These Mint Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies taste like a cross between thin mints and sugar cookies! They are great for cutting out and hold their shape well once baked, so they work well with royal icing or for dipping or drizzling with melted dark chocolate.
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Are you a cookie cutter collector? I have a box of them for every holiday and like to pull them out to make rolled out cookies with my kids since they love them. This year I added a shamrock cookie cutter to my collection, but instead of using my classic sugar cookie recipe, or even my chocolate cut out cookies or oatmeal sugar cookies, I wanted something a little different that would be fun for St. Patrick’s Day.
When it comes to St. Patrick’s Day, the mint-chocolate combination is always popular! Some of our other popular desserts featuring this flavor pairing are Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie, Chocolate Andes Mint Cookies, and the ever popular Frosted Mint Brownies!
I have always loved mint chip anything! When I was a kid (and even now as an adult), mint chip ice cream has always been one of my top picks when choosing a favorite ice cream flavor. And Thin Mints are my favorite Girl Scout cookie. So it only made sense to make sugar cookies using those flavors!
We tried these with regular buttercream frosting, royal icing, and melted dark chocolate. The cookies are delicious with any of those options, but I like them best with royal icing.
I think that the balance of mint, chocolate, and sugar cookie flavor is perfect as is. It’s definitely minty, but not in an overwhelming way. But if you want to up the mint-quotient you can either add ½ teaspoon of peppermint extract to the royal icing or chocolate, or increase the mint in the cookie dough by adding another ½ teaspoon.
What You’ll Need
- Butter: I always use salted butter for my baking. Using room temperature butter helps the cookie dough come together better.
- Flour: Regular all-purpose flour makes up the bulk of the cookie dough. Measuring flour correctly is important when baking. I recommend spooning it into your measuring cups then leveling it off with a knife for accuracy.
- Sugar: Can’t make sugar cookies without some granulated sugar, right? This is just the right amount so these cookies are sweet, but not crazy sweet so a nice buttery, minty flavor can come through.
- Egg: The egg acts as a binder so the cookies don’t crumble.
- Baking Powder: Just a small amount helps lighten the bite of the cookie texture without losing the definition in the edges, which is super important to me when making sugar cookies. Nobody wants their shapes to spread!
- Salt: Just a bit for balance and to bring out all of the other flavors.
- Mini Chocolate Chips: You could technically make larger chocolate chips work by chopping them up, but the mini-size ones are better for rolling and cutting out the cookie dough. Plus, you will get a bit of chocolate in every bite.
- Peppermint Emulsion: This ingredient can be found at most craft stores (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby). But you can use peppermint extract, which is widely available, instead in the same amount.
- Green Food Coloring (affiliate link): A few drops of concentrated gel food coloring (affiliate link) will give you a nice vivid green color. If you are using liquid food coloring (affiliate link), you will need around 1-2 teaspoons to achieve the same result.
How to Make Mint Chip Sugar Cookies
This is a super easy dough that comes together quickly in one bowl. Plan ahead so you have time to chill the dough, which helps the cookies hold their shape well while being baked.
- Beat butter and sugar: Really creaming the butter and sugar together is important when making sugar cookies so that they bake well. If you forgot to pull your butter out of the fridge, just heat the wrapped sticks of cold butter in the microwave for 8-10 seconds, then flip them over and heat another 5-8 seconds on the other side so it’s soft, but not melted.
- Add egg, flavoring, and food coloring (affiliate link): The food coloring (affiliate link) disperses much better when you add it to the batter with the wet ingredients rather than towards the end. Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Add dry ingredients and mix well: It might seem like the cookie dough is too crumbly at first, but keep beating it and it will come together into a fairly stiff playdough like dough.
- Add chocolate chips then roll out: Because this dough is on the stiff side, it’s actually easier to roll it out right away, then chill it rather than chilling first. Roll out the dough about 3/8″ (10mm) thick on a piece of parchment paper. You can sprinkle the dough with flour so it doesn’t stick to the rolling pin (affiliate link), or place another piece of parchment paper on top.
- Chill, then cut out: Chill the dough for 1-2 hours until it is firm, then use cookie cutters to cut it into shamrock shapes (or whatever shape you choose). The leftover dough can be rerolled and cut out.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are set. Cool completely before icing or decorating.
Storage and Freezing Instructions
Once the cookies have cooled, store them in an airtight container on the counter for 5-7 days.
The cookies can be frozen either before or after they have been baked for 2-3 months. If freezing before baking, you do not need to thaw the cookies before you bake them. Just add a couple extra minutes to the bake time.
More St. Patrick’s Day Desserts
- Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake with Toffee Sauce
- Easy Marshmallow Popcorn Balls
- Blarney Stones [Peanut Cake Squares]
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
Mint Chip Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2-3 drops green food coloring (affiliate link)
- 1 teaspoon peppermint emulsion or extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Beat the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer for 2-3 minutes until creamy. Add the egg, food coloring (affiliate link), and peppermint emulsion (or peppermint extract), mixing well and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.1 cup salted butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 2-3 drops green food coloring (affiliate link), 1 teaspoon peppermint emulsion or extract
- Add the flour, salt, and baking powder, mixing until the dough comes together. Mix in the chocolate chips.3 cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon baking powder, 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- Roll out the dough 3/8" thick on a sheet of parchment paper. Use another piece of parchment paper or some flour sprinkled on top to keep the rolling pin (affiliate link) from sticking. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours until firm.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cut out the cookies into your desired shapes, then place them on the baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are set. Cool completely before decorating with royal icing or melted dark chocolate.
Notes
- Storage: These cookies will keep for 5-7 days in an airtight container on the counter.
- Freezing Instructions: The cookies can be frozen either baked or unbaked for up to 3 months. If freezing unbaked cookie dough, you can bake them directly from frozen by adding a couple additional minutes to the bake time.
Nutrition
Recipe from Cookie Curator which she shared on her Instagram.
Super easy and so good, perfect for my St. Pat’s Day Cookies
This is the best cookie recipe I’ve ever found as making the dough! I’m a beginner and this is the first recipe I’ve made where the dough turned out perfect the first time. These are delicious!
I’m so happy to hear that!
Fantastic recipe! I made a double batch using Ghirardelli’s Dark Chocolate Barista Chips. For Christmas I used a Christmas tree cookie cutter and decorated with melted dark chocolate piped into “swags” and a few nonpareils with a star on top. Everyone loved them! I’ll be making shamrocks in March! Thanks for the recipe!!!
Those sound lovely! So glad you loved it!
This recipe didn’t quite work for me–the dough was too dry to roll out so I had to cut it into bars instead of shamrocks. It still tasted really good, though!
Hmm I wonder what happened? Maybe flour ratio made it dry? Too much flour? The dough is more on the stiff side so make sure you roll it right away when it is still somewhat warm and soft. Once rolled out you can chill for a couple hours and then cut out the shape. I don’t know if that is what you did or not but I’m glad it still tasted good though!
Dough was more crumbly than what was posted on the blog. We were able to make it work with Christmas cookie cutters though we kept having to roll out the dough every time on broke.