Mint Chocolate Delight Cookies

A couple holidays ago I did a similar recipe for Double Chocolate Mint Cookies.  I actually think I like this recipe better.  Both are quite tasty.  I pretty much stuck to the original recipe from bakedperfection.com for this one except I added a few more chips (I had a few extra in the cupboard) and I think the chocolate pudding mix size is not correct as I could not find a 1.4 oz package of instant pudding mix, I just used the small box which is 3.4 oz (so I think that was a typo on the original recipe).

Mint Chocolate Delight Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup baking cocoa
• 1 3.4oz package of chocolate instant pudding mix
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter (softened)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 10-oz package Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Combine dry ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together flour and sugars until fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs one at a time.
4. Gradually add in flour mixture.  Add in chips.
5. This creates a very thick dough.  I just scooped a bit out and created dough balls and placed about 1-2″ apart on a cookie sheet.  They don’t spread much so you don’t have to leave a lot of room between cookies.
6. Bake 11-13 minutes.   Some of the cookies will looked a bit cracked on the top.  That is how I could tell they were done since they end up looking similar to how they went in the oven.

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A little Christmas Sweetness

For the holidays I made two different candies.  I made Oreo balls and I made Cranberry-Almond Fudge.  I was going to make Peanut butter balls instead but didn’t have enough peanut butter and my husband mentioned his Mom really liked my fudge (and I had all of those ingredients) so I made that instead.

The fudge recipe I use is the basic recipe located on the back of the Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk.  It’s super easy and tastes good.  I take that basic recipe and will add my own twists using dried fruit or crushed candies or different flavorings.   One could use nuts (I don’t like nuts – so I don’t use them).  Here is the recipe for the fudge I made this year.  I used semi-sweet chocolate, but I think that this recipe would also be quite good with white chocolate.

Cherry-Almond Fudge

Ingredients:

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (14oz) can of sweetened condensed milk

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup dried cherries

dash salt

Instructions:

1) Line an 8″ or 9″ square pan (I normally use parchment paper or aluminum foil).

2) Melt the chocolate chips with the sweetened condensed milk and salt.  Remove from heat.  Add almond extract and dried cherries.

3) Pour into lined pan and chill a couple hours until set.

4) Remove from pan and cut into individual pieces.

I think a lot of folks tend to like this recipe because it is creamier than a lot of fudges are.  It doesn’t have that crystalline texture that some do.  And it’s wonderful to make because there is no candy thermometer or candy water test to mess with.  Just melt, mix and set.  In past years I have made fudge with toffee pieces or pepperment pieces or dried cranberries.  Really, your imagination is the limit.  You can use different kinds of chips (white chocolate, milk chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch) to make different kinds of fudge too!

The Oreo Balls I had not made before.  I kept seeing an ad for the recipe on Facebook and it kept taunting me so I decided to make them.  I thought they were OK but my husband and family definitely liked them.  And they also go under the easy candy category too.  For this recipe, I mostly followed the original from Just A Pinch.com except I dipped them in semi-sweet chocolate instead of white.

Oreo Balls submitted by Lisa Boger at www.justapinch.com

Ingredients:

1 pkg Oreo sandwich cookies

1 (8oz) package of cream cheese (I used the low-fat variety)

1 large package white chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Instructions:

1) In a food processor, grind the Oreos until they look like dirt.

2) Place cookie crumbs in a bowl and add the softened cream cheese.  Blend until mixture is wet.

3) Take cookie mixture and form into 1″ balls and set on wax paper.

4) Melt chocolate.  Dip Oreo balls into chocolate and put back on the waxed paper.

5) Chill until chocolate hardens.

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Cookiepalooza 2010

A friend of mine posted this weekend was “Cookiepalooza 2010” which I thought was a very apt title for me as well since I have spent the weekend making candy and cookies for the holidays.

Probably way too much; however, my husband disagrees with me on that point.

But, for this post I’ll discuss the cookies I made.  I’ll do the candies tomorrow.  🙂

I made 4 different kinds of cookies (although 2 are basically the same just with different toppings):

Sugar Cookies w/ Candied Ginger

Sugar Cookies w/ Candied Orange Peel

Oatmeal Peanut butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Double chocolate mint chip cookies

I’ll start with the easiest first – the sugar cookies.

Sugar Cookies with Candied Ginger or Candied Orange Peel

These are one of those “cheating” cookies as I used the Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookie dough.  I just sliced off rounds and sprinkled either the chopped up candied ginger or candied orange peel and pressed them down into the top of the cookies and baked according to the package directions.

It’s one of the easy ways to crank out some cookies that are pre-made but still have a nice personal touch.  And I had the candied ginger and candied orange peel from when I made fruitcake a few weeks ago.

The other two recipes aren’t too difficult.  Pretty much the same cookie making technique of creaming the fat & sugars, mixing the dry ingredients and adding the dry to the wet.

The recipe for the Oatmeal Peanut butter Chocolate Chip cookies is actually a gluten free cookie as it does not have flour.  And they’re good gluten free cookies!  However, if you are especially sensitive to gluten, make sure that your oatmeal is from somewhere that keeps it separate from their wheat products.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies by Debra Riermaier at justapinch.com

Ingredients:

1/2 c. butter (softened)

1 18oz jar chunky peanut butter

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c packed brown sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

6 c. quick cooking uncooked oats

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 c 6oz semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1) Beat butter and peanut butter at medium speed until fluffy.

2) Gradually add sugars, beating well.

3) Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well.

4) Combine oats and baking soda in a seperate bowl.

5) Add oats to butter mixture, mix well.

6) Stir in chocolate chips.

7) Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.

8 ) Bake at 350 for 9 – 10 minutes.

9) Cool on cookie sheets at least 5 minutes.  Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

By the way, this recipe makes a ton of cookies.  I think I ended up making about 75 cookies out of this batch.   And they weren’t small cookies either.

In the next recipe, the original called for vanilla chips.  I substituted those with the Dark Chocolate – Mint Chips that Nestle makes.

Double Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c sugar

3/4 c butter, softened

1/4 c. shortening

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 c. dark chocolate & mint chips

Instructions:

1) Beat sugars, butter and shortening until fluffy.

2) Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat well.

3) In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

4) Add flour mixture into the sugar mixture.

5) Stir in the dark chocolate mint chips.

6) Drop by tablespoon full onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

7) Bake at 375 for 8 – 9 minutes.  Let cool for one minute before removing from the cookie sheet.

And so now I leave you since I am feeling a bit ill from “testing” the cookies and you probably have a sugar high just from reading the recipes.

So, I give you a nice healthy picture to leave you with.

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