm not looking forward to the 95+ degree weather but I am really excited to see all my friends!

When starting the recipe, I didn't realize the cookies take a few days to make.  I'm actually glad I started a few days early because they would not be done for the cookout in time if I hadn't!

Things to keep in mind when making them.
-The dough is really really sticky.  I know the recipe says it's sticky but I was not expecting it to feel like it did.  Make sure you have plenty of flour to put on the counter so you can roll it out before you store it overnight in the fridge.
-It's a pain in the butt to wrap it with plastic wrap when it's sticky.  I have no good tips on ways to do it.  All I can do is wish you luck.
-You're going to want to eat all the dough.  Restrain yourself!  Trust me, it's worth it.


Ready for the recipe?

Ingredients

For the cookies:
6 cups flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups light sour cream (it says light in the instructions but in the comments on The Novice Chef site says to use regular sour cream)


For the frosting:
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons heavy cream
Sprinkles

Day One

Instructions

For the cookies:
In a medium bowl, whisk 5 cups of flour, baking soda, and baking powder.  Set aside and pull out your stand mixer.

In the bowl for your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.  Add the eggs (one at a time) until each incorporated in the butter/sugar mix.  Add the vanilla and sour cream and beat at low speed until combined.

Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined (about 30 seconds), scraping down the bowl as needed.  You need to make sure the dough has the right consistency for rolling so add an addition 1/4 cup of flour at a time (up to 1 cup more of flour).

Divide dough into two sections (this is the difficult part because it's so sticky!).  Flatten into rectangles (as best you can) about 1 1/2 inches thick, then wrap with plastic wrap.  Chill in the refrigerator overnight.

Day Two

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.

Generously flour a work area and rolling pin.  With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness.  Using a 2/12 inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles and transfer to a baking sheet.  (Don't try any other shapes because the dough will expand in the oven!)  Bake for 7-8 minutes, until a pale golden color.  Immediately transfer cookies to a wire rack to cook.

For the frosting:
To make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and vanilla.  Slowly beat in the powdered sugar.  Once smooth and creamy, add in heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired spreading consistency is achieved.

Once cookies have cooled completely, frost and add sprinkles.  Allow frosting to set, then store in an air-tight container.  Let cookies sit over night before serving to allow the flavors to develop.

Don't they looks delicious?! 

Recipe and picture are from The Novice Chef