This Chocolate Mint Cookie Recipe utilizes the richness of a black cocoa cookie with the freshness of a spearmint cookie buttercream. These are a customer favorite at our bakery, The Flour Barn. Behind the counter we are always secretly hoping that we don’t sell out so that we can have some…
What is Black Cocoa?
Black cocoa powder is an ultra-Dutch processed cocoa, which means that it has reduced acidity. This gives it a smooth texture, dark color, and unsweetened-chocolate highlights. If you have had an Oreo, then you understand the magic that is black cocoa. It is one of my favorite ingredients to bake with because of its delicious and unique flavor. HERE is the black cocoa we use at the bakery.
Can you substitute black cocoa for regular?
Regular cocoa will not work with this recipe and will result in a very dry cookie. Dutch processed cocoa is not equivalent to standard cocoa, and if you’ve never used it, trust me, you’re in for a treat! If you do not have black cocoa, this recipe is still amazing with any Dutch processed cocoa (I can almost always find Ghirardelli brand). It is an equal conversion in terms of the amounts of each cocoa. Here is a great article that goes in depth about the difference between Dutch Process Cocoa and Natural Cocoa Powder.
The Benefit of using Spearmint
Spearmint has a subtle, light, vaguely sweet flavor. This makes it a more refreshing mint flavor for our Chocolate Mint Cookie Recipe that is perfect for any season. Peppermint has a sharper flavor that is almost spicy due to its high menthol content (40% menthol as opposed to the .5% that is in spearmint). I also feel like the flavor of peppermint makes us think of the holiday season, making it out of season most of the time.
Mini Chocolate Chips
I love the look of the mini chocolate chips on the side of the cookie. Not only does it make the cookie look gourmet, but it also adds a nice crunch to the whole cookie sandwich. A bonus is that little kids love mini chocolate chips! I have found a few little ones picking all the little chocolate chips off before eating their cookie:) HERE is a great option for mini chocolate chips.
Tips for Baking Better Cookies
- Cream your fats and sugars for at least 5 minutes. The first step to making most cookie recipes is usually to mix together your fats, often butter, and your sugars. This is such an important step and should not be overlooked. As you blend together the sugar with the butter, you are incorporating air into your batter that will keep your cookies from flattening like pancakes as they bake. Mix in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment for at least five minutes and you’ll notice that during this time the butter will go from a pale yellow to an almost white color. This is a good sign that your cookies are going to turn out awesome!
- Fully incorporate your eggs. There is a fear when making cookies that you’re going to over beat your eggs and ruin your cookies and, as a result, it is easy to actually under beat the dough at this point. You want your eggs to be fully incorporated and evenly distributed. Let the dough beat for about one minute.
- Add your dry ingredients at one time and pulse in until just incorporated. The moment you add flour into your batter, gluten begins to form. More gluten development equals tougher, dry cookies. In order to have nice soft, tender cookies, only mix your dry ingredients until just blended. You should not be able to see any dry flour in your batter or streaks of dry ingredients.
- Use a cookie scoop for even, well baked cookies. No matter how well you eye-ball it, the only way to get nice and even cookies is to use a cookie scoop. I like to use a cookie scoop to measure out the dough, and then use the palms of my hands to form the dough into a ball. This makes for beautifully round, even cookies that maintain a nice height as they bake and do not flatten out like pancakes 🙂
What Cookie Scoop works best?
At the bakery we use a jumbo cookie scoop. However, if this is just for you and your family you may want a smaller cookie sandwich per person. HERE is good variety pack of cookie scoops. Another great option is to fill these cookies with Mint Chocolate Ice Cream! These cookies work well for ice cream sandwiches because even when frozen they retain their softness.
No matter what scoop you use, we use the same scoop for both the cookie and the icing. We use a scoop for the icing to keep the amount consistent. Not only does this make the cookies look nice and consistent, it also ensures that you have the proper proportion of icing to cookie.
Chocolate Mint Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 stick (113 grams) of butter, room temperature
- 95 grams (1/2 cup) vegetable shortening
- 200 grams (1 cup) brown sugar
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar
- 2 eggs
- 260 grams (2 cups) flour
- 60 grams (1/2 cup) black cocoa*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add your room temperature butter, vegetable shortening, and sugars. Mix on medium high speed for five minutes.
- Add in your eggs and mix until well blended, about one minute. Add in the peppermint extract and mix for a minute longer.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine your flour, black cocoa, baking soda and salt. Use a whisk to mix together. Add your dry ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer and mix until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl once. You should not see any dry bits of flour.
- Scoop out the cookie dough and form it into a ball about the size of a ping pong ball. Place onto the cookie sheet about three inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes. It’s a little tricky to determine when chocolate cookies are done, but the middle should be set and no longer shiny.
- Let the cookies cool completely before filling.
- NOTE: * I purchase my Black Cocoa from amazon, it is difficult to find at the local grocery. If you do not have black cocoa, this recipe is still amazing with any Dutch processed cocoa (I can almost always find Ghirardelli brand). Regular cocoa will not work with this recipe and will result in a very dry cookie. Dutch processed cocoa is not equivalent to standard cocoa, and if you’ve never used it trust me, you’re in for a treat!
My Favorite “Cookie” Buttercream: Mint
Ingredients
- 2 sticks of salted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 Tablespoons milk
- 1 tsp Spearmint extract
- Green food coloring (optional)
Directions
- I like to make buttercream in a stand mixer, but you can definitely use a hand mixer. Place your butter in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat the butter for 3-5 minutes. In this time, the butter should become almost white and whipped. DO NOT skip this step, it is critical to making AMAZING buttercream.
- Add in your powdered sugar and beat for another 3-5 minutes. When you first add the powdered sugar, start by pulsing it until it begins to incorporate with the butter so that it does not fly out of the bowl.
- Add in your Spearmint extract and enough milk so that the buttercream is a nice, spreadable consistency. It shouldn’t be so thick that it clumps together, but you don’t want it to be soupy!
- Add in two drops of green food coloring to make it clear that its a mint icing. Enjoy!
