Chocolate Mint Cookies and the Menu for the Week

Where did the week go?  I was thrown off because Monday was a day off from school, and then for some reason, all day Tuesday I kept thinking it was Wednesday.  Go figure. Add in the snowstorm that really wasn’t, but I still actually bought groceries with all three kids on Monday in preparation, and that I somehow volunteered to make a soup and sandwich (and cookie!) lunch for the hubs and his company commanders that during the quarterly training, and I guess it’s not such a mystery as to where the week went!

Anyway, here’s our menu for the week:

• Monday: Mediterranean Shrimp with Orzo and Garlic Bread
• Tuesday: Brown Beans with Sauteed Spinach and Cornbread
• Wednesday: Baked Blintz with Fresh Fruit Salad and Bacon
• Thursday: Torta Italiano and Chopped Vegetable Salad
• Friday:  Pasta e Fagioli and Green Salad

I cook the beans in the slow cooker all day, and make the cornbread in the afternoon while the kids are in school.  The spinach cooks in a few minutes just before we eat. The kids have Tae Kwan Do on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we get home at 5:30, so I need meals that can be on the table with little effort as soon as we arrive home. My kids go to bed at 7:00, so we don’t have a ton of time in the evenings!

For the pasta e fagioli, I cook small pasta, such as elbow macaroni, then stir in a can of drained white beans and some marinara and heat it until it’s hot throughout.  It’s also yummy with some browned Italian sausage, if you’re not looking for a vegetarian meal.

And now on with the cookies!  These are a spinoff of the classic chocolate kiss cookies, but I couldn’t find green and chocolate mint kisses.  I’ve also made these with raspberry Hugs and Valentine sprinkles (equally pretty and delicious). I made these for the soldiers, and my chocolate-hating husband would not stop eating them. Fortunately, I had also made some Toll House bars.

Chocolate Mint Cookies

(adapted from Hersheys.com)

• ½ cup butter, softened (1 stick)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp peppermint extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ cup milk
• ½ cup St Patrick’s day sprinkles (I used the entire bottle)
• 30 chocolate mint swirled chocolates (I used Dove)

1. Beat butter, sugar, egg, and extracts in large bowl until well-blended. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt, mixing well. Add milk and blend. Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes to one hour.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour sprinkles into a shallow dish. Roll dough into 1-1/2” balls, then roll in sprinkles. The top and bottom of the ball doesn’t really need to be coated, since you’ll be pressing the chocolate into the top and who turns a cookie over to look at the bottom? Place the coated ball onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, just until set. While you’re waiting for them to bake, unwrap all the chocolates. Maybe sample them, just to be sure they’re fresh.

4. Cool the cookies 1 minute on pan, then press a chocolate into the top of each cookie. Carefully remove to a wire rack to cool completely. The chocolate will get gooey, so don’t touch it! Just let it cool for an hour or so, until it sets again.

Makes about 30 cookies

Click here for the printable recipe