Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Baking: Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies

I've recently gotten into the habit of walking up and down the baking supply aisle in every grocery store I go into.  Most aisles are pretty basic here in the city so when I took a trip to Target in Brooklyn, I was awed at all the goodies they have there!

One thing that caught my eye - Andes Creme De Menthe Baking Chips!
Andes Creme De Menthe Baking Chips (pic from amazon)

I've always been a fan of the Andes Chocolate Mints when I was little, so why not make cookies using these baking chips!  I went on the Andes parent company website (www.tootsie.com) and pulled down a recipe for their Andes Creme De Menthe Cookies.  Its a basic cookie recipe with a minty twist - perfect for you all to try!

Andes Creme De Menthe Cookies 
Recipe from http://www.tootsie.com/rec_cdmcookies.php 

Inegredients
1/2 cup salted butter - softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 package (10 oz.) Andes Crème de Menthe Baking Chips
2-2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

All my ingredients ready to go!
 
Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F.  Blend butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until mixed.  Since butter is one of the ingredients, I used a pastry blender (which is one of my favorite tools!) to cream all the dry ingredients into the butter.  If you don't have a pastry blender, a fork or spoon will work just as well.

Butter, sugars, baking soda and powder, vanilla, and eggs first

Stir in Andes Baking Chips and then flour.  Not sure why the recipe calls to add the flour last...maybe less gluten?  Either way, it works and the cookies taste great at the end!

Followed by the Andes Baking Chips and flour!
Cookie dough is almost ready to be eaten!

Cover with cling wrap so the dough doesn't dry out and chill for approximately one hour in the refrigerator.  I know many of you may want to skip this step in the interest of saving time, but chilling the dough is what keeps the dough firm.  Making cookies with room temperature dough will give you very flat (and unltimately crispy) cookies.  If you want thicker and chewier cookies, make sure to chill your dough! 

Chill the cookie dough for at least an hour

After chilling your dough, measure out approximately 1 oz. of dough. Form a ball and slightly flatten.  Many use an ice cream scoop, but since I don't have one I substituted with a 1/4 cup measuring cup.


Cookie dough about to go into the oven

Raise oven rack one level above the middle and bake on non-stick baking pans.


Bake at 350° F for approximately 8 - 10 minutes.  Cool on pans for two minutes before removing.

Beautifully baked cookies
Ooey gooey cookie straight out of the oven mmmm...
And after you bake, these are great to pack up and bring to work.  They are nice and chewy and definitely mintymintyminty.  Your colleagues will love it and will love you for bringing it in!

Finished cookies before they were pillaged at the office...

I hope you enjoy.  Thanks for reading - Piggy KK

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