With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, I had the idea to share something a little green and somewhat festive in celebration. So I got to work on a mint chocolate chip cookie recipe, one that used green (and brown) Andes candy pieces (because, yum) and a buttery cookie base. It took a few attempts for me to get the cookie base just right, but once I did I was so excited about the outcome. These cookies are soft, flavorful, and chewy. The mint flavor is present without being overwhelming (I hate toothpaste-tasting desserts!). Perfection. Except… once I went to edit my photos, I had to admit to myself that they fell a little short on both the green and the festive front. The green mint color from the candies is, admittedly, barely noticeable, and maybe these could even pass for traditional chocolate chip cookies (at least until you take your first bite). So maybe these mint chocolate chip cookies don’t scream St. Patrick’s Day. Maybe there is a glaring lack of shamrocks (though you could always add shamrock sprinkles or green nonpareils), but they’re still pretty darn good cookies, and they’re perfect for any time of the year.
Tips for Making Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you’ve made any of my other cookie recipes, you’ll probably recognize a lot of these tips. Still, they’re worth repeating.
Melt your butter, but let it cool.
I’ve found that melting your butter rather than creaming it with your sugar tends to result in softer, chewier cookies with a better butter flavor. And when you melt your butter you can easily stir your cookies together by hand, no mixer necessary. However, it’s so important that you don’t add sugar to your butter when it’s too hot or you run the risk of melting the sugar. Unfortunately, this will result in an unsalvageable, runny cookie dough that will spread all over your baking sheet. To make sure you don’t melt your sugar, let your butter cool at least 10-15 minutes or until no longer warm to the touch.
Chill your cookie dough
Ugh, I hear you. Chilling cookie dough is a pain, especially when you’re hungry and want those cookies now. But it’s important. I promise, I wouldn’t make you do it unless it was important (if you’re looking for a cookie recipe with no chilling needed, see my eggless chocolate chip cookies!). Because we’ve melted our butter (remember, that’s going to give us chewy, flavorful mint chocolate chip cookies) it’s important to chill the dough so our cookies don’t spread too much. Chilling the dough also helps the flavor to develop. I recommend a minimum of 30 minutes in the fridge, but you can chill this dough (covered) for up to a week.
Let’s talk candy
I used Andes brand mint chocolate candy pieces to make these cookies. My grocery store used to sell pre-chopped up candy pieces that would have been perfect and convenient for these cookies, but I’m not sure that they make them anymore (if you can find them, feel free to save yourself some effort and use them, though!). Instead, I simply chopped up 1 package worth of Andes candies. One package or 28 candies will give you a heaping cup of mint chocolate candy, which is exactly how much you need for this recipe. You can substitute mint chocolate chips if you prefer, but you may need to use more than a cup. Enjoy!
Other Recipes You Might Like:
Copycat Thin Mints Mint Chocolate Brownies Chocolate Mint Oreo Cookies The “Worst” Chocolate Chip Cookies
