Fudgy Mint Chocolate Cookies

The holidays are upon us! For me, this means ALL of the mint chocolate desserts :) I bought some peppermint extract about a week ago and went a little crazy... starting with these cookies!

This is one of my new favorite chocolate cookie recipes - I'm definitely going to be using it all the time without the peppermint extract. The batter came out thick and chocolatey, and I loaded it up with extra chocolate chips; it is the holidays, after all!

I chilled the scooped dough a little before baking to make sure they kept their nice round shape. This batter is also great for chilling/freezing for future use - just scoop the dough onto a baking sheet before freezing, and when you want to make more cookies, let the dough come to near room-temperature before popping them into the oven!

To get the fudgy texture I really wanted in these cookies, I would definitely recommend watching them as they bake - I erred on the side of underbaking because I wanted a rich, brownie-like cookie, and these absolutely delivered. Super moist, soft and chewy, and above all, chocolatey.

Fudgy Mint Chocolate Cookies

adapted from Ambitious Kitchen

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used bittersweet)

Optional for decoration: 

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1 tbsp red sanding sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. 

3. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract, peppermint extract, the egg and egg yolk; beat again until smooth and creamy.

3. Add the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

4. Scoop the dough into portions and place on the prepared baking sheet, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges begins to set and crackle.

5. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely. Once they have cooled down, they can be decorated. For the topping, melt the white chocolate chips by microwaving in 30 second intervals, stirring thoroughly between each heating until smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract and sanding sugar. 

6. Decorate as you'd like: I went with dipping half of the cookies in the white chocolate, and then filling a Ziploc bag with the remaining white chocolate and drizzling the rest of the cookies. 

Enjoy! These cookies are absolutely luscious and indulgent, and exactly what I was looking for this winter - perfect for the season!