Thanks to a recent cooking magazine binge and my Instagram feed at large, my list of must-bake Christmas cookie recipes is LONG. That said, I’m absolutely going to squeeze in one more batch of these Andes Mint Cookies because ho-ho, oh-so good!
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE?
From time to time, we'll send you the best of Well Plated. We respect your privacy and you can opt out anytime.
Already registered? Log in here.
Why You’ll Love these Andes Mint Cookies
- Perfect Texture. They are marvelously chewy, thick (but not too thick), and have the lightest crisp at the edges. Perfection!
- Ultra Festive. My Christmas season never feels complete until I’ve made at least one mint chocolate baked good. These Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies and these Mint Brownies were favorites in years past. This year, I am all about these Andes cookies!
- Lots of Chocolate. I PACKED these beauties with lots of chopped Andes mints, so they are extra melty and chocolaty. The buttery dough holds it all together.
- Easy to Make. Because we need some simple drop cookies to balance more ambitious endeavors like these Perfect Christmas Cutout Cookies.
- Santa Would Approve. And your cookie monsters at home will too!
How to Make the Best Andes Mint Cookies
- Be generous with the Andes mints. This recipe reflects my ideal mint-chocolate-candy-to-dough ratio. You’ll have a generous, borderline naughty amount of Andes mints in every bite but not *so* many that you lose the wonderfulness of the cookie itself.
- You can use either chopped Andes mints candies or Andes Crème de Menthe Baking Chips. Personally, I prefer chopping actual Andes mint candies because I like the mix of smaller and larger pieces, BUT it is more time consuming to open all those little wrappers. If you prefer speed, a bag of the crème de menthe chips does the job and still makes for very yummy, easy Andes Mint Cookies.
- Ditch the dye. I know it’s common to make green Andes Mint cookies by mixing in green food coloring, but I’m less of a fan. Food dye can have an odd aftertaste. Plus, I love the way the bits of chocolate stand out against the deeply golden color of the cookies.
- Add espresso powder. This is my secret weapon whenever I’m baking anything containing chocolate. It won’t make the cookies taste like coffee; rather, it helps the flavor of the chocolate to pop. If you do omit it, your cookies will come out a bit lighter than mine, so be sure not to overbake them.
- Go whole wheat. I snuck in my customary white whole wheat flour for a little extra nutrition boost, and you cannot tell one bit! Remind yourself of this nutritious addition as you reach for another.
A Few Final Andes Mint Cookies Recipe Notes
- I haven’t tried this as gluten free Andes mint cookies, but I think you could swap a 1:1 gluten free baking flour blend like this one for the regular flour.
- You’ll notice this recipe doesn’t have an egg, which is correct. That means it is *nearly* vegan, so if you want to make it completely vegan, you can replace the butter with melted coconut oil.
- Don’t skip chilling the dough. This is super important for the right texture, ensuring the cookies don’t spread too much, and giving the dry ingredients valuable time to absorb the wet ingredients.
How to Store These Andes Mint Cookies
- To Store. Store cookies at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- To Freeze. Place cookies in an airtight freezer-safe storage container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Did these Andes mint cookies and I just make your Christmas baking list a little longer? I sure hope so!
Andes Mint Cookies
want to save this recipe?
From time to time, we’ll send you the best of Well Plated. We respect your privacy and you can opt out anytime.
Already registered? Log in here.
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder optional but delicious
- 1 1/4 cups chopped Andes mints or Andes Crème de Menthe Baking Chips
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar light or dark
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk or nonfat milk at room temperature (may need to add an additional 1 or 2 teaspoons)
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the white whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. Fold in the Andes mints or baking chips.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, melted butter, and vanilla until evenly combined. Add the milk and whisk again until the milk is incorporated into the butter and it is nice and smooth.
- Scatter the flour mixture over the top, and, by hand with a wooden spoon or sturdy rubber spatula, stir to combine. Stop as soon as the flour disappears so that you don’t overwork the dough. If the dough seems very dry, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of milk until it comes together. (It will become moist faster than you think!)
- Clear space in your freezer and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. With a cookie scoop or spoon, portion the dough by 1 1/2 tablespoonfuls (the dough balls will be about 1 1/2 inches across). Arrange on the baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches of space around each cookie. Freeze for 30 minutes or refrigerate for 24 hours. Alternatively, you can cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap, then refrigerate it in the bowl for 24 hours or up to 3 days. Let stand the bowl stand at room temperature for 10 minutes, until the dough is softened enough to scoop, then portion as directed.
