Recently, Toby asked me to try to make his favourite Mint Chip Ice Cream in Cookie form. He’s especially a fan of those minty green ice creams with the little shreds and shards of chocolate. When I set out to make them for him over the weekend, I realized that the dough looked exactly like the outside of a robin’s egg. So, I experimented with a few different shades of food colouring and cut his mint-chip cookies with an egg-shaped cookie cutter. All of the sudden, our Mint-Chip Ice Cream cookies became Robin’s Egg Cookies for Spring and Easter! Bea, seeing the finished product, then requested a vanilla-chip version in both hot-pink and “brown-egg brown.” Hence, the Vanilla-Chip Variation. [While we’re at it, I can also envision finely chopped/chipped nuts like pecans or pistachios in place of the chips in the vanilla version. I’m also dreaming of a purple lavender egg-cookie!] These cookies are simple to make, lovely to taste, and festive. I think they’d also make a great snack for a spring baby shower or tea party.
Mint Chip and Vanilla Chip Robin's Egg Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbs milk
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 cups flour
- 1 c [4 0z] finely chopped dark or milk chocolate
for the vanilla version:
- 2-3 tsp pure vanilla extract per half recipe
- pink food colouring about 1/4 tsp gel or 20-30 drops red, per quarter recipe
for the mint version:
- 2-3 tsp organic peppermint flavour or extract, per half recipe
- green and blue food colouring about 1/4 tsp gel or 20-30 drops, per quarter recipe
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 Farenheit.
- Cream the butters and sugars in a mixer.
- Add the eggs and milk and mix well.
- Slowly incorporate the powder, salt, and flour.
- Incorporate the chipped chocolate.
- Once the dough forms into a ball, divide it in half, and put one half to the side in a large bowl.
For the vanilla half:
- To the half of the recipe remaining in the mixing bowl, add 2-3 tsp vanilla.
- Mix until combined.
- Divide this ball of dough in two parts and remove one part to a small bowl.
- This will be the natural or "brown-egg-brown" coloured cookie.
- To the remainder of the vanilla dough still in the mixer, add 1/4 tsp pink gel or 20-30 drops red food colouring to dough.
- Mix well until combined. [You want the colour to be quite dark because it lightens during baking.]
- Remove pink dough to a small bowl.
- Cover both bowls with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours.
- Clean, rinse and dry mixing bowl and mixer paddle/whisk.
For the mint half:
- add 2-3 tsp organic peppermint flavour to the other half of the recipe.
- Mix until incorporated.
- Divide this ball of dough in two and remove one of the minted sections to a small bowl.
- Add 1/4 tsp green food gel or 20-30 drops green food colouring to the dough in the bowl.
- Blend until you have a DARK green dough. [Dough will lighten significantly during baking!]
- Remove green dough to a small bowl.
- Place reserved half of the minted dough back in the mixer bowl.
- Add 1/4 tsp turquoise food gel or 20-30 drops blue and green food colouring to the dough in the bowl.
- Blend until you have a DARK turquoise dough. [Dough will lighten significantly during baking!]
- Remove green dough to a small bowl.
- Cover both bowls with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours.
- Roll refrigerated dough to 1/4 inch. [To make things quick and easy, I roll my dough between waxed paper sheets.]
- Cut cookies, and place them on parchment lined cookie sheets.
- Bake for 7-9 minutes.
- Cool on wire racks.
- Enjoy!
Notes
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