Happy St. Patrick's Day! (And a holiday-themed treat recipe)

We spent the weekend with Darren's family, celebrating his dad's birthday. Since the celebration fell on St. Patty's day, I decided to make some sort of holiday-themed treat and bring it with us.

I found a recipe for Mint Chocolate Chip cookies on Betty Crocker's website. I laughed at their instructions to begin with a sugar cookie mix-from-a-box and instead turned to my go-to source for delicious recipes: Our Best Bites. These cookies were simple, quick, fun, and absolutely yummy! My mother-in-law said, and I quote, "I think these might just rival Thin Mints!" To me, they tasted a lot like the Christmas cookies my dad's side of the family bakes each year -- the peppermint-topped ones, to any family members that are reading this. Delicious, soft, and with just enough mint and chocolate to be simply fantastic.

I know St. Patty's day has now passed, but these are too good to not make just for the heck of it. You could leave out the green food coloring and no one would think they were St. Patrick's Day-themed at all!

Mint-Chocolate Sugar Cookies
(recipe inspired by one found on Betty Crocker's website)

1 cup real butter (no substitutions!) at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg (make sure to use a large or extra-large egg)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pure mint extract
3 C flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled (don’t scoop it!)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-6 drops green food coloring (if you want them green, of course)
3/4 cup chocolate chunks (yes, you can use chips if you want, but c'mon -- chocolate chunks!)
3/4 cup Andes creme de menthe baking chips

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy—about 2 minutes. Add in egg, extract, and food coloring, and mix to incorporate.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. A very important note: It’s important to correctly measure your flour or you will end up with a dry, crumbly dough. Never, ever use your measuring cup to scoop up the flour. Use a regular sized spoon and spoon the flour into the cup and then level it off with a knife.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined. The dough will seem crumbly and too dry—do not add any more liquid! I promise, the dough will turn out just fine.

Chill the dough in the fridge for about an hour. Roll into about 1" balls, place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet (I recommend using parchment paper or a Silpat/silicon baking mat). Flatten slightly. Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes. The baking time really depends on how you like them. If you like them really soft and slightly chewy, about 8-9 minutes does it. If you like them slightly crisp and buttery, then go for 10-12.

Enjoy!