mint

Kiwi Mojitos

January 26, 2019

Kiwi Mojitos are the perfect drink when you want to enjoy a fun spin on the traditional classic. The kiwi gives it great sweetness and a fun color too!

Some friends and I are planning a MOM-CATION for this summer. I can’t wait!!

Have you been on one?

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Chocolate Mint Chip Sandwich Cookies

December 9, 2014

I’ve put in my time off requests for the holidays (and for our upcoming cruise in January)!! Once it was all signed off (by 4 diferent people) I almost danced around the office.

I am taking Christmas week off for some ME time… lots of PJ wearing, garlic noodle making, You’ve Got Mail watching, with some scrapbooking in the mix. Damn, I really miss scrapbooking. I could have a sob fest about it right now, but I will soilder on and focus on how I get 2 whole days to myself (the others will be with Miss Autumn) to make a mess with pictures, washi tape, stamps, and such. Bliss.

In the 9 days from when I leave work to return from the holidays I’m sure I’ll do some baking as well. Or plan on it and maybe I’ll just scrapbook instead. I dunno. I’m trying to stay quite focused on that so that I can zen out while I watch Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan exchange witty emails back and forth while I work on our 2014 project life.

I am thinking about making these babies again though. They are perfect. Minty. Chocoately. They scream winter to me. And there is plenty of minty frosting smack dab in btween 2 cookies. Aren’t cookie sandwiches the best?

I have a funny story about making these cookies.

It involves a thief (Price) who snagged a cookie while they were cooling before I had put a generious amount of frosting between the paired off cookies. So when I was a nearly done with the sandwiching, I noticed I was off. I searched the counter. I recounted. I looked on the dining table. A cookie was missing. I knew had made 13 pairs. And then I asked…

“Yeah, I took a cookie. Why?”

UGH!!! And that is why you must notify other thieves in your house when making sandwich cookies. ha!

I’m starting to think that all cookies should come in pairs with frosting in between. The world needs more cookie sandwiches. Def.

I brought they babies into work to share so I cut them up. They cut in half pretty easily as the cookies are delightfully soft, and yet dense to hold up to the frosting filling.

If you don’t feel like making sandwiches cookies then at least the cookies since they are so Christmasy good.

What are you doing for the holidays? Any movie marahons? Crafting? Cooking and baking? Traveling? Stuffing your face with cookie sandwiches and spiked nog?

Chocolate Mint Chip Sandwich Cookies

Makes 12-13 Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients

For the Cookies

2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Cup sugar
1 Cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (10-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels

For the frosting

1/2 Cup butter, at room temperature
4 Cups of powered sugar
10-12 drops green food coloring
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1-2 Tablespoons milk

Process

To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper/ use a silpat.
Wisk the flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a bowl to combine. Set aside.
Combine the butter and sugars in bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the sugar mixture and beat until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until a dough as formed. Once the dough has combined add in the minty chocolate chips and continue to mix.
Divide the dough in half. From each half, scoop out even sized cookies until you have made 12 or 13 cookies (24 or 26 total).
Bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove cookie sheets from oven when the center of the cookie is still soft to the touch. Let cool and set up for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet prior to removing.
While the cookies are baking, make the sandwich cookie filling by beating the butter until light in color and fluffy in texture. Add the powdered sugar in small amounts and beat until combined. Add the food coloring, and extract. Add a bit of milk until you have reached your desired consistency, which should be thick but spreadable.
Once the cookies have cooled completely, put a big dollop or pipe the frosting on the underside of a cookie. Add another cookie to sandwich it off.

Thin Mint Cookie Pie

February 28, 2014

Yay!!! It’s Girl Scout cookie season!

I get Girl Scout cookies every year. Typically I order them from one of my coworker’s daughter but being out on maternity leave I missed my chance to order from her. I was a little afraid that I would totally miss out on the opportunity to get those addictive Girl Scout cookies. But then I saw that a local troop would be setting up a table in my office building. Perfect! So I ran down one day and loaded up on this annual treat.

Now Girl Scout cookies are great on their own but I’ve learned that you can enjoy them in a variety of ways, including in baked goods, like the Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars I made last year. How can you go wrong with adding cookies to a dessert? You can’t! It just makes it better.