- When ready to bake, place racks in the upper and lower thirds of your oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake on the upper and lower racks for 11 to 12 minutes, until barely dry on top and just turning golden on the edges, switching the pans’ positions once halfway through. The cookies will look underdone but will firm up as they cool. (You can also bake the pans one at a time in the center rack of your oven.)
- Place the baking sheet on a wire cooling rack. Let the cookies rest on the sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer them to the cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
Notes
- Adapted from The Ovenly Cookbook via Cookie and Kate
Nutrition
Join today and start saving your favorite recipes
Create an account to easily save your favorite recipes and access FREE meal plans.
Sign Me Up
Back again (commented in July 2019). Love these so much, want to take them on a roadtrip. However, I would like to freeze the dough, then use it approx. 4-5 days later. Do you know if this will work? or do I need to just stick to overnight? (which isn’t an option for this time).
Thank you.
Hi DJ! I haven’t experimented freezing the dough so it would be hard for me to advise. If you decided to give it a try, let me know how it goes!
Can I use regular white flour if I don’t have whole wheat?
Hi Sandy! Yes you can use all-purpose white flour in place of the whole wheat white flour. Hope this helps!
Can I use 2% milk?
Hi Kellie! Yes that should work! Hope you enjoy them!
Erin, in your picture it looks like the andies candies were added AFTER baking. Did you do this just for the photo? I’m trying to put the candies on before I bake them but they tend to run a little bit and look messy. Do you have suggestions?
Hi Tami! The candies you see that are added after baking is for the purpose of food photography but you can add some after baking. When the cookies are still warm press a few into each cookie for presentation, they will melt a little. This won’t work before they are cooked and I would stick to the written recipe. Hope this helps!
I’m sure someone has already comments on this but the first couple reviews didn’t. Andes mints contain milk so these cookies can’t be vegan even if your cookie base is.
I’m still going to make these though! Thank you for posting and I can’t wait to try your suggestion of adding espresso.
Thanks Christine! Enjoy!
These were easy to make and delicious. They came out so moist and fluffy. Loved the amount of Andes in it! Already made them twice & looking forward to the 3rd!
Hi Jill! So glad you enjoyed the cookies! Thank you for this kind review!
Delicious and worked well at high altitude. Now if I just had enough resolve to stop eating them as they come out of the oven! I made a 45 cookie batch and the recipe adjusted the amount of ingredients for me online. I used one bag of Andes Mints 8 1/2 oz. coarsely broken up. Also, I only had 1 % milk on hand, and it worked perfectly with the listed amount.
Hi Valerie! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Hi Erin, my husband is an absolute fan of your cookies and so are his coworkers. My husband and I lost our firstborn son and need to raise money to buy him a proper headstone. We’ve decided to do a fundraiser and use this recipe as one of 3 cookies we’re selling. I babe to tell you, everybody raves about them. Thank you for making your recipes available to all. I’m excited to check or your other recipes, especially for the holidays!! Thanks again, Trina
Hi Trina, I’m so sorry to hear about your loss, but am happy to hear the cookies are helping out!
GREAT cookies!! So delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Stacy! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Can I make these using whole wheat flour? I can’t find white whole wheat flour anywhere!
Hi Tina! You can use whole wheat pastry flour or use all-purpose flour. Hope you enjoy them!
Very good cookies. They can never be vegan though( I bake for allergies) because Andes candies are made with milk
Thanks for the tip Katie!
These turned out great! Followed the recipe exactly but added a couple Andes to the top after baking which made the look like Andes cookies instead of regular chocolate chip cookies.
Hi Alecia! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Made this today with gluten free flour and excited to dig in once cooled. Unfortunately I had to throw the hole batch out. Unknown to me gluten free flour has baking powder in it already therefore the cookies were extremely bitter. I will not be making these for awhile, wasted my time, all baking ingredients quit maddening. I have another recipe that does not call for baking power so are you sure about the ingredient. That being said cuz I make flour tortillas 2.5 cups of flour and use 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of baking powder the measurements listed seemed a bit much to me but followed to a T. I’m going to tweak it and leave it out.
Hi Jodi, the amounts are correct. Which gluten free flour blend did you use? I recommend the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour and this one does not contain baking soda.
Hi! Can I use oat milk in this recipe?
Thanks!
I think that could work! Enjoy!
Would lite coconut milk work for the milk?
Hi Priscilla, while I haven’t tried it I believe it would work. If you decide to experiment, I’d love to know how it goes!