#11- Chocolate Mint Cut Out Cookies!

                   
I've been waiting for a good time to use my new puppy cookie cutters. My friend Douglas gave me some cookie cutters and cupcake liners for my birthday last February, and I have not had an opportunity to use them until now. July is the month that our sweet little Pitbull, Rudy, found us one summer evening four years ago. We like to celebrate our dog's birthdays by doing fun little things. Often times we will take the dogs to the local PetSmart and let the birthday dog choose a new chew toy or snacks or something else of interest.  Since we don't know when Rudy was born, we celebrate his special day in July as that is when we officially adopted him.  And I thought this would be the perfect time to make some cookies in honor of Rudy.

I got this delicious chocolate mint cookie recipe idea from The Pioneer Woman. I love watching her cooking shows! I've tried many of her recipes  and have never been disappointed with the results. She's an amazing cook and an excellent Baker! If you haven't seen any of her cooking shows you can find her on the Food Network.
 I changed her recipe just a little to give it a bit more chocolatey flavor.  It has turned out to be a great dough for rolling and cutting out cute little shapes using cutters.

Here's what you need to get started:
1 cup of  brown sugar
1 cup of salted butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 and 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking powder
24 pieces Andes Thin Mints, chopped
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Royal Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 and 1/2 tablespoon meringue powder
4 tablespoons of water

Here's how to put it all together.
Start by creaming the brown sugar and the butter together in your mixer. Add the egg and peppermint extract until well combined. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Next, add the dry ingredients to the mixer.  Once those are well combined, add the chopped Andes mints and the chocolate mini chips to the dough and mix until well incorporated.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes.  This will help the dough to roll out easier, and it also prevents the cookies from spreading too much while they are baking.  When you are ready to roll out the dough, use a half and half flour and cocoa powder mixture to sprinkle on the surface of whatever you're rolling the dough out onto to prevent it from sticking.  You can use whatever cut out shapes you would like for your cookies. The Pioneer Woman used a cowboy cut out and a cow cut out, because I guess that's what you do when you live on a ranch.
You're going to let your cookies bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes.

Once your cookies have cooled you will be ready to ice them. Mix the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water together in your mixer on high speed using your whisk tool attachment.  Mix well for about 4 minutes. You want the royal icing to be of piping consistency which means it will form soft peaks but not too stiff. You may need to add a little additional water to get the consistency you would like.  If you've not used royal icing before, there are many tutorials on YouTube that you can find to help you create the right consistency needed for your cookies.  When the icing is ready,  pour it into a piping bag. I used a number 2 tip to pipe the outline for my cookies.
Whatever shapes you choose to use to cut out your cookies, these cookies are sure to be a big hit because they are big on flavor and big on cuteness!

                   

                     Happy Birthday Rudy!