Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cone Cookies

I think I’ve mentioned that I live in the Caribbean, right? Once or twice (or a bunch) of times? I’ve probably mentioned that it’s not my favorite place. I know I’ve mentioned the heat and humidity. But did you know that when you live in the Caribbean, on a tropical island, that you have to share your house? Seriously, you have no choice. It’s not something to be happy or amicable about either…not once you find out who what your sharing your house with.

Granted, we all have critters…there’s no avoiding them. You’re bound to find the occasional spider lurking in a corner, or even the odd mouse who manages to infiltrate your defenses during a long, cold winter. Maybe you even get a bat or two in the basement, of all places, that you and your husband have to try and corral up the stairs and out the front door using only an inflatable pool mattress, an umbrella, and hockey gloves, all while trying to avoid getting rabies. Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything.

No. I could handle all of those things. I have handled all of those things. It hasn’t always been with the most poise or class (not when there’s eight hairy legs and eight beady eyes watching you from the shadows under a nightstand as you brandish your bottle of hairspray and a smashing stick), but I have handled them. Here, though, there’s a lot of critters.

Let me preface this little story by saying that pests are entirely unavoidable here, unless you have a full time exterminator on retainer, and living in your guest room. Unfortunately, much to my disappointment, there’s really not room for that in our budget. We maintain a clutter free and clean home, and are armed to the teeth with pest defenses, though, so things are under control.

See, there are these roaches here. They’re those great big ones that you always see in hot climates, and you know that they’re inevitable to an extent, but you still freak the funk out when one crosses your path. It’s not like we have an infestation. They’re rare, but remember, this is the tropics, and you do see the occasional Volkswagen sized roach scuttle across the sidewalk, or even the floor. We’ve been fortunate to encounter very few, but there are certain places in the house where you’re more likely to encounter one. One of those places is the laundry room.

Oh, the laundry room. I hate our laundry room. Never the happiest of places on a good day (what with all the work that has to be done in there), it’s a den of horrors here. I have yet to have a moment of peace in there, but the worst was the last time I tried to use the restroom in there.

One morning, I didn’t feel like going all the way to my room to go (in my mind our room is so far away…seriously, it’s a long walk), so I bit the bullet and decided to go in the laundry room. Now, I go in there from time to time…you know, to do the laundry…on occasion. It’s no big deal, but I don’t linger and I certainly don’t use the toilet. The room just creeps me out. This day, though, I went in and lifted the seat to make sure there weren’t any critters in or around the toilet, just in case. Cause, you know…that’s how life is in the tropics. Really (I actually encountered a very large spider who didn’t want to let me use my toilet in the master bath once…I cried). There was nothing there, so I turned around and popped a squat. Then I heard this noise…

like something fell…

maybe into the toilet.

I turned, afraid, and looked, but there was nothing there……… so I turned back around and proceeded to engage in the act of number one. Before anything happened, though, I…felt………something. On my foot. Thank God it was my foot, cause if it’d been my lady bits I would have died. Seriously. Died.

I looked down, as I’m (of course) in the process of standing up, holding my pants up, shaking my foot, and screaming. This will be bad, I know it, because what I feel on my foot isn’t just sitting there…it clearly has moving parts.

It was a GIANT cockroach. It was crawling ALL over my foot and wouldn’t shake off! You should have HEARD the screams coming out of me. I’m hopping around the laundry room on one foot, frantically shaking the other, kicking and flailing, my hands DESPERATELY grasping my clothing, which I still haven’t managed to return to their appropriate place at my waist, and I’m screaming like someone is stabbing the life right out of me. Some how I managed not to pee on myself in my revulsion.

Well. All I can say is thank goodness I was alone. It was awful. I finally managed to kick the thing off of my foot and it FLEW across the room and smacked into the wall before falling to the ground and freezing where it landed. It was an audible smack on the wall…and you could hear it hit the ground. THAT’S HOW BIG THIS THING WAS. Then we stared each other down for what felt like an eternity before I came to my senses and grabbed the bug spray.

