Description
These crinkly chocolate cookies are soft and rich like a fudge brownie, and topped with a melted Andes chocolate mint swirl. Chilling the cookie dough for 2 hours is imperative.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/4 cups (156g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 cup (45g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons (10ml) milk (any kind, dairy or nondairy, is fine)
Coating & Topping
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 22–24 Andes chocolate mints, unwrapped
Instructions
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color, about 2–3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and then beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour into the wet ingredients. Beat on low until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick. Switch to high speed and beat in the milk. The cookie dough will be thick and sticky.
- Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is imperative for this sticky cookie dough.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator. Scoop and roll dough, 1 heaping Tablespoon (about 25g) of dough each, into balls. Roll each in granulated sugar and arrange 2–3 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 10–12 minutes or until the edges appear set. Tip: If they aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2–3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven to continue baking.
- Cool cookies for just 2 minutes on the baking sheet. Press 1 Andes chocolate mint into the top of each warm cookie. Let the chocolate sit for 5 minutes, and then use a knife, icing spatula, or toothpick to gently swirl/spread the melted chocolate.
- Transfer “frosted” cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will slightly deflate as they cool. Andes chocolate sets in less than an hour, so you can easily store, stack, and transport the cookies.
- Cover leftover cookies tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days (step 3). Baked cookies with Andes chocolate mint topping freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls (before rolling in sugar) will freeze well for up to 3 months. Let sit at room temperature for 20–30 minutes, preheat the oven, then roll in granulated sugar. Bake as directed. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Icing Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Larger Batch: The recipe is easy to double in 1 mixing bowl without overwhelming your mixer. Simply double all of the cookie dough ingredients. Dough chill time remains the same.
- Natural Cocoa Powder: Do you know the difference between natural cocoa powder and dutch-process cocoa powder? Use natural cocoa powder in this dough.
- What can I use instead of Andes mints? If you can’t find Andes chocolate mints, other options include Hershey’s Kisses mint chocolate or candy cane flavor, mini York peppermint patties, or Cadbury mint chocolate buttons. If you can’t find any of those, use 1 small rectangle/piece of a Hershey’s chocolate bar; if using plain chocolate, you can add 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract to the cookie dough when you add the vanilla. You could also use 1/2 of an After Eight mint chocolate thin. The process for spreading (step 7) is the same for all of these options—some chocolates will melt more than others, though.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
- Recipe idea from Allrecipes using my own chocolate dough.