St. Patrick's Day- Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  This year, I tried this Chocolate Mint Sandwich cookie recipe (the filling is light green, if you can't tell.)  These cookies are very tasty- the cookie is soft and chewy, and the filling is minty and contains marshmallow creme- which I love, and that adds a delicious smooth texture.  I had a little trouble with the dough spreading and making the cookies so large and thin they were falling apart.  So instead of slicing dough logs into slices and baking, like the recipe suggested, I just used my smallest cookie scoop to scoop dough balls, which I then baked.  This worked much better for me.  The dough had also been chilled- I think this is very necessary with this recipe.  After I did that, this recipe worked out very well. I'll include my changes below.

Tonight I'm making green mac and cheese for dinner, but not all healthy-like with spinach and other veggies in it, because the kids wouldn't eat it that way.  I'll be using the dreaded food coloring!  They'll eat broccoli on the side though, so we're also having that with some baked salmon.

Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies

adapted from the Daring Gourmet

makes 25-30 sandwich cookies

2½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (if using salted, reduce salt below)
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¾ cup cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Marshmallow Mint Filling:
½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
2 cups powdered sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
1 teaspoon mint extract
A few drops of green food coloring

1.  In a large bowl (or bowl of stand mixer), add the butter and sugar and cream together.  Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the creamed mixture and mix until combined. In a medium bowl, mix the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients and continue mixing until incorporated.  Cover the dough, and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. 

2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Using a small cookie scoop (1 tablespoon), form dough into balls and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

3.  To make the filling, add the butter, marshmallow cream, and mint extract. Use an electric mixer (or stand mixer) to beat until thoroughly combined and add green food coloring according to your desired shade of green. Spread about a tablespoon of the filling on the bottom side of one of the cookies and then place the other cookie on top. Repeat for all of the cookies.  

Our St. Patty's Day dinner- Greenish Mac & Cheese, Broccoli, Salmon... with Parsley

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