Mint Chip Green Cookies

The first time I made these, my sister thought I'd dyed my hands green for some avant garde art project. I had to pull a fresh tray from the oven just to prove I was baking, not conducting science experiments. That smell of peppermint hitting warm chocolate won her over pretty quickly though.

Last December I brought a batch to a cookie exchange and watched them disappear in record time. Someone kept asking if I'd used mint leaves from the garden because the flavor was so clean and bright. I told them the secret was gel coloring and a heavy hand with the peppermint extract, but honestly I think it was just the magic of warm chocolate meeting cool mint.

Ingredients

• All purpose flour: I've tried bread flour when I was desperate and it made them too tough, stick with the regular stuff
• Baking soda: This is what gives them that perfect puffy middle, don't skip or substitute
• Salt: Just enough to make the chocolate sing, I use fine table salt
• Unsalted butter: Softened properly means you can make a dent with your finger but it's not melting
• Granulated sugar: For that crisp edge that everyone fights over
• Light brown sugar: Dark brown works too but the light version keeps the mint flavor from getting muddy
• Eggs: Room temperature eggs incorporate better, I've learned the hard way cold eggs make the butter seize up
• Peppermint extract: This is the real star, don't be shy with it but don't go overboard or you'll have toothpaste cookies
• Vanilla extract: It grounds the mint and keeps it from being too one note
• Green gel food coloring: Liquid coloring will mess up your dough consistency, gel is absolutely worth the extra trip to the store
• Semisweet chocolate chips: I've used milk chocolate before and it's too sweet, the semisweet balances the mint perfectly
• Dark chocolate: Optional but highly recommended for those bittersweet pools that form when they bake

Instructions

Get your oven ready:

Preheat to 350°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper, I've tried silicone mats but parchment gives better browning on the bottoms

Whisk the dry stuff:

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt until it's all one color

Cream the butter and sugars:

Beat them together until the mixture looks pale and fluffy, usually about 2 to 3 minutes of standing there with your mixer

Add the eggs and extracts:

Crack in eggs one at a time, letting each one disappear completely before adding the next, then mix in both extracts and enough green gel to get that vibrant shade you want

Combine everything:

Pour in the dry ingredients gradually on low speed, mixing just until you don't see white streaks anymore

Fold in the chocolate:

Dump in both kinds of chocolate and fold by hand until every scoop of dough has some chocolate peeking through

Scoop and space:

Drop tablespoon sized mounds onto your prepared sheets, giving them about 2 inches of breathing room to spread

Bake to perfection:

Slide them into the oven for 9 to 11 minutes, pulling them out when the edges look set but the centers still have that slight underdone wobble

Cool completely:

Let them rest on the hot baking sheet for exactly 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack or they'll keep cooking and lose that soft center

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My niece now requests these for every birthday instead of cake. She says regular cookies are boring but these taste like something a leprechaun would make, which I'm pretty sure is the highest compliment a seven year old can give.

Getting That Perfect Green

I've learned that food coloring deepens as it bakes, so what looks like a shocking grass green in the raw dough will turn into a lovely forest shade in the oven. Start with less than you think and add more gradually, remembering that gel coloring is concentrated and a tiny drop goes a long way.

Make Ahead Magic

Sometimes I'll scoop the dough onto parchment lined trays and freeze the raw mounds in a baggie. That way I can bake off just six cookies on a random Tuesday night when the craving hits, and they actually taste better because the dough has had time to rest and develop flavor.

Serving Ideas

These are phenomenal alongside a cup of hot chocolate, especially if you sandwich a slightly warm cookie between the mug and your hand so the chocolate starts melting again. They're also perfect broken over vanilla ice cream, like a deconstructed mint chip situation that feels fancy but takes five seconds.

• Try dipping half in white chocolate for a holiday cookie platter that looks incredible
• Crumble them over chocolate pudding for an instant upgrade
• Store them with a slice of white bread if they start to get stale, it softens them right back up

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There's something about biting into a warm mint chip cookie that feels like December magic, even in the middle of July. Hope they become as much of a staple in your kitchen as they are in mine.