Dark Chocolate Mint Cookies

Yep, another cookie recipe!  This is another good one though, especially if you like mint and dark chocolate.

Since I live near Tacoma, I'm lucky enough to have access to the Brown and Haley Factory Outlet, which has discounted Almond Roca (all flavors!) and Factory Seconds.  Around the holidays I get really excited for the factory seconds because they cost a lot less than the regular Roca and it's just a cosmetic flaw that makes them sell for a reduced price.  Usually it's a wrapper mishap, but if I just take off all the wrappers then put them in a different bag or bowl then they're ready for consuming and I've saved a couple bucks!

I wasn't planning on going to the outlet this year since I was planning on doing tons of cookie baking to gift and didn't think that the extra candy was necessary, but my coworker went and brought back a pack of these:

These are Dark Chocolate Peppermint Chunks.  Chunks may not sound appealing, but my coworker let us try them and they are delicious!  I love mint and chocolate, so I had to go to the outlet during my lunch break and pick some up.  At 75 cents a pack, I had to pick up 3 packs and I'll probably stop by next week and get some more!

The first thing that came to mind for me was to use a Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (this is the recipe I used, but any recipe will do) and use the peppermint chunks instead of chocolate chips.  I followed my usual Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe except added some green food coloring to the batch to clue everyone in that it's mint flavored instead of tricking them into eating mint (it's hard to believe, but some people actually don't like mint!).  In addition to the food coloring, I added some green sugar sprinkles to the batch to add flecks of dark green.  The green food coloring probably isn't necessary if you're only making one batch, but since I was putting these on a cookie plate I thought it was important so people know what to expect.

I had considered adding more peppermint or mint extract, but in the end I'm glad I didn't because these have just a sweet hint of mint instead of being overpowering.  I think it is the perfect balance as-is, but if you like super minty stuff you can add a little extract.

Peanut Butter Heath Bar Cookies

I love peanut butter and I love Heath bars, so when I saw this recipe on the bag of Heath Toffee Bits, I HAD to make it!

The recipe is from the back of the bag, and the only thing I changed was to use butter instead of shortening (I might love butter more than Paula Deen!) and to put the entire package of Heath bits inside of the cookies instead of sprinkling some on top (half were going in the freezer and I didn't want the toffee bits to fall off when frozen).  I also made a double batch and only used one bag of Heath Toffee Bits and I think it was the perfect amount, but you can't really go wrong with adding more Heath toffee bits!

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Okay, here it is, the recipe for my absolute hands-down favorite cookie of all time: Oatmeal Butterscotch.  Between my dad and me, I think we can polish off an entire batch of these in just a few days.  Heck, I could probably do it myself!  Since they have oatmeal, that makes them semi-healthy, right?  Let me just pretend for a little while...

3-Chip Cookies (Milk, White and Dark)

Although I am doing more than just baking the past couple weeks, my blog has turned into mostly recipes because the crafting I’m doing is mostly for Christmas gifts and I don’t want to ruin the surprise for the gift receiver!  Or they have been big fat craft fails… which I may or may not be brave enough to share.  After Christmas I should have a plethora of new craft posts, so just hold tight until then and try some new recipes!

Here’s another cookie recipe that I made and plopped into my freezer so it’s ready for baking right before Christmas! See my post about freezing drop cookies.

This is my first time making this recipe, and although they are good, it’s not a new favorite but with a few noted modifications I think it could be excellent.  See below for my twist on this Recipe. 

Mint Chocolate Cookies

These mint chocolate cookies are so easy and delicious!  I love them!

The original recipe comes from Mint Chocolate Delights from Nestle via Very Best Baking.  I followed the recipe except used only Green Mint Chips from Guittard (since they were less expensive than the Nestle brand and they have only the mint and no dark chocolate morsels) and used about 12 ounces instead of 10 ounces.  This recipe is one of my favorites and it freezes great so it can be made ahead of time then popped in the oven right before serving (see my tutorial on freezing cookie dough HERE)!  

Freezing Cookie Dough for Baking

I love baking for the Holidays.  Well, I love baking in general, but I love that the Holidays give me an excuse to do tons of baking.  What I don't love is the stressful marathon baking that seems to happen every year to get everything done on time.  Between the mixing, baking, sorting, and decorating I usually get burned out about halfway through my baking and just want to be done.

This year I'm going to start early to help alleviate some of the stress.  I'm not a fan of freezing baked cookies because something about it just doesn't seem right to me.  Cookies are meant to be freshly baked (and preferably still warm from the oven)!  Instead of baking then freezing cookies, I'll be mixing up the dough then freezing the dough so it is ready to be placed on the cookie sheet then popped in the oven.

I've tried freezing the dough once before with excellent results.  The best part is you can keep some frozen for yourself then cook up half a dozen at a time to avoid being tempted to eat the entire batch in one sitting (not that I've ever done that...).

For this tutorial (if you can even call it that), I'm using this recipe for Mint Chocolate Cookies, but any drop cookie recipe should work.