Well, I had a box of Thin Mint cookies staring me down daring me to get to work. I had plenty of things in mind like cookies inside of cookies, cupcakes, and ice cream but ultimately decided to use the Thin Mints in a pie recipe. A minty, chocolaty pie… yes!!

This pie uses the Thin Mints in the no bake crust and then the minty chocolate pudding filling is garnished with whole Thin Mints. A whole cookie with each slice!!

This is such a simple pie to whip up. It takes about 20 minutes of active cook time and, thankfully, you don’t dirty many dishes either.

Making the pudding filling is very easy but you can’t rush it or neglect it either. If you cook it on too high of a temperature or don’t mix it enough you run the risk of burning the mixture. If you burn it you have to start over again and use some serious elbow grease to scrub your pot. And you don’t want to go that. You want to eat pie.

Thin Mint Cookie Pie

Makes a 9″ pie, 12 slices

Ingredients

Pie Crust

24 Thin Mint cookies
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Pie Filling

2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
4 egg yolks
3 cup milk, any fat content (I used non-fat milk)
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 3/4 cups dark chocolate chips

To create the pie crust:

Add the Thin Mint cookies to the bowl of a food processor and process until crumbs form.
Add the melted butter, mix well.
Firmly press the cookie crumb mixture into a 9″ pie plate.

To make the pie:

Sift together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt into a 2 quart saucepan.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the egg yolks and milk. Slowly pour milk mixture into sugar mixture and stir to mix.
Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a low boil. Continue to stir continually while it cooks for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and peppermint extract. Add the chocolate chips and stir until chips are melted and the mixture is well blended. Let cool for 15-20 minutes, stirring it every 5 minutes.
Pour into the Thin Mint cookie pie shell. Lightly lay a piece of plastic wrap on top of pie filling before refrigerating for several hours until chilled.
Garnish with 8 Thin Mint cookies around the edge of the pie plate so that each slice would have a cookie.

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Looking for more Girl Scout Cookie Recipes?

Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars

Samoa Cookie Cocktail

Andes Mint Chip Brownies

January 8, 2014

I’m kinda hooked on brownies.

I have been baking them up like crazy lately and have plans on several more different kinds of batches to bake up in the next few weeks. I kinda can’t wait!

Anyway, I whipped up these Andes Mint Chip Brownies up right after Christmas so that I could start to feel a bit more normal after having my typical life (showering, cooking, baking, eating, thinking) had been flip flopped after having Autumn. They are so quick and easy to whip up that even I can do them with new mommy brain!

The base for these brownies might just be my favorite. It might be the butter. Or the chocolates. Or maybe it’s the butter AND the chocolates. Maybe it’s the combo of it all. Probably that all together they create a soft, yet sturdy, brownie. I’ve made plenty of really soft brownies that just about need a spoon to eat them (de-lightful!) but these are bake sale brownies. What I mean by that is that you can cut them easier from the pan and could easily package them up to sell at the bake sale. Or toss into a lunch. Or delicately place on the rim of a glass of milk awaiting its sweet demise.

Adding the Andes Creme de Menthe Chips add such a great kick to the brownies. I just love this flavor. It just screams winter to me.

Since we’re still locked into this deep freeze from the “Polar Vortex” I think it would be a great idea to whip up a batch of these brownies to help you get through these cold days and nights. Days like this just call for a brownie and some hot chocolate.

Andes Mint Chip Brownies

Makes 24 brownies

Ingredients

12 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 ounces Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9×13 baking pan by buttering/spraying with non-stick cooking spray the bottom and sides and lining the bottom with parchment paper or tin foil.
In a large microwavable safe bowl, melt 8 ounces of the chocolate chips and the butter together, stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted and combined.
Add the cocoa powder and sugar, mixing completely.
Add in the beaten eggs and vanilla extract.
Stir in the flour, salt, remaining chocolate chips, and the Creme de Menthe chips to gently incorporate.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center is clean upon removal. Do not over bake. Let cool prior to cutting into 24 pieces.

