Mint Choc Chip Cookies

It's been quite a while since I posted! I am now in my third trimester of pregnancy and it (along with trying to carry on my studying) has been taking it out of me; well it's a very good excuse for a daily afternoon nap. Because of this I haven't been trying out many new things; tending to stick to known favourites to cook. I visited my parents in Cornwall for a week and did do some cooking there including a very successful Broccoli, Cauliflower and Pasta bake but I forgot to 1) take note of quantities and 2) take a picture so I won't blog about that. My dad also made some AWESOME vegetable tempura with cauliflower, mushrooms and sweet potato but again no pictures and no specific recipe so I will have to get him to do it again!!

While I was in Cornwall I had a dream about making Mint Choc Chip cookies including how I'd do it (recipe and methods) which was a bit random and to be honest I wasn't that keen on the idea of mint choc chip in a cookie (I love the ice cream though so I'm not sure why I was apprehensive about these) but if it came to me in a dream I HAD to make them....and I'm so glad I did! They turned out really delicious and look impressive too! I am just hoping that my OH's family will like them as we are visiting this weekend.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Cookies:
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup oil (I used sunflower)
1/4 cup non-dairy milk
1/2 tbs cornflour
4 tsp peppermint flavouring/extract
2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2-1 cup of chocolate chips (depending on how many you want/have!)

Topping:
200g dark chocolate
4 tsp peppermint flavouring/essence

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius
2. Mix together the sugar, oil, milk and cornflour. This needs to be done for a few minutes to get a really good smooth consistency and let the sugar and oil bind properly together.
3. Add the peppermint essence
4. Mix in the flour and salt (it sometimes helps to mix in the flour half at a time)
5. Add the chocolate chips and mix until well dispersed
6. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto lined baking sheets and smooth out to cookie shapes. I made 10 large cookies with this mixture but do whatever size you wish (cooking times may vary though so make sure you check regularly). Make sure there is space between the cookies as they will spread out a little when they cook.
7. Bake in the oven for 8-15 minutes (mine took 15, smaller will take less) until starting to brown all over
8. Remove from the oven to cool completely.
9. Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Once melted add in the peppermint essence and mix well.
10. Take each cookie and dip it in the chocolate. Use a spoon to get the chocolate to cover half of the cookie. Set aside on some baking paper to set. Putting in the fridge for an hour can speed up this process!!
11. This makes too much melted chocolate really but it is hard to cover the cookies is you make less. I put satsuma pieces in the left over chocolate and mixed until they were covered then put them in the fridge to set. Delicious!