If you haven’t seen a pattern in the recipes I’ve shared so far it is that they all came from my mother. My mom is well-known among us for tearing recipes out of magazines and the newspaper or writing it on the back of a random empty envelope;  and if she was not using it right away she would pile them into a basket, box or a kitchen drawer.  Every year a few weeks before Christmas, Mom would ask one of us to reach into that drawer or go through the basket to find a particular recipe.  It could take as long as an hour to go through those recipes to find the ONE she wanted.

Minty-wiches are labor-intensive cookies; it is a labor of love for the most part.  They are among my friend Lynne’s favorites and typically I make them only for her (when I do make them).  The recipe calls for Nestle Mint Chocolate Morsels, not the Chocolate and Mint ones that are on the market right now (see the picture, and don’t use them in this recipe).  In fact Nestle doesn’t make this chip alone any more, you can find more about that here.

Several years ago, I mentioned to Lynne that I had a hard time finding the mint morsels so I wouldn’t be able to make her cookies.  Since these are Lynne’s favorite cookie, needless to say she wanted to be sure she would get them for Christmas.  When she happened upon a display bin at the local Ocean State Job Lot filled with bags of these treasures, she quickly bought up a dozen bags.  Only then did she call me hoping that I could use them and she would not have to explain to the customer service counter at Job Lot why she needed to return them.  Keeping them in the freezer I was able to make this cookie for at least five Christmases!

Now that Nestle does not make them anymore it was difficult to find a suitable replacement, but I did.  Hershey now makes the semi-sweet mint chip, the package looks like the picture to the right.  It works beautifully in this recipe.

Minty-Wiches

2/3 cup shortening (not butter or margarine, I use Crisco)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

6 oz mint chocolate chips (if you use a 10 oz bag you can easily double this recipe)

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1 and 1/3 cups sifted flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

granulated sugar

50-60 chocolate covered thin mints

Combine shortening, sugar and egg, beat until creamy; blend in melted chocolate chips and corn syrup.  Sift flour, soda and salt.  Stir into chocolate mixture.  Chill for several hours or overnight.

Pre-heat oven to 350º, shape dough into nickel-size balls; roll in sugar.  Place onto un-greased cookie sheet (or line the cookie sheet with parchment paper).  Bake 10-15 minutes.  Let stand on sheet 1 minute before removing.  Do not cool.  Turn 1/2 of the cookies over, top with thin mint, then with another cookie.  Move to cooling rack.

Related articles

• 14 Chocolate-Peppermint Desserts to Make for the Holiday Season (sweets.seriouseats.com)
• Best Cookies To Bring To A Cookie Exchange (new102.cbslocal.com)
• Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies (gfnbd.wordpress.com)
• Minty-whiches, Holiday Recipe #6 (365daysofthankyou.com)