Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies

Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies

Ingredients

Makes 4 Dozen Cookies

• 1½ cups (3 sticks) butter, plus a little extra for the cookie sheets
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder scant
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (one 12-ounce package)

Method

1. About an hour ahead of time, unwrap the butter and place it in a large bowl
2. Use a table knife to cut it into 1-inch pieces, and let it stand at room temperature to soften
3. Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 350°f
4. Put a little soft butter on a paper towel, a piece of waxed paper, or a butter wrapper, and lightly grease two cookie sheets
5. Pour the granulated sugar, and crumble the brown sugar, into the bowl holding the softened butter
6. Use a handheld electric mixer at high speed (or if you don’t have one, use a whisk, with enthusiasm) to beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
7. Add the egg and beat well
8. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times during this process
9. Add the vanilla and peppermint extracts, and continue to beat for another minute or two, until everything is well combined
10. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl, and whisk slowly to blend
11. Add this to the butter mixture, along with the chocolate chips, stirring with the spatula until the dough is thoroughly combined
12. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoons onto the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them 2 to 3 inches apart and flattening each mound slightly with the back of a spoon
13. You will need to bake these in batches, so just spoon out as many as will comfortably fit on your cookie sheets
14. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies are dry and the bottoms are lightly browned
15. Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheets for about 5 minutes after you take them out of the oven, and then gently transfer them to a cooling rack using a thin-bladed metal spatula
16. Repeat with the remaining dough