Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I made these cookies for my sister-in-law, who loves chocolate and mint, to hopefully cheer her up after a hard week. They're like basic chocolate chip cookies, but you add a bit of mint extract and swap in chopped Andes mints and chocolate chunks for the chocolate chips.

You can substitute a 17.5-ounce sugar cookie mix, if you're crunched for time. You can also add a few drops of green food coloring, if you want to emphasize that these are indeed no ordinary chocolate chip cookies. (I only had green paste food coloring, and I didn't want my dough to turn Play-Doh green.)

Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter-flavored shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4-1/2 teaspoon mint extract, depending on how strong you want the mint flavor to be
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2-3 cups flour
1 cup Andes mints baking pieces
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine brown sugar and shortening, and then stir in vanilla, mint extract, and eggs. Add baking soda, salt, and flour, and mix until well combined. Stir in Andes pieces and chocolate chunks.

3. Form dough into balls and flatten slightly, and place on baking sheets.

4. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are just starting to turn golden. Cool slightly before serving.