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Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies with Fresh Mint



The garden is in full swing over here at our house, and my fresh chocolate mint is trying to take over, as it likes to do.  If you let it, it will grow like a weed...but it smells oh.so.divine.

In the past, I've plucked the extra, unruly mint from the garden and discarded it, but no more, friends!  No...from now on, I'm letting it grow however it wants and using it to make these deliciously minty cookies!

Up until now, I've mainly just used my fresh mint to infuse teas.  A cookie craving hit me the other day, though, and these were the wonderful result.

After a quick google search, I discovered a recipe by Andrea Bemis.  She brilliantly steeped melted butter with fresh mint, which you then strain and use in the cookie batter.  This perfectly infuses the butter with the flavor of fresh mint.  It comes through well in the finished cookies, but isn't completely over-powering.  

If you are a mint chocolate chip fan, you MUST try these!  Or, if you have an over-abundance of mint in your garden and need a new recipe to try, give these a whirl!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from:  Dessert for Two & Dishing Up the Dirt

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup firmly packed fresh mint, roughly chopped
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
Heaping 1/2 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips

Directions:
Place the butter and mint in a small saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter, swirling occasionally. After about 2-3 minutes, when you can smell the mint, turn the heat off and let the butter continue to steep for 30 minutes.

Strain the butter, firmly pressing the leaves to extract all of the butter that you can from the leaves.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars until light and creamy, 3-5 minutes.
Next, add the egg and vanilla and beat for an additional minute.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixer while running, stopping to scrape the bowl as needed.

Finally, add the chocolate chips and mix just until combined.

Remove the cookie dough from the bowl, wrap in plastic wrap, and press flat into a disk. Chill for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350F. 

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.

Roll the dough into balls, based on your desired cookie size (I use approx. 2 Tbsp of dough for each cookie).  Generously space the balls out on your baking sheets, at least a few inches apart (the cookies will spread considerably).

Bake for 11-12 minutes.

Let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, and then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!


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