These Andes mint cookies are chewy and soft, topped with a lovely mint frosting and silky chocolate ganache. Andes mint candies sit on top and melt into the cookie as you chew, making it the perfect bite every time!
I love cookies, especially chocolate ones! Chocolate and mint are the perfect pair because the mint balances out the sweetness of the chocolate. I also love a chewy cookie that melts into your mouth when you bite it. This chocolate mint cookie is all of that and then some! Cookies are the perfect holiday treat, and if you need some fun and unique cookie recipes, you’ve got to try these Triple Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, or these Chocolate Snowball Cookies. I make these Pumpkin Cookies every year because they are so easy and everyone loves them!
Chocolate Andes Mint Cookies
Andes mint cookies are a favorite at my house! The Andes mint candies are something I love to have in a bowl on the counter. They are so silky smooth and have the perfect amount of mint. That is probably why everyone is head over heels in love with this cookie. The Andes chocolate mints on top make all the difference! They melt into your mouth and combine with the frosting and ganache, and it’s heavenly!
I love a good cookie. I honestly don’t know anyone who would turn down a chocolate chip cookie, or a fudgy no bake cookie. Mint cookies aren’t for everyone, but if you are a mint lover, this cookie will be your absolute favorite. The chocolate cookie has a little bit of mint in it, and the frosting is minty too, and it’s the perfect amount for me! They make a great Christmas cookie, or make them anytime you want!
Ingredients
It may look like a long list, but most of it you will already have in your pantry! The Andes mints are a MUST of course. They absolutely are the shining star of this recipe. You should be able to find them at your local grocery store. You can find the exact measurements listed in the recipe card below.
Andes Mint Cookies
- Butter: Use unsalted butter, and make sure you leave it out a few hours before you plan on making the cookies. Creaming the butter and the sugar will only work if the butter is room temperature.
- Brown Sugar: Brown sugar has molasses in it, giving it a richer flavor that is perfect for cookies. It also helps the cookies get nice and soft!
- Granulated Sugar: Your regular pantry sugar will work great!
- Eggs: I always use large grade A eggs in my recipes.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract helps to bring out all of the flavors in the cookie, as well as adds a little vanilla flavor. Whatever you usually use in your baked goods will work great.
- Mint Extract: Mint extract will help to add that minty flavor that you need to be able to taste in a mint cookie!
- All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour is the easiest to work with and will make a delicious and soft cookie.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Cocoa powder adds chocolate flavor to the cookie without any sweetness or wetness. It is the perfect thing to give the cookies a delicious chocolate flavor.
- Baking Powder: This helps the cookies to rise while they bake so that they are light and chewy.
- Salt: Salt brings out all of the flavors in the cookie, and will help to balance out the sweetness of the sugar.
- Andes Mints: These are what make the cookie unique and delicious! It’s a must for this recipe. I was able to find them at my local grocery store in the candy aisle.
Mint Frosting
- Butter: Room temperature butter is key for making a smooth and creamy frosting. You can use salted or unsalted, I actually like using salted butter in my frosting because it helps to balance out the sweetness of the powdered sugar.
- Mint Extract: This is what gives the frosting a minty flavor, it’s a must!
- Vanilla Extract:Vanilla extract helps to bring out all of the flavors in the cookie, as well as adds a little vanilla flavor. Whatever you usually use in your baked goods will work great.
- Milk: Milk helps make the frosting the right consistency, and makes it silky smooth and full of flavor.
- Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar is a must! It sweetens the frosting and makes it the right consistency.
- Green Food Coloring: Use just a few drops at a time, until you get a really light minty green color.
Chocolate Ganache
- Semisweet Chocolate Chips: Semisweet chocolate chips melt perfectly and make a great ganache.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: Heavy whipping cream is what makes the ganache so rich and creamy.
Andes Mint Cookies Recipe
These cookies take a few extra steps to put together, but oh my goodness it’s worth it! They are out of this world yummy, and you are going to love them so much. They are the perfect amount of sweet and minty, and they always hit the spot. You will make the chewy chocolate cookies first, then the frosting and the ganache. They are seriously the best cookie you will make this year!
Baking the Cookies
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350℉ and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
- Beat: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter and sugars together until they are light and creamy. About 3 minutes.
- Mix: Add your eggs, vanilla, and peppermint into the butter mixture and mix until well combined, stopping to scrape the bowl down halfway through your mixing to ensure everything is well incorporated.
- Sift: In a separate bowl, sift together your flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Add Dry to Wet: Add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed and incorporating ½ cup at a time until just combined. Don’t overmix your batter.
- Fold: Finally fold in your chopped andes mints, be gentle but make sure they are well combined.
- Scoop: Scoop your cookie dough in heaping tablespoon circles with a cookie scoop and place them about 2” apart on your baking sheet slightly pressing flat.
- Bake: Bake for 8-10 minutes, cookies should be slightly soft in the center but set around the edges. Pull them out of the oven and allow the cookies to finish baking on the hot pan for an additional 5 minutes before moving to a cooling wire rack.
- Cool: Cool the cookies completely before frosting.
Make Mint Frosting
- Whip: In a bowl with a hand mixer, whip the butter until light and fluffy.
- Mix: Add in your peppermint, vanilla, and milk, mix to combine.
