Mint-stuffed Sugar Cookies

Tonight's cookie is a little "semi-homemade" treat that I'm brining to my sister's graduation party tomorrow night.  I am so proud of her and all I can think about is how my little sister is a nurse! I had a lot to do tonight and not too much time to get creative, so I did a spin-off of a recent recipe I saw on Pinterest.

These cookies are just store-bought sugar cookie dough and junior mints with sprinkles.  That. is. it.  They taste great too, I love the combination of vanilla, chocolate and peppermint.  Tasty and festive and pretty to look at, too!

I had to do some experimenting with the baking times and for me the trick was 7 and a half minutes (yes, 7 was too short and 8 was too long) at 325 degrees.  

Besides Junior Mints, you could probably stick any mini-candy in the middle of these and they'd come out good.

Have a good week, Sweets!

Need:

1 log of store-bought sugar cookie dough

2 boxes of Junior Mints

Do:  

1.  Preheat oven to 325F.

2.  Cut the log into 1/2" slices, and quarter each slice

3.  Flatten one of the dough corners in your hand, place a candy in the middle, and roll the dough around it into a ball

4.  Dip the cookie ball into sprinkles 

5.  Bake a cookie sheet for 7 minutes.  If they seem too soft, try another 30 seconds to a full minute.

Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars

Hi Sweets, guess what?  I'm baaaack!  I hope you enjoyed the posts from Cheryl and my Jake the past few days!  "B-hubs" as he likes to call him has really been on a baking roll lately, I love it!

Tonight I am excited to share a brand new recipe with you - Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars!  Yes, I took cookies that are pretty amazing and made an even BETTER cookie, by adding chocolate, Andes candies, and my favorite, cake!

This recipe (and the Thin Mints I used) were shared with me by the Girl Scouts of Eastern MA.  I was so excited to try out the bar cookies to bring to a family Christmas dinner tonight, and they were a hit! The title of "bars" makes you think of brownie-sized bars.  Word to the wise; quarter those squares!  This recipe turns out super delicious, but super SUPER rich.  Like, way too rich for even the biggest sweet lover to eat a whole square.  When cut up into bite-size mini squares, it's the perfect cookie-size portion.

The title tells it all- there's plenty of minty chocolate and lots of delicious (and surprisingly un-messy) 'gooey' atop a buttery yellow cake crust. So good!

The best part is that one of the ingredients you need to make these cookie bars is the Thin Mint cookies themselves.  Now that it's officially Girl Scout cookie time, it's perfect timing to try these out for a holiday gathering.  Cookies are available December 7th through March 12, so keep an eye out for your local Girl Scouts getting their sell on!

When I was a "brownie" and a "junior" Girl Scout, I was always a top seller and had so much fun selling cookies for my Girl Scout troop.  This has been an American tradition for nearly 100 years and all of the proceeds help girls learn important skills while raising funds for leadership activities.  The money helps Girl Scout troops take part in service projects, go on field trips, attend summer camp, etc.  I LOVED Girl Scout camp- who remembers the Squirmy the worm song?!  One thing I learned through working with the Girl Scouts on this recipe is about their Cookies for a Cause program.  Part of the cookie-selling process allows girls to sell boxes of cookies that are put aside to be donated to soldiers overseas or to local food pantries.  What an awesome way to use this well-known project for good.

Girl Scout cookies are $4 a box, and you can visit www.hergirlscouts.com, click on "cookie locator" and enter your zip code to find out where you can buy cookies in your area.

Here's the recipe for Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars.  Comment below if you try these or have other Girl Scout cookie-inspired recipes!

Need:
1 Yellow Cake Mix
1 stick of softened unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup Andes Candy mint pieces
1 small can sweetened condensed milk
20 Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies broken into pieces

Do: 
Preheat oven to 350F and coat a 9x13" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray (I always use canola oil spray).

Mix cake mix, butter and egg in a large bowl.  Press dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  Top evenly with chocolate chips and Andes candies.  Pour condensed milk over dough and top with broken pieces of Thin Mint cookies.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until baked through.  Let cool completely.  Cut into squares and serve.

Pat dough in pan

Add chocolate chips

Add Andes candies

Pour on condensed milk

Top with cookie crumbles!

Bake and enjoy!

Disclaimer:  This is a (semi) sponsored post.   The Girl Scouts reached out to me asking if I would be willing to try out and feature a fun new recipe using Girl Scout cookies if they sent me the cookies for free.  I happily agreed, being a Girl Scout alum and cookie lover!  The only benefit I got for this post was the box of free cookies (and fun new recipe.)  All other supplies were purchased by me, and the honest opinions expressed in this post are all my own.

Double Chocolate Mint Chip Chewies

Happy Hump Day, Sweets!

If you like Girl Scout Thin Mints, tonight's cookie is for you.  It's a fudgy, rich chocolate cookie studded with seasonal Mint M&M's.  Same flavor as Thin Mints, but less crunch and more chew.  De-lish.

 

In my latest trip to the food store, I just couldn't resist the sassy minty M&M on the baking endcap.  I mean, look at her! I had initially thought I'd do a plain sugar cookie and put the M&M's in those, similar to the Keebler kind my mom gave me growing up.  But then I thought about the sugar cookies we had last night and how I love chocolate and it dawned on me that it's a good idea to mix chocolate and mint.

I really love this chocolate cookie, and the red, green and white M&M's make them look so festive.  This is definitely another recipe on the favorites list for 2012 Christmas cookies.  If you make your own batch, let me know how they come out!

Side-note - the cookie dough for these is excellent too!  But don't eat too much; raw eggs are no good. 

Need:

1 1/4 c. unsalted butter

2 c. flour

1 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. white sugar

3/4 c. dutch process cocoa

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. salt

2 large eggs 

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 cups Mint M&Ms

Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a small bowl, whisk cocoa, salt and baking soda to combine.  Put to the side.
3. In a mixing bowl fitted with the beater attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well mixed. 
4. Add one egg, mix well, then add the other egg and continue to mix well.
5. Add in vanilla, continue to mix.
6. Pause the mixer, and add the cocoa/salt/baking soda mixture.  Start mixer on slow to combine, then beat well.
7. Again, pause the mixer and add in the flour.  Start mixer on slow to combine, then beat well.
8. Mix in M&M's by hand
9. Using a 1-tbsp cookie scoop, portion out the cookies onto a sheet lined with parchment paper.
10. Bake for 9 minutes
11. It would probably be a good idea to cool these on a cooling rack, but since I don't have one, I just put them immediately on a plate.  Enjoy!