Chocolate Mint Chip Bars

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I hope you did too! After Thanksgiving, we spent the rest of the weekend decorating and shopping for Christmas. We stayed home in our pajamas and did our shopping online. We found some great deals and I'm so excited to see our kids' faces when they open their gifts this year! Online shopping is the BEST!

It's time to start thinking about holiday goodies, too. Each year, I try to stock the freezer with different kinds of cookie dough to have on hand for parties, gifts, guests and of course for Santa on Christmas eve. This recipe makes one of our family's favorite cookies. Technically, these are bars, but you can make them into cookies, if you want. I wanted to save some time, so I just spread all the dough onto a large baking sheet to cook all at once. If you're not a mint fan, these are equally delicious with peanut butter chips!

Recipe Link
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 2/3 cups (10 oz. pkg.) Nestle winter dark chocolate and mint chips
OR Andes Baking Chips
Cooking spray
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate-mint chips.
3. Spray a 15 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 1 inch jelly roll pan. Spread batter into pan. Bake 15-20 minutes or until set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack; cut into bars.
Makes about 4 dozen bars

To make cookies instead of bars: Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-9 minutes. Do not overbake, cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling. Cool slightly and remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 54 cookies.

Adapted from Hershey's Kitchens

Dry ingredients

Butter, sugar with eggs and vanilla

Adding the chips to the batter

Spreading the batter into the pan

Rich chocolate bars with fresh minty chips

The Results...
We love the combination of fresh minty chips with the rich chocolate bars!

If you want to stock your freezer, shape cookie dough into a log, wrap well with plastic wrap (I usually use two layers), label and throw in the freezer until needed. When you're ready to bake, thaw the cookie dough and spread onto your baking sheet for bars or drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet for cookies. These cookies/bars are sure to be a hit with your friends and family, too!

More Favorite Cookies and Bars