Chocolate Mint Cookies

I’m not sure what it is about mint, but it’s never been one of my favorite flavors.  I could blame it on the Junior Mints I ate too many of one afternoon in at a matinee when I was a kid.  But then again, it might have been the time that my grandparents took us to Howard Johnson’s to have ice cream and I chose a double scoop of peppermint and apple streudel which, if you think the way I now do, don’t exactly go well with one another.  Sadly, those cheerful red and white hard candy disks never quite appealed to me and just the thought of York Peppermint patties made my teeth ache.  Mint tea has no appeal whether I’m under the weather or not, and mint juleps remind me of cough medicine.

Mention Girl Scouts’ Thin Mints, however, and you’ll have my undivided attention.  It has to be the crunch.  These holiday cookies may not be Thin Mints, but they come very, very close.

I’ll have to give them a good dunk in the chocolate next time instead of making a big mess slinging chocolate all over my kitchen.

Chocolate Mint Cookies

• 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg

• 6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions can be found here.

Notes:

• Am I mistaken, or were these called refrigerator cookies once upon a time?
• I used pure peppermint extract and the quantity called for could actually be increased a bit.  The minty taste in the finished cookie is very subtle, so they’re perfect for a non-mint lover like myself.  The uncooked dough is something I might be caught sneaking from the fridge at night when no one is looking.
• These are terrifically easy to make.  Roll the dough in the plastic and it’s easier to even out the shape before refrigeration.
• There is absolutely no spread on these cookies.  Zero.  It’s interesting.  I’m sure it’s some kind of divine retribution for all the cookie spreading disasters I’ve survived.
• I had left over chocolate from two other recipes, so reheated that and drizzled it over the top of the cooled cookies.  If you’re going to reheat chocolate in a microwave, do so on the lowest power possible for one minute at a time and then stir well before deciding to put it back in the microwave.
• I coated a couple of the cookies that didn’t quite look as hockey puckish as the others and did note when I sank my teeth into one, that the chocolate does soften the cookie just the slightest bit.  Maybe a complete dunking is in order?  Wait.  Perhaps fill them, then give them a dunk.  Goodness, but wouldn’t that be decadent?
• These would be terrific cookies to make ice cream sandwiches with.  They’re sturdy little things.

Don’t forget to check out my fellow cookie bakers this holiday season.  Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen, Courtney of Coco Cooks, and Judy of No Fear Entertaining who are all returning this year, and Michelle of Big Black Dog, Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook, Renee of Flamingo Musings, and Tiffany of The Nesting Project who will be joining us this year.  A special nod goes to Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes who started the group last year, but cannot join in on the craziness this year.

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Tagged as: cutouts, mint, refrigerator, rolled