Saturday, March 15, 2008

Andes Mints Chocolate Chip Cookies

St. Patrick's Day has been my favorite holiday for YEARS. We're talking wayyy back to like 6th grade or something. Before I even dreamt of the wonders of green beer. As the years have gone on, my love for St. Patrick's Day has turned into an obsession with all things Irish (and green). It's pretty bizarre, actually. I mean, there really isn't any good reason for me to be so obsessed with Ireland (besides the fact that it's a beautiful, friendly country that reminds me a lot of my home state of Tennessee). My ancestors were likely scottish, maybe some were irish, but even that doesn't matter, because my family has lived in TN since the 1780s. I love Irish writers, Irish beer, (if I'm going to have whiskey, I prefer Tennessee Whiskey.. aka... bourbon to irish whiskey), Irish and Celtic music. All of it. I freaking love it.

So, I get pretty excited when March rolls around. I'm having a small family get together at my place tonight to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, so there will be a Irish-themed Post on Monday. But, last night, I was craving some cookies. Not necessarily Chocolate Chip cookies, and not peanut butter or oatmeal cookies, either. So, I perused Recipezaar and found this recipe. I had some andes mints that I needed to use up, so I decided to give it a whirl.

Now, I'm starting to get comfortable in adjusting recipes a little bit. Which is very exciting. And after reading some of the reviews of this recipe, I made my own adjustments! And they turned out fabulous! Actually, This is the perfect chocolate chip cookie consistency. I plan on trying it again without the Andes Mints to make soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies. If they turn out like these, they will indeed be my favorite chocolate chip cookies, I think. I'll let you know how that recipe turns out.

Anyway, you can use the original link up there, or follow my adjusted recipe below.

And, after I put the first round in the oven, I couldn't help but throw some food color in the second round. When will I ever learn that green cookies just don't look appetizing? Oh well. At least they look cute in my shamrock server!



Andes Mint Cookies

Adapated from KC_Cooker's recipe on Recipezaar.

I made a half batch and got 14 cookies. This recipe is for a whole batch.



1 cup plus 2 tbsp of unsalted butter, softened


3/4 cup brown sugar


1/2 cup granulated sugar


1 tsp baking soda


1 tsp baking powder


2 tsps vanilla


2 large eggs


1 10 oz package of andes baking chips (I used crushed up andes mints)


1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips


2 cups of flour



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



Blend butter, sugars, baking soda and powder, vanilla and eggs until ingredients are mixed.



Add mints and chocolate chips and mix.

Add flour and continue to mix until well blended.



Cover and chill in fridge for 45-60 minutes.



Use a cookie scoop or a tbsp to measure out dough and form a ball of the dough in your hands and then slightly flatten it and place it on non-stick baking sheet.



Bake for approximately 7-9 minutes.



Cool on pan and then transfer to baking rack.