Two things happened as a result of this ordeal:

1. That bug made it’s last mistake when it chose to assault my half naked self while I was on the toilet and vulnerable.

2. I will NEVER use that bathroom again.

The point of this horrific and completely humiliating story, as I’m sure you’re wondering about, is that I clearly deserved a cookie…or 20…that day.

Good thing I’d made some yummy ones.

When I was a little girl, I was not an adventurous food eater. I’ve already mentioned that I was The Picky Eater in our family, and believe it or not, that even extended to ice cream. I would only eat vanilla (sometimes), chocolate (rarely), and mint chocolate chip (usually). To this day, I still absolutely love mint chocolate chip ice cream. I’m much more adventurous with trying new flavors, of course. After living in Vermont, the home of Ben & Jerry’s, I’m much more willing to try just about any ice cream flavor…and I usually love them all. But, like I said, I just love mint chocolate chip. Good news, it’s just as delicious in cookie form!

For these cookies, I started with the same icebox cookie recipes that I used for my Shamrock cookies last year.

Once the dough is mixed up and chilled (recipe, instructions below), I rolled it out to 1/4-inch think. I used the pointed part of a witch’s hat cookie cutter to cut the cones out for my cookies. If you have an ice cream cone cookie cutter, obviously you’re lucky and have less work to do. Next, I added hatch marks with a small paring knife. Finally, I use a flower cutter to trim the tops of the cones away, giving them a scalloped edge where the ice cream scoop could sit.

For the ice cream part of the cookies, I used the same flower cutter from above and pressed one side of a large decorating tip through it, then I used my paring knife to trim away the excess, leaving my with a cookie shaped like a scoop of ice cream.

The two pieces fit together perfectly, like a little cookie puzzle.

After baking, they were perfect little mint chocolate chip ice cream cones.

If you want to save time, you can skip the trimming part on the ice cream and just leave it flower shaped. They’re still adorable like this, especially once you ice them.

I used a decorating bag with the end snipped off to add icing (recipe below) to the cookies, making it look like hot fudge. I left some of the iced cookies plain, but on others I added some Andes mints baking bits or chocolate sprinkles.

I adore these cookies. They’re seriously yum, and they really do taste like mint chocolate chip ice cream. I especially liked them in a bowl of ice cream (mint chocolate chip, of course), but they’re fantastic on their own. Plus, they were easy to make, especially if you don’t feel like shaping them. The dough can easily be shaped into logs and chilled, sliced, and baked as icebox cookies. Making them into adorable little ice cream cones didn’t take long at all, and they’d be excellent at any summer barbecue. Enjoy!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies [Printable Version]
Makes about 3 1/2 dozen

Ingredients

FOR THE CHOCOLATE MINT COOKIES
1  cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips or Andes baking bits

FOR THE PEPPERMINT COOKIES
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips or Andes baking bits
Food coloring, if desired

To make the chocolate cookies: In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and beat in the egg. Stir in the vanilla until well blended. Add the flour mixture in 2 additions, scraping the bowl as needed. Mix well between each addition.

Shape the dough into a disk about 6 inches across. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or overnight.

To make the vanilla cookies: In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and beat in the egg. Stir in the peppermint extract until well blended. Add the flour mixture in 2 additions, scraping the bowl as needed. Mix well between each addition.

Again, shape the dough into a log about 6 inches long. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or overnight.

Once the dough is firm, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.

Remove the chocolate dough and unwrap it. On a floured work surface, roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thick. Cut ice cream cone shapes from the dough and place the cookies about one and a half inches apart on the prepared sheets. Bake for about 15 minutes. Repeat with the peppermint dough.

Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before decorating or serving.

 

Peppermint/Chocolate Mint Icing [Printable Version]

Ingredients

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Food coloring, if desired

Whisk the sugar and milk together. Stir in the vanilla and peppermint extracts and mix well. Divide the icing in half. To one half add the cocoa powder. If the icing is too thick, add more milk, a very little bit at a time. If it’s too thin, add more sugar. Add food coloring to the white icing, if desired.

Recipes by Darla