Okay, so I am not the only one in my family addicted to the Food Network. Believe it or not, my 5 year old daughter, Sammie, is in love with Giada, AKA the Cooking Lady. You know your daughter watches too much Giada at Home when she says spaghetti with an Italian accent, she pretends she is cooking using ingredients like extra virgin olive oil and lemon zest and finally when she asks “Can you live without olive oil”? Apparently, the Cooking Lady says you can’t. 
Oh, how I love my little girl.
The other day we were watching Giada and she made these delicious looking double chocolate and mint cookies. Sammie has always loved Andes mints. In fact, it is her favorite part of a meal at Olive Garden. Even better than the bread sticks? Umm, no, I don’t think so. These cookies reminded me of a mint version of the Chocolate Dreams I made a few weeks ago. The cookie is super soft and fudgy, almost brownie-like in texture. First you taste the rich chocolate of the cookie and then you bite into a warm, melted Andes mint…Mmmm. I think the Cooking Lady maybe on to something.
Double Chocolate and Mint Cookies
Yield: 12 cookies
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet (60-percent) chocolate chopped I used Callebaut semi-sweet
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa I used Valrhone dutch processed cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
One 5-ounce package chocolate mint thins, such as Andes, each cut into thirds Or you can buy the Andes chips to make it easier on yourself. I couldn’t find any at the store. I think they are more seasonal.
Place 1 oven rack in the center of the oven and 1 oven rack in the bottom third and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the bittersweet chocolate and butter. Place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. As usual, I just melted the chocolate and butter carefully in the microwave. Just make sure to stop before the chocolate is completely melted and use the residual heat to finish the job. Or else the chocolate may burn and taste bitter.
In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, 2 tablespoons water and vanilla extract. Gradually add the dry ingredients. Fold in the cooled chocolate. Stir in the chocolate mint pieces. Chill the dough 10 minutes to firm slightly. Using 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop 6 mounds of batter onto each prepared sheet, spacing evenly apart.
Bake the cookies 9 minutes. Reverse the baking sheets (top to bottom) and continue baking until the cookies are slightly puffed and dry looking with some small cracks on top, 9 to 10 minutes longer. Cool the cookies completely on sheets (they may deflate slightly as they cool).
Source: Food Network, Giada De Laurentiis
