Mint Chocolate Cookies

Peppermint fans get ready, for my new Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies. Imagine the taste of an Aftereight mint in a ooey-gooey-crunchy cookie. The texture of these cookies is just perfect; the fresh minty taste is something that many people will not have had in a cookie before. Everybody I've tested these on loves them, and they are so easy to make - you can whip them up in less then half an hour. If you can't find dark mint chocolate (I found it in Aldi), try using after eight mints for an even more interesting texture.

Ingredients
Makes 12 large cookies or 16 smaller ones

200g dark chocolate, broken
200g mint dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
60g unsalted butter
200g light brown sugar
2 eggs
1tsp peppermint essence
85g plain flour
2tbsp cocoa power
½tsp bicarbonate of soda
½tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 170°C and prepare 2-3 baking sheets with non-stick silicone baking sheets or baking parchment.

In a large bowl, melt the 200g of dark chocolate and butter together, either slowly in the microwave (30seconds at a time) or over a pan of simmering water.

Stir in the sugar, followed by the eggs and peppermint essence. Mix well until smooth.

Next, sift in the flour, cocoa, bicarb and salt then lightly fold the mixture together until well incorporated. Fold in the dark mint chocolate chunks and stir until evenly dispersed.

Using an icecream scoop or tablespoon, spoon heaped amounts of the mixture onto your baking trays making sure to space them well apart. Shape them roughly into circles to ensure that they spread out nicely.

Bake in the oven for 12-15minutes or until they have a nice glazed cracked top. They should still look a little uncooked underneath. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the trays.

See my "How to make perfect Chewy Cookies" article for tips on how to make perfect cookies every time and for more yummy cookie recipes.