Everybody loves a good chocolate chip cookie. Sometimes, though, plain old chocolate chips won't cut it. There needs to be a fancy twist, something refreshing and unexpected. Insert Andes Creme De Menthe Thins.
Fancy indeed.
I originally used Andes brand chocolate in a standard chocolate chip cookie recipe for a bake sale with my high school roommate a couple years ago. After starting college, I didn't give baking much thought until I wanted to bring treats in for special occasions. On a whim, I used Andes chocolate for a cookie recipe again, and people liked it so much that it's now one of my staple baked goods.
They're slightly crispy on the edges with a soft center, and the chocolate melts in your mouth with a minty aftertaste.
This recipe for Andes Creme De Menthe cookies is based on a chocolate chip cookie recipe from ChefSteps and yields around 42 cookies, give or take.
Because I'm American, I had to convert all the measurements from metric to imperial, but I also made a couple tweaks to fit my personal taste.
Ingredients
-1 cup butter
-1 cup loosely packed brown sugar
-3/4 cup white sugar
-A pinch of salt
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
-2 eggs
-2 1/4 cups flour
-1 1/2 cups Andes Creme De Menthe Thins
Directions
1. Combine butter, sugars, salt, and baking soda. Mix until fully combined.
If you're using room-temperature butter, the consistency will be "fluffy."
However, I prefer to melt my butter so that it will better mix with the sugars. If you decide to melt your butter, your desired consistency will be glossy and slightly runny like so:
2. Add vanilla extract and slowly add eggs one at a time. Mix until fully combined.
3. Slowly add flour, then your Andes Creme De Menthe Thins.
Now, there are two ways you can add your flour. The first is to put it all in and very slowly mix it so that the flour won't spray everywhere in a cloud. The second is to add it in a little bit, mix it, and alternate between the two until you all your flour's gone.
Either way, your dough should now look like this:
Side note for the chocolate: Andes Creme De Menthe Thins baking chips do exist. If you can get your hands on a bag of them, great!
Personally, I've only had the privilege of using them a grand total of once. Every other time, I've simply opted to buy a standard bag of Andes, unwrapping and chopping the chocolate by hand.
If you choose to chop your Andes by hand like me, I would suggest cutting them four pieces at a time and stacking them two by two, like so:
If you feel self-conscious about cutting the chocolate evenly, don't worry! Having the pieces in different sizes adds to the overall flavor of the cookies. Once you're done cutting, your chocolate should have gone from this:
To this:
Beautiful.
Now go ahead and gently fold it into your cookie dough.
4. Scoop dough onto your baking sheet in balls that are 1 tablespoon each. Leave at least 1 1/2 inches of space between the cookie dough balls.
If you don't have silicone baking mats like in the pictures, I would suggest using parchment paper so that your cookies will evenly bake on the bottom.
5. OPTIONAL: Put your baking sheet of cookie dough balls in the fridge to chill for at least 15 minutes.
Chilling your dough means that when it's finally put into the oven, it will maintain a nice shape and not melt into completely flat disks.
If I'm in a hurry (or I don't have the fridge space), I either won't chill the baking sheet at all or just chill all of the dough in a container before I scoop it onto the baking sheet.
6. Bake at 350 F for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies start lightly browning.
Put your baking sheet on the lowest rack in the oven, which will further help the cookies maintain their shape.
I like my cookies soft, so I take them out of the oven right when 11 minutes roll around. Pop them out, and voila!
You got yourself some mouth-watering cookies.
Transfer them to a cooling rack, then feel free to eat your heart out. Once they're completely cooled, they can stay fresh in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to a week. If you want them to last longer than that, go ahead and keep them in a fridge or freezer.
Either way, enjoy making these delicious treats and blowing away your friends and family with your impeccable baking skills and refined taste in chocolate.
Want something a little more festive for the holiday season? Use Andes Peppermint Crunch Thins instead. Leave those suckers out for Santa and he will be sure to give you extra presents for Christmas.
