Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop Cookies look just like a cold treat on a hot summer day! They are very easy to make and uses only every day pantry staples!
These adorable mounds of mint and chocolate will fool even the most loyal ice cream lover. I always try my recipes out on John.e and McKenna before posting them to Lord Byron’s Kitchen. The best reaction to this particular cookie was from McKenna.
She took a big bite and I watched her face go from super happy to super confused. I asked if she liked them and she said they tasted great, but she was expecting them to be cold and to melt in her mouth just like ice cream. That was exactly what I wanted for these cookies!
I prepared these using my favourite shortbread cookie dough, but added a few ingredients to get the texture, look, and taste just right. Let me explain!
Cornstarch in a cookie recipe?
Yes! In fact, it’s quite common. I have a few dessert type recipes that have cornstarch as one of the main ingredients. It’s important to add cornstarch so that the cookies will hold their shape when baking.
We all know that cornstarch is often used as a thickening agent in sauces and gravies, but it has the opposite effect in baking. In cookies, cornstarch will help to lighten up a cookie dough. It creates a more tender cookie with a better crumb factor.
In baking, cornstarch also helps to keep the shape of the cookie in the oven. This is why you will see cornstarch in many shortbread and cookie cutter recipes.
If you don’t have any cornstarch on hand, don’t worry. You can easily substitute it. You can find more information about substitutes by reading this article.
Chopped chocolate versus chocolate chips:
I love to bake, so I usually always have blocks of good baking chocolate on hand. I always have chocolate chips too. And, I keep different types of those on hand as well. In fact, Dear Reader, I have a large container where I store nothing but chocolate for baking.
Sometimes, when I’m feeling very nice, I’ll go into that container and pull out a bag of M&Ms for John.e. He loves M&Ms and I always have bags of those on hand too. He knows if they’re in the baking container they are off limits!
If you don’t have a block of chocolate that you can chop down for this recipe, you can use chocolate chips. I would prefer to use mini chocolate chips in this recipe, but the larger chips will do in a bind.
Using chips instead of chopped chocolate will change the look of your cookie. I find that with chopped chocolate, the chocolate is distributed better and the results are more visually appealing.
At the end of the day, it’s all about taste. I know we all eat with our eyes first, but taste always wins out in the end. Lastly, before you get to the recipe, I want to talk to you about the ice cream scoop.
I did not use a full-size ice cream scoop for these Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop Cookies. You can use any size cookie scoop you want. I have 7 different sizes of scoops, but for this particular recipe, I used one from this set here. I used the middle scoop which is the five centimeter scoop.
Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped semi sweet baking chocolate
- green food colouring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and the confectioner's sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the peppermint extract and green food colouring. (If using liquid food colouring, about 3 drops will do. If using gel food colouring, just a dab on a toothpick will do.)
- Sift together the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to the mixing bowl and beat into the butter and sugar mixture.
- Stir in the chocolate.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop mounds of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Christine says
Just made these! They are so fun!! Looks just like ice cream! Extremely creative recipe, not to mention, they are very light and delicious! Keeper!! Bookmarked other cookie recipes on your site, have a line up ready to go for Christmas! Thanks so much!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thank you, Christine. 🙂