Mint & White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today I am baking up cut-out cookies and going to decorate the with royal icing, the whole 9 yards. Okay so mine aren't going to be as fancy as the cookie people out there, but I am giving it a shot! Around here we call cut-out cookies with royal icing, "2-day cookies" since they pretty much take 2 days with the baking, icing making, icing have to dry in between colors, and then taking about another 8 hours to dry. I couldn't stand looking at my kids faces as they look at the cookies that they won't be able today and had to make something up for today. After a look in the cabinet to see what I could whip up quickly, I decide to make these Mint & White Chocolate Chip Cookies! The recipe is adapted from the recipe on the Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips bag, I just switched out dark brown sugar for light and added the white chips too!

    

Mint & White Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick of margarine, softened (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1- 10 ounce bag of Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips

1 cup of Nestle White Chocolate Chip Cookies

2-3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

  

 In stand mixer with paddle attachment mix together margarine, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla. Mix in 2 eggs. Switch to dough hook attachment, add in all of the chips and flour half at a time and mix. After all is combined, refrigerate for 1 hour. Roll into balls and slightly flatten. Bake in preheated 350 oven for about 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to finish cooling.

Most of the cookies I made were pretty large, measuring at about 4 inches! The last batch I made a little smaller. I do have to say these were some super yummy cookies! The white chips really added to the flavors and made the cookies better than ever! They have to be some of my favorite "normal" cookies, normal meaning not cut-out cookies. They are also one of my favorite sweets that I have made with the Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips so far. You can view my Andes collection of sweets at this link. So, while you are working hard on those cut-out cookies, whip up a batch of these irresistible cookies!

 

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I link up at these fun parties!

 



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Turtle Chocolate Mint Chip Cupcake

In preparation for Hurricane Irene, what Hurricane preparedness kit would be complete without cupcakes? Please excuse the rush...there's a hurricane a comin'!

 Cupcake Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 stick of margarine

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1-1/2 cup AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup Hershey's baking cocoa

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk + 1 tsp white vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes)

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee

1 cup Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips

In mixer combine sugar and margarine and beat on medium for 3 to 4 minutes. Add in egg and vanilla and beat until mixed.

In medium bowl mix together flour, baking soda, cocoa, and sea salt. Slowly add 1/3 of this flour mixture to the mixer combining with other ingredients on low speed, scraping as needed. With mixer still on low speed, add buttermilk. Add 1/3 more of the flour mixture, followed by the coffee. Add the rest of flour mixture just until mixed, not over mixing. Add 1 cup mint chips and stir in. 

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake in preheated 350 oven for 18-20 minutes.

Makes 20 Cupcakes

Cool completely on rack. I know they aren't beautiful, but they taste fabulous!

 

Mint Buttercream Icing

1 stick margarine

1/2 cup shortening

3 cups confectioners sugar

1 tsp peppermint extract

Beat together in mixer, margarine, shortening, and peppermint. Add confectioners sugar 1 cup at a time until mixed. Color mint green. (I know it isn't showing up in the picture well but it is mint green colored!)

To decorate you will need: York Peppermint Patties, Gummy Sour Poppers (they already have a happy face on them to trace!), the Runts (just the green ones, feel free to eat the rest), these were all Dollar Tree finds. You will also need a piping bag fitted with a size 3 tip. You can use a zipper bag with just a tiny corner cut off, but I don't like this method, since the bag can burst and it is harder to control.

First frost your cooled cupcakes with the mint icing using a spatula. Add more green to the remainder of the mint green icing until you reach a bright green color and fill your piping bag with the bright green icing. Then assemble your turtles on top of the cupcake.

Place down a York Peppermint Patty. Attach the green Runts for the feet with a dab of your bright green buttercream. Add the Gummi Sour Popper face and trace the happy face on it. If you can't find these candies you could use a similar candy or even M&M's and a Food Writer Pen. Don't forget to pipe a tail on! Decorate the turtle shell however you wish.

Aren't these little guys cute?!

You can't really see the mint chips, but they are in there and this cupcake is minty deliciousness!

If you are on the East Coast it is time to hunker down and prepare for Hurricane Irene. Stay safe! Hope you all have plenty of cupcakes ready for the storm! If you are out of harms way, I have Pink Princess #13 scheduled to post tomorrow morning!

  

UPDATE 8/30/2011-

Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts. We now have electricity again! I can't tell you how happy I was to wake up at 3:30am to the light. We were lucky to not have much damage and just a big mess to clean up in our yard. Our neighbor even had a tree through there house. I hope everyone else that was in the path of Irene is safe and well!

