Chocolate Andes Mint Cookies

December 10, 2012 // 0 Comments »

Andes candies only show up during Christmas time. They never seem to make an appearance at other holidays the way that random things like peach jello mold does. All the more reason to use lots of Andes candies in lots of Christmas cookies. I already used the Andes peppermint candies in some cookies (which will be posted later this week), but I found the regular Andes creme de menthe baking bits at the store and wanted to find a good use for them. Luckily, I didn’t have to do too much thinking because one of my favorite coworkers Maura, who has the pleasure of sitting directly across from me every day, brought this recipe to a baby shower a few weeks ago and it was a big hit.

Ingredients:

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp water
2 cups (12 oz) semi sweet chocolate chips
2 ½ cups all purpose flour1 ¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt2 large eggs
Crème De Menthe Mint chips

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan over the stove, on medium to low heat melt butter, sugar, and water. Once the butter is melted, add in the chocolate chips and slowly whisk until they are melted. Transfer into your mixer and let it cool for at least 10 minutes.

Step 2: Once cool (to avoid scrambled eggs) add the eggs and beat until smooth. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and mix into the wet ingredients. Refrigerate the dough for an hour or until firm.

Step 3: Using a small cookie scoop or teaspoon, scoop 1-inch balls of dough and place evenly on a sil-pat or parchment lined baking sheet.

Step 4: Bake until just set — about 7 to 9 minutes. Be careful not to overcook these.

Step 5: When you remove the cookies from the oven, take the back of a small spoon and press down lightly in the center of each cookie to make a little indent. Don’t use your thumb or you will burn the bejesus out of it. Then sprinkle the Andes chips generously on top of the cookie. You can spread the chocolate around if you want but it doesn’t change the taste and looks just as nice this way.

There you have it. Very delicious and refreshingly minty. The creme de menthe flavor is different than the peppermint of candy canes, but still has a very holiday-esque taste. I have lots of good stories from this weekend, one that I will save for the caramel blondie post that will most likely come tomorrow. (one involves a failed pick up attempt by a reality tv “star”)

I had an electrician come in this weekend to install my ceiling fans, and he noticed my built in wine rack was broken (and unable to hold wine). So as my housewarming present, the electrician (who I just met that morning) decided to drill some holes in my cabinets and fix my wine rack since he said it was crucial that my $4 wine be displayed prominently when you walk in the kitchen. That’s my kind of electrician. Has his priorities in order.