When I first made these cookies, it was bright, sunny and warm.  My little container garden was in bloom and my mint plant was out of control.  I had been hesitant to bake, because I didn’t want to make the house any warmer than it already was!  I lounged on the deck in a sun-dress and flip-flops, enjoying my mint chocolate chip cookies with a cool glass of iced tea.

These days, my container garden is a distant memory and the extra heat from a warm oven is a welcome addition.  Freshly-baked cookies are best enjoyed with a piping hot cup of tea, a cozy blanked and a roaring fire.

Whenever you make these cookies, they are fantastic!  Buttery, sweet and minty, these cookies are studded with dark and mint chocolate chips and dotted with slivers of fresh mint leaves.

The original recipe from Betty Crocker Cookies calls for semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I opted to use the seasonal Nestle Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels.  Now that I’ve run out, I’m using Guittard Mint Chips mixed with Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Chips.  Availability for the Mint Chips seems pretty limited, but Amazon has the best price.  The Ghirardelli chips can be found in many grocery stores and also on Amazon.  Feel free to experiment with different combinations and kind of baking chips – you really can’t go wrong!

Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields about 3 1/2 dozen cookies

1 1/3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup mint chips
3/4 chocolate chips (semi-sweet or dark chocolate)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F
2. In a large bowl, beat sugar, butter mint and eggs on medium speed until well-combined.
3. Mix in four, baking soda and salt.
4. Stir in baking chips.
5. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving two inches between the cookies.
6. Bake 11-13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

I have my husband to thank for this delicious confection.   While I was searching high and low for a fun, new dessert recipe that was guaranteed easy and tasty, he suggested I enhance my favorite cake and frosting recipe with some mint extract.   The chocolate mint cupcakes with mint frosting were born!

As I’ve said before, Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake is my go-to recipe for chocolate cakes and cupcakes.   It’s so easy to make and work with; in fact, a fellow blogger suggested pouring the batter into a large Pyrex measuring cup and using that to fill muffin tins… genius!

The end-result is a perfectly rich and minty cupcake that reminded me of Keebler’s Grasshopper Cookies.   I’ve always had a weakness for this particular flavor combination, making it quite hard to eat just one cupcake at time!

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Yields 30 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp mint extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.   Grease muffin cups or line with paper liners.
2. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, milk, oil, vanilla and mint extract. Stir until well blended.
4. Add flour mixture to large bowl and beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
5. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
6. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full with batter (about 1/4 cup).
7. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely

For the frosting:
2 1-lb packages of confectioner’s sugar
1 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp mint extract

1.  Beat shortening and water together.
2.  Gradually beat in confectioner’s sugar and beat until creamy.
3.  Add vanilla and mint extracts and beat in well.
4.  If needed, add more water, 1 tbsp at a time, to attain desired consistency.
5.  If frosting will not be used right away, store in an airtight container.

As much as I love to make things from scratch, I?m usually a brownies-from-a-box kind of girl. Grab a box of Betty Crocker mix, throw some sort of chocolate chips on top, and you have a warm, chocolate-y dessert with minimal effort in less than 45 minutes.

I was swayed to attempt making brownies from scratch after my friend Meg brought these amazing chocolate mint brownies for dessert. These brownies require more effort then their boxed counterparts, but resulting dessert is certainly worth it. Since we?ll be visiting with friends for dinner tonight, I opted to make a special dessert treat.

The dense fudge-like brownie is covered with a sweet peppermint frosting and topped with a layer of hardened chocolate. The resulting dessert is more like a piece of candy than a typical brownie. While the final dessert product doesn?t need to be refrigerated, I prefer to store the brownies in the refrigerator and serve them cold. Served straight out of the fridge, these brownies have the taste and consistency of a decadent slice of fudge.

When I received a copy of this chocolate mint brownie recipe from my friend, she had made a few alterations to the original. I have found that her modified measurements (more milk in the frosting, and more chips and butter in the topping) result in smooth, spreadable frosting and enough chocolate topping to easily cover the entire 9×9 surface. Without the changes, I would imagine that the frosting would be too stiff to spread easily and there wouldn?t be enough chocolate topping to cover the brownies. Besides, is it ever possible to have too much chocolate?

Mint Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Adapted from familyfun.go.com

Yields about 2 dozen brownies

Brownies
1/2 cup butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mint Frosting
1/4 cup softened butter
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 to 5 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Chocolate Topping
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons butter

Brownies
1. Heat the oven to 350? and grease a 9-inch square baking pan. (lining with foil and coating the foil in cooking spray works well too)
2. For the brownies, place the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, stir, and microwave for 1 minute more. Stir until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs.
4. Stir in the chocolate and the vanilla extract.
5. Stir in the flour and salt until thoroughly combined. Pour into the prepared pan, then bake for 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for at least 1 hour.

Mint Frosting
1. Cream the butter and confectioners’ sugar.
2. Add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until it is smooth and spreadable.
3. Beat in the peppermint extract.
4. Frost the cooled brownies, cover, and chill in refrigerator for at least1 hour.

Chocolate Topping
1. Pour the chips into a microwave-safe bowl, add the butter, and microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes or until the chocolate melts.
2. Stir until smooth.
3. Pour the chocolate over the brownies and smooth it with a knife. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or until the coating hardens.

Once the coating has hardened, cut the brownies into 24 pieces. When packaging brownies, place wax paper between layers of brownies to prevent sticking.