While chocolate mint cookies may not seem like a popular Christmas treat, it is! These Andes mint cookies are chewy, soft, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. This recipe is perfect for a dessert platter or gifting to friends!
When you're looking for something special to bake for the holidays, you really can't go wrong with Christmas cookie recipes. I mean, who doesn't enjoy snacking on them?
This year, along with baking traditional recipes like pecan snowball cookies and sugar cookie cut-outs, give this recipe a try. I don't think you will be disappointed!
The balance of rich chocolate and cool mint in these cookies is spot on, perfect!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Drop cookies are quicker and easier to make than cut-outs. No fussing with cutters or messy icing.
- Easy recipe for kids to help with. Encourage your kids/grandkids to bake with you this year. The memories will last a lifetime!
- They freeze well for up to 3 months, so you can get a jumpstart on your holiday baking.
Ingredients
See ingredient substitutions in the next section. ⬇️
To make this chocolate mint cookie recipe, you'll need:
- butter - Your baked goods will taste better if you use a high quality, European butter. European butter is more expensive than American-made, but the extra butterfat and lower water content make a huge difference in the final flavor of any baked goods.
- semi-sweet chocolate chips
- unsweetened cocoa powder - I use Hershey unsweetened cocoa
- milk
- vanilla extract
- Instant coffee - Coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate, and it isn't very expensive. Trust me, your cookies will not taste like coffee!
- eggs
- white granulated sugar
- light brown sugar
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda - Be sure to test it for freshness before you use it, especially if it's over 4 months old.
- sea or kosher salt: Do not use iodized table salt
- Andes mints - You can usually find dinner mints in the baking aisle of the grocery store, near the chocolate chips. If not, look in the candy aisle. Andes also sells the mints in the chip form, which is a great option if you can't find the dinner mints.
Substitutions and Recipe Variations
- butter: If you use salted butter, you may want to omit the additional salt this recipe calls for.
- unsweetened cocoa powder: Use either unsweetened regular or Dutch process cocoa powder. Do not use hot cocoa mix or sweetened cocoa powder, because they have sugar in them.
- all-purpose flour: If you'd like to make your chocolate mint cookies gluten free, substitute with a cup-for-cup gluten free all-purpose flour. Popular brands are Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur Flour.
- eggs: I haven't had much success using egg substitutes in cookie recipes, but, feel free to do your own testing. For tips and suggestions, read my article, Egg Substitutions for Baking.
- white granulated sugar: To reduce the calories in your Nutella chocolate chip cookies, feel free to use any cup-for-cup granulated sugar substitute. Monkfruit sugar is a good option.
- light brown sugar: Dark brown sugar works with this recipe, but your cookies will have a more pronounced molasses flavor.
- baking soda: Baking soda is essential for this recipe. Do not substitute with baking powder.
- vanilla extract: Feel free to use vanilla essence, which is a non-alcoholic flavoring, or for a deeper flavor, use vanilla bean paste.
- milk: Any type of dairy or non-dairy milk is fine to use.
- Instant coffee: For a more intense mocha flavor, use instant espresso.
- chocolate chips: I use semi-sweet, but any flavor or variety will work. White chocolate chips will add a nice pop of color to the double chocolate cookies.
How to Make Andes Chocolate Mint Cookies
Summary only. The complete recipe instructions are in the card at the bottom of this post ⬇️
- Melt chocolate chips and butter in a saucepan over low heat.
- Stir in the milk, vanilla extract, and cocoa powder.
- Use a mixer to beat together sugar and eggs on medium-high speed.
- Measure and incorporate the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and salt).
- Stir chopped dinner mints into the cookie dough.
- Bake in preheated 350°F. oven for about 8 minutes.
Liz's Tips for the Best Cookies
- Chocolate burns easily, so when melting it, use medium-low heat. Also, be sure to keep stirring until the chocolate melts completely.
- Avoid over mixing the dough, which can cause the cookies to be dry and crumbly.
- Line your baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent the cookies from sticking.
- Space the cookie dough balls at least 2 inches apart, to allow for spreading.
- After removing them from the oven, let the cookies sit on the warm baking sheet for 5 minutes.
- Let them cool completely on a wire rack. Before storing, make sure they've cooled completely or they'll stick together.
- Shop the sales! Stock up on baking supplies and chocolate candies during pre and post-holiday sales. This is when I find the best deals on Andes mints, as well as candies for M&M brownies and Hershey kisses for Peanut Butter Blossoms.
- If you have leftover chopped Andes mints, use them in my recipe for dark chocolate brownies. Just stir 1 cup of chopped mints into the brownie batter.
