Fresh Mint-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every so often I muster up the benevolence to prepare a recipe that I know I will not personally enjoy. Lemon bars come to mind, as does any dish with sweet potatoes. My ongoing effort to bake the Betty Crocker Cookie Book from front to back led me straight to yet another such recipe.

I simply do not like the taste of mint and chocolate together, be it via Andes (which my grandmother always had around the house) or the Girl Scouts (Thin Mints are their bestseller). But I certainly was not going to led my own distaste for the combination stand in the way of my baking quest:

1 1/3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 tbsp. finely chopped mint leaves
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups mint-chocolate chips

Ostensibly, Hershey's sells mint-chocolate chips, but I could not find them in any local grocery store. I ordered mine (along with some cinnamon chips and maple chips) from the Prepared Pantry; they shipped immediately and got to me in 4 business days.

Preheat your oven to 350F. Cream the sugar and butter together, and then stir in the mint and eggs. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and stir until blended. I found the dough to be a bit crumbly at this point, so I added 2 tbsp. of milk; your mileage may vary. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scoop to ensure the cookies have a uniform size (which ensures uniform baking), place the dough on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes (11 for darker baking sheets, 13 for light ones), then cool on wire racks.

As I said, I would not enjoy even the world's greatest mint chocolate chip cookie, so I did not bother trying these. My wife generously offered herself as a test subject, and with her approval the cookies were split between our offices. For once, I did not have my own opinion to compare against others, but I can say these went even faster than usual in my office. Certainly a nice way to add a twist to an old standby.