Mint Chocolate Chews

One of the few herbs I have growing outside in the ground is chocolate mint and every year as the weather gets cooler I look at the bounty of mint left growing and think, "How can I use that before it freezes?" Within the last week I have made mint chocolate chip bar cookies (great), cucumber mint cake (not so good), and mint chocolate cookies. The mint chocolate cookies turned out perfect - moist, chewy, and just minty enough. I'm working on a gluten-free version of these but haven't worked it out quite yet. The cocoa powder I regularly use is Penzey's Natural High-Fat Cocoa Powder. It really does make a difference in how much butter you need so follow the note if you are using regular grocery store type cocoa.

Mint Chocolate Chews
2 dozen cookies

140 g  all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
1/4  teaspoon  baking soda
1/8  teaspoon  salt
3  tablespoons  butter, melted
40 g unsweetened cocoa, high quality, high fat (about 7  tablespoons)
50 g  granulated sugar (about 1/4  cup)
150 g light brown sugar (about 3/4  cup packed)
1/3  cup unsweetened applesauce
1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
2 tablespoons minced fresh mint

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine flour, soda, and salt. Melt butter in a medium pot over medium heat (or in a microwaveable bowl in the microwave). Remove from heat. Stir in cocoa and sugars; you will need to work to moisten and combine everything, it's dry. Stir in applesauce, vanilla and mint. Add flour mixture, stirring until moist. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment.

Bake at 350° for 8 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pans 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Note: If using regular unsweetened cocoa, increase butter to 4 tablespoons