Mint Surprise Cookies
Cookie Baking 2011 has begun at our house. Today I made an old time favorite, Mint Surprise Cookies. The original recipe, I believe, was from the first Pillsbury bake off. It came to us via my Aunt Eva in Minnesota.
[1]In the 50's Mom would buy Rockwood Mints to make the cookies, but those mints are no longer available. We used Andes Mints for a while, 1/3 of a mint in each cookie. Recently, I tried using the Deep Forest Mint chocolate from Endangered Species for a more 'grown up' cookie flavor. I use 1/2 of a square in each cookie (so 30 cookies can be made with each bar). They're expensive but well worth it. Each cookie is topped with a pecan half (Mom used walnuts, Aunt Kay used pecans).
Here's the recipe:
Mint Surprise Cookies
Yield: Approximately 80 cookies
Preheat oven to 375F.
Sift in bowl: 3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Cream in separate bowl: 1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
Add: 2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Mint Chocolate
Pecan or walnut halves
Blend dry ingredients gradually. Mix thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. Cut the mint chocolate into pieces no more than 1/2 inch square. Cover each piece of chocolate with a thin layer of dough to form a small cylinder no more than 1/2 inch high and 1 inch in diameter. Top each cookie with half a pecan or walnut. Place on an ungreased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake. Remove from oven, place on wire rack to cool. Pack these cookies separately from other cookies as their mint flavor will 'infect' other milder flavored cookies.
Enjoy!