As St. Patty’s Day approaches, I’m seeing more green colored food online (i.e. pinterest.com and all the various social media outlets). I simply can’t go there. Not for the lack of spirit, but because it looks unappealing to me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind a little green color in my food, but I’ve never been one to want green eggs and ham. I do, however, love mint and mint is notoriously green colored (even if not naturally so).
In honor of the one day a year when everyone is Irish, I was inspired to create these bar cookies which are loaded with mint chocolate chips and mint flavored wafer cookies.
Double Mint Cookie Bars Recipe
(Makes 16 servings)
Ingredients:
- 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 7 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet mint chocolate chips (I used Nestle Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels)
- 1/2 cup crushed mint cookies (equivalent to about 7 cookies) (I used Keebler Grasshopper Mint & Fudge Cookies)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a 8 x 8 baking pan with tin foil, grease it, and set it aside.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside the dry ingredients.
- Cream the butter, white sugar, and light brown sugar.
- Mix in the vanilla extract and egg.
- Gradually mix in the dry ingredients.
- Mix in the mint chocolate chips and crushed mint cookies.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake it in the preheated oven for about 23 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out clean.
Store it in an air tight container at room temperature or in a freezer friendly bag in the freezer.
I love cookies, but I think I love bar cookies even more because they are much faster to whip up.
I had very strict requirements for these bar cookies.
1. They must tasty minty, but not too minty. I don’t want it to seem like you just rinsed with minty mouth wash.
2. The cookie base must be less sweet than a typical chocolate chip cookie because the mint chocolate chips and mint wafer cookies will add a lot of sweetness. I like sweets just as much as the next person, heck probably even more, but I don’t want it to feel like a cavity just formed by eating one.
3. I loved the idea of adding mint flavored wafer cookies to these bar cookies. They add a great crunchy texture and they make them taste more minty. The trick here is to not add too many wafers to the batter or to beat them up too much so they end up lost as minty chocolate sand. Either of those problems and you’ll feel like you’re only eating mint in the finished product instead of enjoying the cookie base itself.
4. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t mind a little color to my goodies (whether it’s green for St. Patrick’s day or pink for Valentine’s Day). However, it has to be just the right amount of green because otherwise it doesn’t seem natural and quite frankly grosses me out.
Wow, that is a lot to expect from a bar cookie but I definitely think I nailed it here! 🙂
Minty. Check. Sweet. Check. Pretty. Check. Outrageously delicious. Check. Okay, maybe that last point was not part of the four goals that I mentioned, but that’s an obvious goal for every creation.
They are super chewy and soft and I’m in love with them. Can one really be in love with a dessert? Yep. 😉
What’s your favorite food to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day?
Source: Tina’s Chic Corner
If you love mint, then you’ll also love these Peppermint Patty Stuffed Chocolate Chip Bars
Here are some of my other favorite chocolate chip cookie bars.
Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Double Chocolate Chip Blondies
You are so right with St. Patrick’s day nearing I’m seeing so many recipes, treats, and crafts for it everywhere! I love cookie bars and I love that you added mint chips to these. I’m going to have to pick up a package of those babies today!
Thanks so much! 🙂
Hahhaha, I love your first requirement…they must not taste like you just washed your mouth with minty mouthwash lol! I love mint too but not that much and not a fan of the green food. So using the mint wafers is a great way to get the mint flavors with the overpowering. Love cookie bars always!!
Haha…We sound alike. 🙂
These remind of of those yummy Andes chocolates they leave on your pillow at hotels. I love chocolate and mint together. Yum!
Love love love Andes candies! I placed an Andes candy in the guest bedroom pillow once when my sister was staying overnight. She got the biggest kick out of it. 🙂
I’m always a fan of cookie bars. And mint chocolate is my favorite combo ever! I could probably eat a whole batch of these right about now!
I have a few favorite combos that I can’t choose a favorite but mint and chocolate is definitely one of my favorites. 🙂
I can’t get over how good these bars look! Choc and mint has to be one of my favorite combos ever. Can’t wait to try these! pinned.
Thanks so much! It’s one of my favorite combos too and I hope you love them just as much as I do. 🙂
hehe my guess is that you won’t be linking up to the St. Paddy’s Day link-up i’m hosting then lol!! I’m all for green food but I hate artificial dyes. I find it fun to dye foods naturally though. Then again I’m a big kid who never quite grew out of playing with her food 🙂
Haha…I’m totally linking up! 🙂
You absolutely have high expectations for cookie bars, and these definitely meet those expectations. These look absolutely wonderful!
Thanks so much! 🙂
Love the “tasteful” green in these bars! And I’m so with you on not wanting mouthwashy-tasting desserts. For me, mint is one of those flavors where less is definitely more. And bars = less work = yes, please!
Haha…thanks!
These look delicious, Tina! Definitely a recipe to try!
Awesome! Thank you. 🙂
These look like such cute, neat little Irish brownies, Tina! Not grossing me out at all!!
Sweet! 🙂
We LOVE mint chocolate around here. like, passionate love. I know these would be a BIG hit!
Mint + chocolate = awesome! 🙂
These look delicious, Tina! I love adding a little hint of mint to cookies. And I totally agree with you that sometimes the green thing can be a bit much. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Thanks! 🙂
i just made some mint chip brownies. they look delish!
Oooh, those sound delicious!
Even without the food coloring, these are jaw droppingly beautiful! Your photos just get more and more stunning! Mint and chocolate in bar form? Sign me up!
You are so sweet! Thank you my friend. Have a lovely weekend. 🙂
Tina, I love the subtle-ness of the green. I’m the same way. Love a little green when it comes to (some) foods. These are very classy… just like you!! 🙂
Awh, you are the sweetest! Thank you so much. 🙂
Hello Tina, great looking bar cookie. I am with you on all of the fake looking green stuff around St. Patty’s day, kind of weird looking I like the more natural flavours. Have you ever heard of St. David’s Day? I like to celebrate with some Welsh cakes as they are delightful. Have a super weekend. BAM
I’ve never heard of St. David’s Day, but my husband’s name is David and I bet he’d love for us to celebrate it as an excuse to enjoy some Welsh cakes. 🙂
These cookie bars look fantastic Tina! Love the subtleness of the green – totally chic just like you 🙂 I am always a big fan of chocolate and mint together and adding the crushed cookies for added mint and crunch sounds delicious! Pinning 🙂
You are so sweet! Thank you Kelly! 🙂
Tina your photos are gorgeous! And these cookie bars sound amazing. I love mint and cookie!! Thanks for linking up with SNF 🙂
Thank you so much! That means a lot to me. I appreciate you stopping by. 🙂
Oh I love these Tina!! I love how simple they are and tasty looking! I am not really the type who likes my baked treats loaded with every kind of candy under the sun. These are perfect!! (and I LUV those green mint chips!! Good choice!
Sweet! Thanks. 🙂
Oh, you are speaking my language. I just can’t do all the food coloring. Last year, someone served green cake pops at the parade party we were at and while they were good, I had green lips the rest of the afternoon. These brownies look delicious and I LOVE that they won’t turn me green. 🙂
Hehe, green lips…too funny! Thanks much! I appreciate you stopping by. 🙂
These are totally up my alley Tina! Love mint and cookies. These would go down great with a tall glass of milk. Mmmm.
Awesome! Thanks Melanie. 🙂