This was my first official baking project that was inspired by Pinterest! Jason decided to throw a Christmas / housewarming party for some of his friends, and I couldn't let a good party go by without baking something. The party had a Mexican theme, "Feliz Navi House", and I debated for a while whether to make something that was more Mexican or more Christmas in nature. I found the recipe for Grinch Cookies on Pinterest and mulled it over for a while. I never found anything better, and I figured they would be relatively easy amid the chaos of getting the house ready for the party, so it was a go!
When buying the ingredients, I wasn't sure what creme de menthe baking chips were, and I didn't see any at the grocery store. All I saw in the minty category were mint chocolate chips from Hershey, so I went with those instead.
I didn't buy any food coloring, because I thought I had enough at home. I was wrong - I had no green! I thought about using the gel coloring that I use for icing (and in hindsight, I probably should have), but of course I was looking for the quickest solution. The recipe calls for 6 drops of green coloring. As I mentioned, I didn't have any green, but I did have yellow and blue. Thanks to the Ziplock commercials from my childhood, I figured that might work. I used 3 drops of yellow and 3 drops of blue. Once the dough was mixed thoroughly, it was in fact green. It wasn't as dark of a green as the picture in the recipe, but I thought it was green enough. However, after the cookies baked, they didn't look quite as green as the dough had. I do wish I had spent a little more time getting the proper color.
The other thing I was unsure of after I started mixing was the texture of the dough. It seemed very dry throughout the process of making the recipe. But the dough tasted good (quality control) so I went with it. In the end, it turned out not to be a problem.
After the cookies baked up, they tasted quite nice. Mint and chocolate are always a good combination. The recipe doesn't specify, but it made a good number of cookies - about 3 large cookie sheets worth. Quite a few cookies were eaten at the party, despite everyone asking, "Are those cookies GREEN?" And Jason and I enjoyed snacking on the leftovers.
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When buying the ingredients, I wasn't sure what creme de menthe baking chips were, and I didn't see any at the grocery store. All I saw in the minty category were mint chocolate chips from Hershey, so I went with those instead.
I didn't buy any food coloring, because I thought I had enough at home. I was wrong - I had no green! I thought about using the gel coloring that I use for icing (and in hindsight, I probably should have), but of course I was looking for the quickest solution. The recipe calls for 6 drops of green coloring. As I mentioned, I didn't have any green, but I did have yellow and blue. Thanks to the Ziplock commercials from my childhood, I figured that might work. I used 3 drops of yellow and 3 drops of blue. Once the dough was mixed thoroughly, it was in fact green. It wasn't as dark of a green as the picture in the recipe, but I thought it was green enough. However, after the cookies baked, they didn't look quite as green as the dough had. I do wish I had spent a little more time getting the proper color.
After the cookies baked up, they tasted quite nice. Mint and chocolate are always a good combination. The recipe doesn't specify, but it made a good number of cookies - about 3 large cookie sheets worth. Quite a few cookies were eaten at the party, despite everyone asking, "Are those cookies GREEN?" And Jason and I enjoyed snacking on the leftovers.
