Divine Chocolate Mint Cookies

 I have been waiting for a good excuse to make these decadent cookies for a long time. I found the perfect excuse when I was invited to a cookie exchange and I couldn't wait to try these out! I love that they are a little bit unusual and not your standard chocolate chip cookie. My friend, Melissa, made these for a BBQ at her house this summer and I unabashedly ate almost the whole plate of them when she pulled them out. I just couldn't stop! The chocolate cookie gets all soft inside while the Andes mint firms up in the refrigerater--the ooey, gooey cookie and slight crunch go together so well. If you like the girl scout thin mint cookies you will LOVE these. But beware....they are super addicting!

Chocolate Mint Cookies from Allrecipes

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 (4.5oz) packages chocolate covered thin mints (ie. Andes mints)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the butter, sugar and water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat, stir in the chocolate chips until melted and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

2. Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl, and beat the eggs, ont at a time on high speed. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the chocolate mixture on low speed. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll cookie dough into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets (I did about 20 per sheet).

4. Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven. When cookies come out of the oven, immediately press one mint water into the top of each cookie and let sit for 1 minutes. When the mint is softened, swirl with the back of a spoon or toothpick to make a pattern with the green filling of the mint wafer.

Tips: I think they are best when refrigerated until serving. The recipe calls for using a toothpick or spoon to make a pattern. I tried this on the first batch and it was harder to swirl--I ended up using a small fork (kid sized...since my house is full of kid stuff). I also think that next time I'll move the chocolate around more of the top of the cookie instead of keeping it mainly in the center--that way all of the cookie has that minty chocolate on it.