- Add Powdered Sugar: Add in your powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, combining completely in between each addition. Stop when you have reached your 2 ½ cups. If you need to add more powdered sugar do so in ¼ cup increments until your desired consistency has been reached. (note: your frosting should be thick enough to hold its shape and not spread, but be workable not dry)
- Add Color: Add in your green food coloring, just a little at a time until you like the color
- Frost: Allow your cookies to cool completely before you frost them.
Make Chocolate Ganache
- Simmer: In a small saucepan over medium high heat, bring heavy whipping cream to a steady simmer.
- Pour and Stir: Put your chocolate chips in a separate bowl. When your heavy whipping cream reaches a simmer, pour it over your chocolate chips and stir constantly with a rubber spatula until all the chocolate has melted.
- Cool and Top: Allow the ganache to cool at least an hour before topping your cookies with it.
Put the Andes Mint Cookies Together
- Frost: With your cookies completely cooled, spread your green mint frosting onto each one, mostly covering the surface of each.
- Add Ganache: Take your chocolate ganache and spread a generous layer onto each mint frosted cookie, not completely covering the green layer.
- Top with Andes Mints: Finally you can sprinkle some of your chopped Andes mints onto the top of each for a garnish. Enjoy!
Substitutions for Ingredients
Cookies are awesome, because changing a few ingredients can make an entirely new cookie. There is more than one way to make this delicious chocolate Andes mint cookies, here are a few tips for substituting ingredients.
- Peppermint Essential Oil: If you don’t have peppermint extract or don’t want to use it, you can use peppermint essential oil. Make sure it is a high quality oil and is ok to be consumed. Peppermint oil is a little stronger than the extract, so you will want to use a little less. Make sure to taste the frosting as you go so it doesn’t end up tasting like toothpaste!
- Gluten-Free Flour: Making these cookies gluten free is pretty straight forward. You substitute the flour for a gluten free blend. The most important thing would be to use a blend you are confident in using and have used in the past. If you use a good blend, you won’t need to add anything else to help the dough stick together.
- Dark Chocolate Chips: For the ganache, if you want a darker and richer flavor of chocolate, you can use dark chocolate chips instead of semisweet. I really like a dark chocolate dessert, so I substitute them sometimes! You could also use milk chocolate chips if you wanted a lighter chocolate flavor.
Storing Leftovers
These cookies are so delicious, you probably won’t have any left over! If you need to make them ahead or store some for later, here are some tips for keeping these Andes mint cookie fresh.
- On the Counter: Store the cookies in an airtight container laying flat and not stacked on top of each other. They will stay fresh for up to 5 days. The ganache will come off if you stack them, so try to store them with nothing touching the tops.
Other Cookies to Make
Desserts
Italian Christmas Cookies
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Grinch Cookies
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Butter Pecan Cookies
Desserts
Turtle Cookies
Andes Mint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar packed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon mint extract
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Andes mints unwrapped and coarsely chopped
Mint frosting:
- ¾ cup butter room temperature
- 3 teaspoons mint extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 ½ – 3 cups powdered sugar
- Green food coloring just enough to make it a light minty green.
Chocolate ganache:
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips about 1 cup
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350℉ and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
-
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter and sugars together until they are light and creamy. About 3 minutes.
-
Add your eggs, vanilla, and peppermint into the butter mixture and mix until well combined, stopping to scrape the bowl down halfway through your mixing to ensure everything is well incorporated.
-
In a separate bowl, sift together your flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine.
-
Add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed and incorporating ½ cup at a time until just combined. Don’t overmix your batter.
-
Finally fold in your chopped andes mints, be gentle but make sure they are well combined.
-
Scoop your cookie dough in heaping tablespoon circles and place them about 2” apart on your baking sheet slightly pressing flat.
-
Bake for 8-10 minutes, cookies should be slightly soft in the center but set around the edges. Pull them out of the oven and allow the cookies to finish baking on the hot pan for an additional 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
-
Cool the cookies completely before frosting.
Mint frosting:
-
In a bowl with a hand mixer, whip the butter until light and fluffy.
-
Add in your peppermint, vanilla, and milk, mix to combine.
-
Add in your powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, combining completely in between each addition. Stop when you have reached your 2 ½ cups. If you need to add more powdered sugar do so in ¼ cup increments until your desired consistency has been reached. (note: your frosting should be thick enough to hold its shape and not spread, but be workable not dry)
-
Add in your green food coloring, just a little at a time until you like the color
-
Allow your cookies to cool completely before you frost them.
Chocolate ganache:
-
In a small saucepan over medium high heat, bring heavy whipping cream to a steady simmer.
-
Put your chocolate chips in a separate bowl. When your heavy whipping cream reaches a simmer, pour it over your chocolate chips and stir constantly with a rubber spatula until all the chocolate has melted.
-
Allow the ganache to cool at least an hour before topping your cookies with it.
Final assembly:
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With your cookies completely cooled, spread your green mint frosting onto each one, mostly covering the surface of each.
-
Take your chocolate ganache and spread a generous layer onto each mint frosted cookie, not completely covering the green layer.
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Finally you can sprinkle some of your chopped Andes mints onto the top of each for a garnish. Enjoy!
