Andes Mint Cookies

Hi, guys! So happy to be back blogging and under a new name and a pretty new design (and now with a degree under my belt! yay!). I wanted to kick blogging off again with these delicious cookies that I originally posted this summer. They are the perfect holiday treat. I hope you'll try them out and share them with someone you love.

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These cookies are so good I feel like it's my civic duty to share this recipe. It's so simple. My sisters and I bake them for showers, for parties, for Christmas, for birthdays... basically whenever we can find a reason to whip up a batch. They freeze like a dream (actually they're best straight out of the freezer) and are a perfect minty-chocolate fix. Also, they are super affordable to make since there's only four ingredients.

I was first introduced to them by my sister in law when she was throwing bridal shower for my sister (one of the nicest things about families coming together- the sharing of delicious recipes!).

One more thing: They are addictive. I do not hold any responsibility for diets blown over these cookies once made.

So the cookies. You will need:

- 1 Devil's food cake mix
- 3/4 cup shortening or softened butter*
- 2 eggs

*Note: I prefer shortening for these cookies. It's a much better texture. Unfortunately, I forgot my preference until I'd already put the softened butter in. So if you use shortening, your cookie batter will be a little bit lighter and less glossy.

Mix the ingredients together.

See how the dough's sticking to my fingers? You don't want that. If you use shortening you won't have this problem. If the dough is sticky, add about 3 Tbsp. flour. That should do the trick.

Also- I usually don't write on my hand, but I guess that book title was too important to forget. I swear I washed my hands several times before I started baking.

Anywho...

This is much better. See how the dough's sticking together? When you touch the dough it should come cleanly off your fingers.

Take about 1 Tbsp. of cookie dough at a time and roll it in your palms until it forms into a ball. Place on a cookie sheet. (Be sure to put enough space between these cookies because they spread!) Repeat until you have lots of pretty little rows of cookie dough balls.

Bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes.

They will look and feel underdone... because they are. Here's where the magic happens.

These little puppies will be your new soulmate. You can use a package of Andes mints if you'd like (just break them in half), but if you use the baking chips then you don't have to unwrap all of the individual mints and these are a lot cheaper!

Sprinkle the chips on to the underdone cookies. Put them back in the oven for another 2 minutes.

See how lovely and melty the chips have become? The cookies will be cooked through. Carefully spread the melted mint chips onto the cookie using an offset spatula (I use my mom's offset butter knife) or a knife. The cookies are still hot so be careful!

The mint chips turn into a very pretty swirled frosting.

Now, you might be tempted to slide one off the pan right now and bite into the warm, minty, melty goodness and, obviously, that would be a good idea. But set some aside and let the mint chip spreading cool and harden. It turns into almost a ganache-type frosting. So yummy.

Step back and enjoy the cookies!

Here's the recipe:

Andes Mint Cookies

Yields 2-2 1/2 dozen

1 Devil's food cake mix

3/4 c. shortening or softened butter

2 eggs

1 package Andes mints or Andes mint baking chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake mix, shortening, and eggs. The dough should pull together and shouldn't be sticky on your fingers. Take 1 Tbsp. of dough at a time and roll it into a ball. Place on a baking sheet, leaving about an inch to 2 inches between each ball. Bake for 7-8 minutes.

Sprinkle baking chips on cookies and put back in the oven for another 2 minutes. When cookies are done, spread the melted chips across the cookies. Remove from baking sheet to cool.

Enjoy!