DOUBLE CHOCOLATE AND MINT COOKIES

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If you type “chocolate cookie recipe” in a Google search you’ll get over  2 million hits in return. Two million. How many recipes for chocolate cookies does the world need?  Nobody knows.  Since in my humble food blog I only have 13 cookie recipes, of which less than half involve chocolate, I need to catch up.  Here is one more for  you,  no chocolate chips, just good old melted chocolate, cocoa powder, and pieces of chocolate mint candy, such as Andes.  By the way, did you know that Andes mints originated in Chicago in the 1920’s and were originally named Andy’s Mints? It turns out that the owners of the company quickly realized that men did not care to give their partners a candy with another guy’s name on the box. So, instead of honoring its creator, Andrew Kanelos, Andy’s became Andes, and now we have a chocolate mint that is not too far away from celebrating its 100th Birthday.  The distinguished candy works well in this recipe from Giada de Laurentiis.

Chocolate Mint Cookies

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE AND MINT COOKIES
(from Giada de Laurentiis)

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
One 5-ounce package chocolate mint thins, such as Andes, each cut into thirds
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Heat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
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In a small bowl, combine the bittersweet chocolate and butter. Place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes.
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In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, 2 tablespoons water and vanilla extract. Gradually add the dry ingredients. Fold in the cooled chocolate. Stir in the chocolate mint pieces. Chill the dough 10 minutes to firm slightly.
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Using 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop 6 mounds of batter onto each prepared sheet, spacing evenly apart. Bake the cookies for a total of 18 to 20 minutes, until slightly puffed and dry-looking with some small cracks on top.
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Cool the cookies completely on sheets.
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ENJOY!
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to print the recipe, click here
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Mint is an interesting flavor. I think most people like it, but when someone doesn’t care for it, it’s a bit like cilantro. Intense hate. I wish I could tell you whether the mint flavor is too strong in these cookies, but I didn’t have a single one.  I baked them during my lunch break, took them still warm to the department, but when I went back to grab one, only crumbs were staring at me from the platter.  However, according to one of our graduate students, the mint component was pretty mild.  Two pointers for success from watching Giada’s show: first, keep the pieces of the Andes candies on the large side, because that makes them melt in your mouth as you bite into the cookie.  Second, cool the dough before baking.  The recipe uses relatively little flour, so cooling is needed to be able to scoop them out nicely.
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With this post Google has one more chocolate cookie to share with those desperately searching for it. Mission accomplished.
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ONE YEAR AGO: In My Kitchen, December 2013

TWO YEARS AGO: Sourdough Mini-Rolls

38 thoughts on “DOUBLE CHOCOLATE AND MINT COOKIES”

  2. Well if not even a single cookie was left when you came back it can only mean that these are truly delicious cookies!
    I love choco + mint, but it’s an acquired taste and quite few people I know truly hate it!

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    • Michael, loved your post on making that mirror – you are incredibly talented! I haven’t been able to comment much, life is busy with so much stuff, but I wanted to tell you how much I loved it!

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  6. well…I would never have thought about men not wanting to give a woman candy with another man’s name on it!! I thought women were just weird about those things!
    I’m just pulling together my list of cookies to bake for the holidays and I also seem to find lots of chocolate recipes! I like this with simple melted chocolate and the addition of mint is just perfect for my taste.

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    • I was a bit surprised too, but this was the 1920’s, so maybe that explains it. These days, who the heck cares, right? 😉 Give me a cookie and I’m happy, put a dog’s name on the box, and I’m even happier!

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  10. WOW!
    That’s a lot of chocolate cookie recipes! I like the inclusion of the mint in yours, I will have to try. Lol about giving mints with another mints name, lucky they worked out they needed to change the name for the sake of sales 🙂
    Thanks for sharing
    Julie
    Gourmet Getaways
    P.S Pop over and say hi 🙂

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  11. While I’m not a chocolate person, I have to say you have the luckiest department of all. I’m suspecting they know that too. Too bad Mike didn’t get his PhD in bio. I’d have him relocate! 😉

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  12. I mentioned earlier on another site that I associate mint & chocolate with Christmas, for some reason. These cookies do the same for me, though they are far from your standard Christmas cookie. As a big fan of Andes, I bet these cookies would be the best ever, whether or not it’s Christmas Yum!

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  19. I haven’t thought of Andes mints in years. They don’t live down under but I can see how they’d be wonderful in these cookies.

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