I impulse purchased a jar of Nutella the last time I was at the grocery store. Call it a fringe benefit of going to the store hungry, with a half-assed grocery list, and needing to walk down the Nutella aisle more than one time due to forgetting something I was after the first time.

And boy, am I glad I did! I decided I wanted to bake something, but wasn’t interested in venturing out in the cold and snow for any supplies, so it had to be something that I had all of the ingredients for. I started looking in the same place I always do: Pinterest. Just a couple short minutes on my food board, and I found these cookies. Wouldn’t you know it? I had everything I needed, down to the impulse-purchased Nutella. It was destiny.

My mom is hoping that I’ll bring a couple of these cookies when I go to visit her in about a week, but it’s not looking promising for her… I ate a couple of them still warm off the cooling rack, and they were absolutely divine. Another one bit the dust when it fell apart between pan and the cooling rack… I was CLEARLY obligated to eat that one as well. The rest of the batch will end up going to work with me, if only so I don’t end up eating the other 37 cookies all by myself over the next few days.

Not that that would break my heart in the slightest. Yum.

Nutella Swirled Peanut Butter Cookies
Source:Buns in my Oven

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Mix until well combined.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a large measuring cup or bowl. Slowly stir in to the peanut butter mixture.
Drop spoonfuls of Nutella on top of the dough and swirl it through the dough with a butter knife.
Chill the dough for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
Roll into balls by hand.
Place the balls of dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Use a fork to lightly press the balls down and make a criss-cross pattern.
Bake until the edges are very lightly browned, about 7 to 10 minutes.
Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

I intended to make this post about a sugar free Black Forest trifle, but unfortunately, that one met an untimely end on my kitchen floor:

So instead you get (yet another) mint themed recipe. That’s okay though. I love chocolate mint. Like chocolate and peanut butter, chocolate and mint just belong together. (Hmm… maybe it’s that chocolate goes with everything? Food for thought.)

Anyways, I’ve been eyeballing the bags of Andes mint chips in the baking aisle for ages. I kept thinking I would eventually buy them and find a chocolate cookie to put them in. I still may do that at some point in the future. In the meantime though, I decided to just go ahead and go with the recipe on the back of the bag. I am not disappointed. The cookies have also received a big thumbs up from my coworkers who have sampled them.

I still plan on making these with a chocolate cookie dough at some point in the future. I think they would be awesome! In any case, buy Andes mint chips… make these cookies. Or just eat the mint chips and eat them straight out of the bag, like one of the officers said he would do. Either way, I don’t think you’d be too disappointed.

Andes Crème de Menthe Cookies
Source: Tootsie.com

1/2 cup salted butter – softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 package (10 oz.) Andes® Crème de Menthe Baking Chips or 2 packages 4.67 oz Andes Crème de Menthe or Toffee Crunch Thins, chopped.
2-2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F.

Blend butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until mixed.
Stir in Andes Baking Chips and then flour. Chill approximately one hour in the refrigerator.
Measure out approximately 1 oz. of dough. Form a ball and slightly flatten.
Raise oven rack one level above the middle and bake on non-stick baking pans.
Bake at 350° F for approximately 8 – 10 minutes.
Cool on pans for two minutes before removing.

This is a minty play on the “Better Than Sex Cakes” that you see around. Usually with sweetened condensed milk and heath bits. Only this cake ups the ante, with peppermint flavored creamer mixed into the sweetened condensed milk and a pepperminty fudge layer under the coolwhip frosting.

The original recipe that I found (on Pinterest, of course), called for peppermint dairy creamer, and peppermint crunch Andes bits for the topping. I found myself at the grocery store on a day that was absolutely INSANE. I was going crazy dealing with the large amounts of people in the aisles, so when I got to the creamer section and all I found was “Peppermint Mocha” flavored creamer, I didn’t have the patience to try and find out if there was a difference. (There isn’t, I found out later). I couldn’t find the peppermint Andes chips at any store in my area either, so I decided to improvise and turned my cake into a York Peppermint Patty cake. I utilized the York Peppermint Patty creamer currently available from Internation Delight as well as York Pieces from the candy aisle for the decorative topping.

What I was left with was a super rich, delicious cake, with a fairly subtle peppermint flavor. It was a big hit with both my family at a our Christmas dinner on Saturday, and my coworkers that I shared leftovers with on my way home. My only complaint about the cake was that I followed the recipe directions and used the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes in the cake instead of a fork like I have for previous versions of “Better than” cakes. I felt like this led to a fairly uneven distribution of the sweetened condensed milk/creamer throughout the cake itself. Not a deal breaker, by any means, just a little procedural thing I would do differently in the future.

Peppermint Better Than Cake
Source: Something Swanky

1 chocolate cake mix, prepared and baked according to the directions on the box.
1 cup peppermint dairy creamer
14.5 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 jar Smuckers hot fudge sundae sauce
1/4 cup peppermint dairy creamer
1 cup crushed Oreos
8 oz Cool Whip
Andes Peppermint Chips for topping (approximately 1 1/2 cups)
Crushed Oreos for topping (approximately 1 cup)

Once the cake has cooled, use the bottom of a wooden spoon (or go to town with a fork!) to poke 20+ holes in the cake.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup of the peppermint dairy creamer. Pour over the cake, trying to fill in the holes.
In the same bowl, whisk together the hot fudge sundae sauce and 1/4 cup peppermint dairy creamer. Mix in 1 cup crushed Oreos.
Pour and spread the fudge mixture over the cake as evenly as possible.
Spread the cool whip over the fudge. Sprinkle on the Andes candy bits and crushed Oreos (as much or as little as you want).
Refrigerate for 4-6 hours, until the sweetened condensed mixture has soaked into the cake and it’s thoroughly chilled. Cut and serve.