Thirsty Thursday: Cucumber, Mint, and Basil Soda

May 9, 2013

Amanda, mom of 3 super cute boys, picked this week’s Thirsty Thursday theme for us… Mother’s Day! And just like that it reminded me that Mother’s Day is this upcoming Sunday. It’s like Easter in that it moves around, so I loose track of it.

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Thirsty Thursday: Strawberry Fizz

April 4, 2013

It’s spring so it should be warm, right? Well, here in spring in Boston is confused. It has been all over the place with day time temps in the high 50’s and then right back down to the low 30’s with even colder wind chills. It’s a never ending roller coaster. I’d like it to just settle out but it’s New England … who am I kidding!?!?

I’d like it to get warm ASAP so we can continue to work in our little yard in back. Price kicked some major as back there this past weekend attacking a very invasive weed we have and I’d like to keep things going on the clean up and set up work. I just can’t wait to get some flowers and plants! I am looking forward to getting another blueberry bush this year and trying out some strawberry plants for the first time. Thinking all about these berries has resulted in me making this whole month’s Thirsty Thursday posts all about berries. First up… strawberries!

I was trying to come up with a drink that uses strawberries and that would be great to enjoy while gardening. I love Strawberry Daiquiri but they are not really great for sipping while pulling weeds. They are better suited for lazy beach days. I wanted something that would be really refreshing. Well, when I saw this Strawberry Fizz when I was browsing around Pinterest and I was smitten. check the site… get it? okay, good.

This is so refreshing that I just loved it so much. I love mojitos so it reminded me of a jazzed up mojito. Except virgin. Well you can fix that situation yourself with some vodka or light rum. Spiked or not you’ll be reaching for Strawberry Fizz.

Strawberry Fizz

Makes 4 drinks

Ingredients

1 liter sparkling seltzer water
1 pint strawberries, sliced
16 mint leaves
1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges
1 cup simple syrup

Process

Put 1/4 cup of simple syrup in each glass and 4 mint leaves, muddle the leaves.
Add 1/4 of the strawberries to each glass and muddle as well.
Squeeze the juice of 2 lemon wedges and then toss the lemon into the glass as well.
Add ice and about 8 ounces of seltzer to each glass. Stir and enjoy!

Adapted from Smitten Foodie

Mint Oreo Brownies with Mint Buttercream Frosting

March 14, 2012

These right here are going to blow your mind. If you like mint and chocolate I suggest you run to your grocery store and get the few things you need to whip these suckers up. I love the mint and chocolate combination so these were very hard to resist. Thankfully I have an office full of taste testers so I was able get their feedback. I popped these suckers down at a table in the main corridor with a post it note and watched as people walked to the kitchen and stopped to take one, and then on their way back with their coffee they stopped for another sliver. Ohhh trouble!

As lame as it is, I made a resolution this year to enjoy holiday’s more. I have been extra grouchy about holidays and the effort they are so I have been trying to dive into the celebrations more this year. I will have fun damn it! So I am throwing myself at St. Patrick’s Day and all things green with wild abandon this year. So expect a few more St. Patrick’s Day themed recipes and posts leading up to the booze soaked day.

Back to the important things… brownies. The mint Oreos provide a lot of minty flavor, plus they provide a lot of moisture from the cream. I suggest baking them until they are just set so they are super fudgy. The frosting makes the over the top minty. I liked topping the brownies with crushed Oreos so it gave everyone a hint as to what was inside the brownies.

Mint Oreo Brownies with Mint Buttercream Frosting

Makes 16 brownies

Ingredients

For the Brownies:

box of fudgy brownies with ingredients to prepare brownies
14 mint Oreos

For the Frosting:

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup of confectioners sugar, sifted
green food coloring
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
4 crushed Oreos for garnish

Process

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease a 9×9 pan.
Crush the 14 mint Oreos for the brownies.
Prepare the brownie mix according to the directions on the box. Just prior to mixing complete, add in the Oreo cookie pieces and gently mix in.
Bake the brownies according to the box, start checking at the minimum time and remove once a tooth pick in clean upon insertion and removal.
Prepare the frosting by beating the butter until light and fluffy. Add in green food coloring, start with 12 drops and continue until the preferred shade of green is achieved. Add the peppermint extract and mix thoroughly. Lastly, slowly add the confectioners sugar and beat until the frosting is formed and is fluffy.
Once the brownies have cooled completely, add frosting the top of the brownies. Garnish with crushed Oreo pieces.