The chocolate mint cookies taste particularly good warm, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Storing and Freezing
Storing: Keep the baked and cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Freezing: Allow your baked cookies to cool completely before freezing. Store in a Ziploc freezer bag placed inside of an airtight container to ensure the cookies don't get freezer burn.
Thaw frozen cookies at room temperature before enjoying.
Freezing Unbaked Cookie Dough: To freeze unbaked dough, scoop into balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, or use these cookie dough freezing trays. Frozen dough will keep for up to 4 months.
If you're baking Andes chocolate cookies using frozen dough, increase baking time by 5 minutes.
Check out this post for How to Freeze Cookie Dough for tips on baking cookie dough later.
Andes Mint Cookie Recipe FAQs
Andes mints are a mint-flavored chocolate candy. They're small, flat rectangles with a layer of green peppermint sandwiched between two milk chocolate layers.
Andes mint chocolate candies are made with milk chocolate. However, Andes does make a variety of these candies with different flavors like Mint Cookie Crunch, Cherry Jubilee, Toffee Crunch, Peppermint Crunch and Mint Parfait.
For the freshest flavor, use within 9 months after purchasing. Make sure your mints are sealed properly and stored in an airtight container to maintain freshness.
Other Chocolate Cookie Recipes
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Easy Chocolate Caramel Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Hot Cocoa Cookies
- Brownie Cookies
Andes Chocolate Mint Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter salted or unsalted
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- ⅓ cups light brown sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt omit if using salted butter
- 1 cup chopped Andes mints plus more for decorating tops *see Notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When butter is completely melted, add chocolate chips, and stir constantly until chocolate melts completely.
- Remove saucepan from heat and stir in the milk, vanilla, and cocoa powder.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer and large mixing bowl, beat together sugar and eggs for 1-2 minutes, until well combined.
- Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, until well combined.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt (if using). Add half of this to the chocolate mixture; beat on low speed until just incorporated, then add in the second half and mix, until just barely combined.
- Add in chopped Andes mints to the bowl of dough. Use a wooden spoon or mixing spatula to gently fold them in.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to portion 2-tablespoon sized scoops of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet. Arrange them in a single layer, at least 2 inches apart to allow room for the dough to spread. For extra mint flavor and visual appeal, break up additional Andes mints and press two or three pieces into each dough ball.
- Bake in preheated oven for 7-8 minutes. Allow cookies to sit for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a wire cooling rack.
Helpful Notes and Tips From Liz
- Avoid over mixing the dough, which can cause the cookies to be dry and crumbly.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, or freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to 4 months.
- The unbaked dough also freezes well for up to 4 months. If you're baking Andes mint cookies using frozen dough, increase baking time by 5 minutes.
- For extra visual appeal and chocolate mint flavor, insert a couple of extra Andes mints into each cookie dough ball before baking.
Susannah
My mom used to make my family members chocolate cakes decorated with Andes mints for our birthdays and they were so good. I have such nostalgia for these chocolates and I really want to try your cookies!
Cheryl | Pook's Pantry
Chocolate and mint are such a great combination! These cookies look delicious!
Sam
It's hard to beat a mint and fudgy cookie combo! Love these even more with the Andes candies.
Erin
You can never go wrong with Andes Mints and in a cookie? SO GOOD! The chocolate-mint combination is one of my favorites.
Thank you so much for participating in this year's Sweetest Season! I am always blown away with the recipes shared and the generosity of its participants. Thank you for making this event such a success. I hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Nikki
The perfect cookie! Mint Chocolate is my favorite so this one is going on my Christmas cookie list each year.
Becky Blad
Andes Mint Cookies are such a great Christmas cookie! Mmm!
Kathi
YUM! I can resist a lot of things, but not Andes mint anything! Great recipe.
Shashi
I love the combo of mint and chocolate chip and a batch of these would not last long in my home!
Kathryn
These are my kind of cookies! I love the chocolate and mint combo! Perfect for dunking in coffee in the morning too 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Peggy
Can you use Dutch processed cocoa in this recipe?
Liz @ Tasty Treats & Eats
I'm sure that would work
Gaila Perez
This is going to sound strange but I have never tasted Andes mints before, so this is going to be interesting.
Megan
My kids go crazy for Andes mints, these cookies just shot to the top of our favorites!
Min
Andes mints are my favorite and these cookies surpass all my expectations! SO DELICIOUS!
Jami
Mint and chocolate are my two favs - these sound delicious!!
Sheila
Oooh! So glad I found this recipe — Andes mints are my favorite!
Loreto and Nicoletta Nardelli
Buttery decadent deliciousness with a lovely mint flavor. Yum!
Debi
These look delicious!