St. Patty's Day Cookies!

This St. Patrick's Day I was sick.Yeah, I know. Fun way to start off a blog post.I was feeling rather down the whole day.That was when my family was invited to a birthday party for an old family friend.

Can you guess why my whole day turned around?

Elizabeth (The Birthday Girl!) baked some adorable St. Patrick's Day cookies. Our present to her was actually a dessert cook book, so my Mom and I were secretly high-fiving each other after seeing these cookies laid out on the table! Are we mind readers or did we just look at her Pinterest what?

I thought the cookies looked super professional! If Elizabeth's college career choice doesn't work out, I would be more than happy to be her number one bake shop customer. For real.


Now, she said these cookies were actually a little difficult to make. (They look so perfect and carefully assembled that I wouldn't doubt it!) Elizabeth got the recipe off Pinterest, and I'll be the first one to tell you that some Pinterest Chefs make super hard recipes look easy, but these are worth a shot!

So, even though this St. Patty's Day recipe is really late, it's never too late to celebrate! Also, mint and chocolate in cookies? It's like my favorite ice cream flavor packed into a cookie! Flawless!
Chocolate-Mint Thumbprint CookiesRecipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook
Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 2 egg yolks
• 16 drops green food color
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 18 thin rectangular crème de menthe chocolate candies, unwrapped, cut in half diagonally

Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper.
In large bowl, beat 1 cup butter and the powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in peppermint extract, egg yolks and food color until blended. On low speed, beat in flour, baking powder and salt.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Using end of handle of wooden spoon, press a deep well into center of each cookie.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Reshape wells with end of handle of wooden spoon. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
In medium microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, cream and 3 tablespoons butter on High 1 minute, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Fill each well with about 1 teaspoon chocolate mixture; garnish with candy piece. Let stand about 1 hour until chocolate is set.