Double Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

The “double” in these cookies means mint chocolate chips show up twice: half get melted and stirred directly into the dough, turning the entire cookie base into a rich, fudgy, minty canvas. The other half get folded in whole, so you get pockets of melty mint chocolate in every bite.

Melting the chips before adding them to the creamed butter and sugar creates a dough that’s darker, denser, and more intensely flavored than just mixing chips into a standard cookie batter. The melted chocolate also makes the finished cookies chewier and more brownie-like in texture.

Brown sugar and white sugar both go in, with brown sugar dominating for that caramel-like depth and extra chewiness. Chopped nuts add crunch that contrasts the soft, fudgy crumb. Eight to ten minutes in the oven is all they need. Let them rest on the sheet for a few minutes before moving, because they’re fragile while still warm.

Pro Tips

• Melt the chips over hot (not boiling) water and stir constantly. Chocolate chips scorch easily and seized chocolate ruins the batch.
• Cool the melted chocolate to room temperature before adding to the batter. Hot chocolate will melt the butter and make the dough too thin.
• Don’t overbake. Pull them when they still look slightly underdone in the center. They firm up as they cool on the sheet.
• Let them stand on the baking sheet for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring. This prevents them from breaking apart.

Variations

• Use dark chocolate chips instead of mint for a pure, intense chocolate cookie.
• Swap chopped nuts for crushed candy canes during the holidays for a peppermint crunch.
• Add a tablespoon of peppermint extract to the batter for an even stronger mint punch.