minty goodness

I've always been a huge fan of chocolate and mint. When I was little, I would only eat green mint chocolate chip ice cream and After Eight mints were always a holiday staple in our house and I'd always manage to find my dad's secret hiding spot for them.

When I saw the mint chocolate chip cookie recipe on Crystal's blog (she makes them at the Austin Folk House) I kept them in mind for future holiday baking. This afternoon when I headed out to refill my coffee supply from the local Italian market, I noticed a lonely bag of mint chocolate chips for only a dollar. I immediately popped them into my basket. It was destiny! I practically ran home to whip up a batch. These cookies were beyond fantastic and I'll definitely be making them again during the holidays.

Crystal notes that the cookie dough is a bit stiff. Luckily, I've got my hearty Kitchen Aid mixer working for me...but if you don't, be prepared for a bit of a workout.

Chocolate Andes Mint Cookies (I didn't use name brand chocolate chips!)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 bag (12 ounces) Andes mint chips (my bag was only 10.5 oz but the resulting cookies were still minty good!)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chips. Drop by well-rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

c is for cookie

After a week of eating lots of salads, I decided it was time for a treat. I made the "killer chocolate chip cookie" recipe from Entertaining for a Veggie Planet by Didi Emmons. Not only is this a great cookbook but these cookies were delicious. They're definitely the more traditional kind of cookie that I remember eating as a kid (no sunflower seeds, no oats, etc.) and the cookie batter was so delicious that I had to apply serious restraint to keep digging in with a spoon. Toasting the nuts gave the cookies a great flavour and I think I'll try to do that with other desserts I bake. Yum! As for the picture, that is Cornelius' hand just waiting to bite in!

killer chocolate chip cookies
Recipe from Entertaining for a Veggie Planet

1 c walnuts of pecans, chopped
9 T butter, softened
1/2 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t salt
1 large egg
1 c plus 2 T flour
1/2 t baking soda
8 oz semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts on a single layer baking sheet for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add the brown sugar and sugar, beating well until mixture is very light in texture. Add the vanilla and salt, and then the egg, beating just to incorporate. With a rubber spatula, fold in the flour, baking soda, chocolate chips and nuts.

3. Spoon rounded tablespoons of dough 2 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until the cookies are just a tiny bit golden around the edges but are still white in the centres. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets before serving.

short and sweet

Tonight's dinner was left over bbq pork/vegetable stirfry that I made last night to rave reviews from Cornelius. Dessert? Gingerbread chocolate chip cookies from a Martha Stewart recipe. I didn't follow the recipe exactly, as I didn't flatten the dough, nor did I wait 2 hours for the cookie dough to chill. I let it chill exactly 15 minutes and just scooped the batter out with a spoon and skipped the added sugar bit too. It made 30 yummy cookies that are crispy out the outside and chewy good on the inside. So good.

Chocolate Chip & Ginger Cookies

7 oz chocolate chips
1 1/2 c plus 1 T flour
1 1/4 t ground ginger
1 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1 T cocoa powder
8 T softened butter
1 T ginger
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 c molasses
1 t baking soda

1. In a medium bowl, mix flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.

2. In another bowl, beat butter and ginger until fluffy. Add brown sugar and molasses and mix until combined.

3. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Mix half of flour mixture into the butter mixture, then add the baking-soda mixture and the rest of the flour mixture. Mix in chocolate chips.

4. Heat oven to 325°. Roll dough into balls and chill for 15 minutes. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

NOTE: The next day, these cookies were hard as delicious little stones. Still tasty, but they lost that soft/crisp edge.

c is for cookie.

I love this recipe! It was originally printed years ago in the Georgia Straight, our local free weekly and I've made some additions and I think it's a near-perfect cookie recipe. I like to keep the cookies in tins to keep them soft. I made them last night in a fit of procrastination. It was much easier making these cookies than gathering work for my portfolio!

These can also be easily made into vegan cookies since there are no eggs in this recipe. Just replace the butter for vegan margerine or Natural Balance. Yum!

chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
1 c butter
1 c brown sugar, lightly packed
1 t baking soda
1/4 c boiling water
1 t vanilla
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 t salt
2 c oats
1/2 c dried coconut
2 c semi sweet chocolate chips (this is where I play: I mix walnuts, raisins and chocolate chips to equal to 2 cups)

Cream the butter with the sugar until well mixed. Dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water and add it to the butter/sugar mix, followed by vanilla. Stir together the dry ingredients and add it slowly to the creamed mixture. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate chip (or mixture) and combine. Form small balls, flatten a little, and bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

vegan cookies. no really.

Kristen gave me this vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe over the phone a couple of years ago. I haven't transcribed it and I've always kept it in a safe place but when I pulled out the recipe today I realized that it's a pretty easy and tasty recipe and I better keep it somewhere safe.

This is the easiest cookie recipe ever and it tastes great too.

Kristen's vegan chocolate chip cookies
¾ c sugar
½ c oil
½ c margerine
3 t water
2 t vanilla
Mix together.

2¼ c flour
1 t soda
½ t salt
Mix together.

Add 1½ c chocolate chips.

Mix it all together, roll into balls, plop onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 12-15 minutes.

Kristen always uses white sugar and all vegan ingredients. Me, I'm not vegan so I'm not so strict and will sometimes use butter instead of margerine. I also like brown sugar over brown. Instead of all chocolate chips, I'll add a handfull of sunflower seeds (really, seeds taste great in cookies!), a handfull of raisins, a handfull of walnuts and a handful of chocolate chips. Today I misread the 3 t of water as 3 tablespoons and they still turned out great.