  

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These Cupcakes are shared at:
A Well-Seasoned Life: Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Bizzy Bakes: Bake with Bizzy

Bacon Time: Party Mindie Style
Talking Dollars and Cents: Muffin (and Cupcake) Monday
Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Monday
Home Savvy: Savvy HomeMade Monday
The Kurtz Corner: Tuesday Tutorials
Hoosier Homemade: Cupcake Tuesdays
Sweetology: Tea Party Tuesday
Rook No.17: A Little Birdie Told Me
Lady Behind the Curtain: Cast Party Wednesday
This Chick Cooks: These Chicks Cooked
Daily Organized Chaos: Foodie Wednesday
Pinch of This, That, and the Other: Whisking Wednesdays
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday
Around my Family Table: Turning the Table Thursday
Something Swanky: Sweet Treats Thursday
Kissed by a Frog: Frog Blog Love Linky
Alli-N-Son: Sweet Tooth Friday
Mangoes and Chutney: Fat Camp Friday
Tidy Mom: I'm Lovin' It
Sweet as Sugar Cookies: Sweets for a Saturday
Happy Hour Projects: Freestyle Friday
KB & Whitesnakes Home: Simply Delish
  
These Cupcakes are featured at:
Bizzy Bakes: Bake with Bizzy
Show Your Cake
Bacon Time: Fantastic Features
Rook No.17: A Little Birdie Told Me (Sea Creature Cakes)
Cupcakes Take the Cake

Chocolate Mint Chocolate Cookies

The craving- Chocolate.

The solution- Whatever I could put together from the cabinet.

I have been eyeing the "Hershey's Doubly Chocolate Chip Cookies" recently featured at Art+Food+Life and the Hershey's Website, but, I was missing a few of the ingredients and didn't have enough of other ingredients needed to make them. I had to improvise, so my cookies won't be "Hershey's Doubly Chocolate Chip Cookies", they will be "Chocolate Mint Chocolate Cookies!"

Here is how I made them:

Ingredients

2 cups AP flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened ( I used 1 stick of margarine and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce)

2 eggs

2/3 cups Hershey's Cocoa

1 cup sugar

1- 10oz. bag Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in mixer with dough hook or by hand if you are feeling adventurous. I like to let the mixer do all the work. I started with the dry ingredients and then added the softened margarine, applesauce, and eggs. Once everything is combined add the bag of Andes Mint Chips and turn the mixer with dough hook on low for about a minute to combine. The dough was a little sticky, so I sprayed my hands with baking spray before rolling the balls, a heaping tablespoon at a time, and place on parchment lined baking sheet, 8 cookies to a sheet. Flatten the cookie balls slightly with a sprayed fork. Bake about 12 minutes and let cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before removing to finish cooling on cooling rack. This recipe makes about 28 large, fat cookies.

I wasn't planning on blogging about these cookies, but they just tasted so good that I had to share!

Mint Chocolate Cookies

I have a few extra bags of Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips...now what to do with them?

 Mint Cookies Anyone?

Recipe adapted from Andes Creme de Menthe

(The original recipe is also on the bag)

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup light brown sugar*

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract*

1 tsp mint extract*

2 eggs

1 package Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips

2-2/3 cup All Purpose Flour

(*these are my changes from the original recipe)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together first 8 ingredients, slowing adding flour to mixer. Stir in mint baking chips by hand.  Roll into tablespoon size balls and flatten slightly. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool for 2 minutes before removing from pan.

Okay so they aren't that pretty...but they tasted good!

Also check out Mint Dark Chocolate Cupcakes made with Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips!

Mint Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Today is Father's Day and I have been thinking for sometime on what cupcake to make.
This is what I came up with!

Ingredients for cake

1 box Dark Chocolate Cake Mix

(eggs, oil, and water according to package directions- I always replace the oil with applesauce)

1 cup Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips

Ingredients for icing

 3 cups powdered sugar

1 stick butter or margarine

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

2 tablespoons milk

1 tsp mint extract

green food dye

2-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (optional, for thickening icing without adding extra sweetness)

1/2 cup Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips (to sprinkle on top)

Fresh Chocolate Mint Leaves (for top of cupcake)

Andes Simple Chocolaty-Mint Sauce (for drizzle)
(recipe adapted from Andes)
1/2 cup Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips
1 tablespoons milk

The liners are from the Paula Deen line sold at Michaels.

Directions
For cupcake- Prepare cake as directed on box and add in mint chips. Fill cupcake liner in pan 2/3 full. This recipe made 24. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Cool completely. 

For icing- Cream butter, shortening, mint extract in mixer. Slowly add in powdered sugar. Add 2 tablespoons of milk. Add green food dye by toothpick until desired color is achieved. Add 2-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour for thickening (optional, you could also use powdered sugar if needed)Pipe icing onto cupcake (I used 1M tip).

For Mint Sauce- Place chips and milk into microwave-safe glass bowl. Microwave on 50% power for 25 seconds. Stir. Microwave an additional 15-20 seconds at 50% power. When sauce is ready, drizzle with spoon over iced cupcakes. I used the drizzle on half and left the other half with no drizzle, but there is enough drizzle to use on all 24.

Final Step- Sprinkle cupcakes with leftover mint chips and top with a chocolate mint leaf.

Interesting info: Chocolate Mint does not contain chocolate but takes the name "chocolate mint" because of it's resemblance to Andes Mint Chocolates.

Happy Father's Day!

There are so many great ideas for Father's Day out there, barbecue grills, lawn mowers, golf, sports, and ties to name a few and I do want to make a couple of those designs this summer, just not today. You can view all the ideas I listed and more at Hoosier Homemade Cupcake Tuesdays! That is first blog I began following and truly one of my favorite blogs!

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These cupcakes are linked to:
A Well-Seasoned Life: Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Sweetology: Tea Party Tuesday
Cupcake Tuesday
This Chick Cooks: These Chicks Cooked
Alli N Son: Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweet as Sugar Cookies: Sweets for Saturday
Bacon Time: Party Mindie Style