Chocolate Chocolate Mint Cookies

December 20, 2011

During some recent shopping trips, I have come across M&M’s holiday flavored candies. I picked up all the varieties I saw and started to look up different recipes that I could use with the M&M’s candies. So far my favorites are the cheery cordials to eat and the mint to bake with, but i’m just getting started.

One of my coworkers makes the most unbelievable chocolate chocolate chip cookies. I decided that I would make something similar but instead of loading it up with chocolate chips I would add in the mint m&m’s. Having made chocolate chocolate chip cookies in the past I decided that could wing it and see how it would come out. The first time worked out well but I did not add any chocolate chips, only the m&m’s and I didn’t feel that was enough so I made them again and added in some chips. Much better! I love the mint and chocolate combo so these cookies are ones I would actually eat. I ate 2- very usual for me!

Chocolate Chocolate Mint Cookies

*makes 2 dozen 2 1/2″ cookies*

Ingredients

2 1/2 Cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon backing soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips
1 9.9 oz bag of mint m&m’s

Process Ingredients

Preheat oven to 375 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Wisk the flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a bowl to combine. Set aside.
Combine the butter and sugars in bowl and beat until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the sugar mixture and beat until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until a dough as formed.
Once the dough has combined add in the chocolate chips and continue to mix.
Using a spoon, gently mix in the m&m’s until evenly combined.
Scoop the dough out and mix into 1 1/4″ balls by hand.
Place the balls on the cookie sheets with plenty of room to allow spread.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove cookie sheets from oven when the center of the cookie is still soft to the touch. Let cool and set up for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet prior to removing.

Strawberry Mint Ice Cream

May 5, 2011

I have to admit that I used to hate Strawberry Ice Cream. I think it always tasted so fake to me so I avoid it. I would eat it in a Napoleon ice cream bar or something but it was only because it was only 1/3 of it.

Since I had a massive load of strawberries I decided I should try making strawberry ice cream and see if I like it better when I control the quality of the ingredients. Since I also had a huge bunch of mint I decided I would add that to the ice cream as well. Why not? I can do whatever I want. (I also made mint chocolate chip ice cream which was a total failure, but that’s another story)

The ice cream is sweet, creamy, and flavorful with the strawberries and the mint. I really enjoyed this ice cream since i love the fresh flavors in sorbet so the addition of cream didn’t seem that different to me. The mint adds a nice touch to the strawberries. If you don’t like mint that much than you could cut back and use less. Or pull some out before blending. I just love the flavor of mint and strawberry and I loved the specks of green in it so I kept it in there prior to blending.

Strawberry Mint Ice Cream

1 lb of strawberries

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup mint leaves

1 vanilla pod, split for the beans

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

Wash, destem, and slice strawberries.

In a medium pot, combine the strawberries, sugar, whole milk, mint, and vanilla beans. Simmer for 5 minutes. Blend mixture in blender until completely smooth. Strain blended mixture.

Chill blended mixture until completely cold, at least 2 hours, but preferably over night.

Measure 2 1/2 cups of the blended mixture*, add the heavy cream and remaining whole milk to mixture.

Prepare ice cream according to manufacture’s instructions. For a soft serve consistency, serve immediately or freeze for a harder consistency.

*Instead of discarding the extra strawberry mixtures, you could add a bit of it to milk for flavored milk.

Sweet Pea and Mint Soup

April 16, 2010

This Sweet Pea and Mint Soup is a soup that welcomes Spring with open arms. It’s vibrant green hue is on par with the rich, fresh flavors in this vegetable soup.

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

Post originally from 4/16/10, Pictures updated 2/8/19

Spring has sprung!!!! I love the freshness of spring. I love the new beginnings of it all. It is hard not to feel happy in spring with everything waking up from a long winter. Maybe you don’t love it, if you have allergies, but I love everything in bloom. It just makes me happy.

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