Sponsored content. As a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community, DGOE received compensation from CB and its advertiser. #HolidayMadeSimple #CollectiveBias
The thick of Midwestern sweater weather is upon us, and now that Christmas is only 25 days away (!), we’re decking the halls, baking all the holiday recipes, playing Christmas music on a perma-loop, and generally seeing how far we can pull up our socks to prolong the ever-fleeting warm and cozy.
It starts with the tree – a faux pine draped in ropes and ropes of twinkly lights and studded with a decades-old collection of ornaments, each one with its own story. Decorating it takes hours, what with all the storytelling and singing and yelling because the kids hang everything on one branch and trip over nothing onto anything and everything that is breakable.
And since making our home smell like the holidays is my thing, whipping up something festive for everyone to snack is always fine with me (escape to the kitchen!) as long it’s quick.
Nestle asked us to make our family’s holiday moments even more flavorful by heading to Walmart to pick up Nestle Tollhouse Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels. Because sweet inspiration.
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies taste like Christmas and take less than 30 minutes to prep and bake (8-second time lapse video set to catchy French pop as preemptive proof of the easy-to-make deliciousness), making them one of my favorite holiday recipes.
Mmm… pepperminty chocolate goodness that stores well when tightly wrapped.
Turns out the chocolate morsels are so beautifully melty and decadent, they add a touch of richness to my cookies and other holiday treats, and now that they’re (finally) nut- and gluten-free, everyone in the house is gleefully eating them straight from the bag.
(This is not a complaint as long as there’s enough for me.)
Then there’s dinner.
Inevitably, I get carried away by all the decorating and baking, and by the time I realize suppertime has come and gone, the idea of cooking or going out is nope and meh all mixed together.
Good thing Nestle makes it easy to get dinner on the table so you can go back to what really matters – your chocolate-and-peppermint-smeared family.
Stouffer’s Lasagna with meat and sauce is preservative, peanut- and tree-nut free, made with fresh mozzarella, topped with aged Parmesan, and comes out looking (and tasting) pretty close to homemade in about an hour and a half. It bakes in its own recyclable tray, which makes for super easy clean up, and you should know that it’s even better the next day.
ALL THE HI-FIVES.
Now go make these cookies already:
- 1 pouch nut-free sugar cookie mix (1 lb. 1.5 oz. size)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ tsp. pure peppermint extract
- 1 egg
- 1 cup nut-free creme de menthe baking chips
- 1 cup Nestle Tollhouse Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (They're finally nut free!)
- nut-free green food coloring
- ungreased cookie sheet (1-2 depending on size)
- wire rack
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mix sugar cookie mix, butter and egg until soft dough forms.
- Add peppermint extract and stir.
- Add food coloring drop by drop until desired hue is achieved (we use around 10-12 drops).
- Mix thoroughly to incorporate food coloring throughout.
- Fold in creme de menthe baking chips and Nestle Tollhouse Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels.
- Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough about 2 inches apart on your cookie sheet.
- Bake 8-10 minutes until edges brown lightly and the cookies set.
- Cool at least 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
If your oven runs hot (as ours does), you're going to want to start checking your cookies at the 5-minute mark. If necessary, rotate your cookie sheets to ensure even baking and more importantly, to avoid the scourge that is burnt cookie bottoms.
Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker.
To further celebrate the spirit of the season, we’re helping Nestle give away $1,600 in branded gift baskets that will look beautiful tucked under your tree. Eight winners will receive baskets valued at $100 and two winners will receive baskets valued at $400. There’s four easy ways to enter, which you’re going to want to do immediately:
Nestlé Holiday Sweepstakes
These look super delicious!! I’ve only ever done mint cookies with mint chips — versus putting the mint flavoring in the cookie. I’ll have to try it! Thanks for sharing.
They are obscenely yum, Tamara! And it’s all about good peppermint extract to get that whole icy mouthfeel happening every time you bite into one. The mint baking chips are just creamy good enhancers.
Your cookies look so good! I am a big fan of Nestle Toll House cookies! I just bought their commemorative tin for 2014, it is a great storage container and it had chocolate chips in it too!
Thanks, Jenn! This was our first time using Nestle Tollhouse Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels since they used to carry peanut- and tree nut-trace warnings. SO. GOOD.
These look delicious and with the upcoming holiday season I will try out the recipe.
You’re going to gobble them up immediately, Divina. Make extra!
I love that you spent the day baking and then ended up with a frozen dinner! And although I am not sure the recipe would be great for my nutritional plan, it does look DELISH!
LOL… irony, Elena. You could always bake these up to share with neighbors and just save one or two for yourself. Less self-sabotage that way
Wow. Green chocolate chip cookies! My kids would go crazy for them. Your photos are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Lori! The kids could barely wait for them to cool. Us adults of course don’t wait for such things and eat hot cookies right off the sheet.
Yeah, I’m going to need to make those cookies. Mint chocolate chip… my FAVE.
Just don’t eat the raw batter. It smells like fresh snow and peppermint magic.
Oh my, Pilar. I feel like I’m in your kitchen! Such amazing photographs and I love those mint chocolate chip cookies! They look so good! Sounds like a recipe I could totally master! Have fun with those wooly socks! Stay warm!
Thanks so much, Annie! Let us know what you think if you whip these up for your littles!
I am loving those cookies. And your pictures are awesome! I feel like I’m in your kitchen with you!
Aww, thanks, Melanie! Pull up a chair!
My family isn’t a huge fan of mint but I suppose in a way, I’m a tiny bit grateful because I love the combination of mint and chocolate! This means a whole batch of cookies just for me!
YAAAAAS. Like how you think, Leticia!
You had me at mint chocolate chip. My favorite combo. Can’t wait to start baking my holiday cookies!!!!
Holiday baking wins at life.
These look so yummy! They’re exactly the kind of cookie my BFF Em and I would add to our holiday baking days.
Let us know what you think if you end up making them, Liza!
These sound absolutely delicious! And I love the festive green coloring. Really makes these cookies pop. #client
Each bite is like a little bit of Christmas, Danielle. We had to stop making more batches because of the obscene yummy.
My daughter is the biggest mint chocolate chip fan. I am going to have to pass this recipe on.
Let us know what she thinks, Jenne