One of the beauties of college is that the second you are done with a few weeks of studying and finals, you are home free for a solid three weeks.  Netflix and Christmas movies surely await, but by week three I bet you’re feelin’ a little bored. These mint chocolate treats are fun to make and good enough for Santa himself, and should help extend that holiday feeling a little bit longer.

Medium

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time:  45 minutes

Servings: 18 cookies

Ingredients:
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet (60-percent) chocolate chips
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 5-ounce package Andes chocolate mint thins, cut into thirds

Directions:

1. Place one oven rack in center of oven and one on the bottom half and preheat to 300°F.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or coat with non-stick spray.
3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

Photo by Abigail Wilkins

4. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, 2 tablespoons water, and vanilla extract.

Photo by Abigail Wilkins

5. In a small bowl, combine bittersweet chocolate and butter and heat in microwave until melted, stopping to stir every 20 seconds.

Photo by Abigail Wilkins

6. Gradually incorporate dry ingredients from step 3 into wet ingredients from step 4.

Photo by Abigail Wilkins

7. Fold in the cooled chocolate.

Photo by Abigail Wilkins

8. Stir in the chopped Andes mint pieces.

Photo by Abigail Wilkins

9. Chill dough in refrigerator for 10 minutes before scooping onto cookie sheet.
10. Scoop 9 dough mounds onto cookie sheet, spacing evenly (mounds should be about 1.5 inches in diameter).

Photo by Abigail Wilkins

11. Bake cookies for 10 minutes.
12. Reverse the shelves that the baking sheets are on, and bake for about 9 to 10 more minutes until the tops of the cookies are dry looking with some small cracks.
13. Cool cookies completely on the sheets before removing, and enjoy!

Photo by Abigail Wilkins