Our number two cookie is Mint Chocolate Chip with mini-chips.

These are not the flat, gooey chocolate chip cookies, like most store-bought or homemade treats. Because the dough is so dense, you can easily shape these into bars, cut them into stars, or just leave them as tasty lumps.

With the exception of the cocoa powder (Ghirardelli) and the mini chips, everything is organic. Also, make sure the mini chips are frozen. It will prevent them from melting completely as the cookies bake.

Ingredients:

• 3 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon mint extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup frozen mini chocolate chips

Process:

Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, and mint and mix well. Sift flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda and add one cup at a time. At this point the dough is quite dense. Remove it from the mixer and add the chocolate chips, combining them by hand. Roll into balls 1" in diameter. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Yields 3 dozen cookies.

I have recently discovered I truly don't care for chocolate chips baked in goods. I know I have never like chocolate chip cookies. Found out one of my granddaughters has the same problem and doesn't like the chips baked whole in the products. So, the cake I recently made, I want to give another chance and just not put chocolate chips in it. The chips I melted and used for a ganache was delicious.

I am not a huge fan of chocolate chips in cakey things, but I do love them in cookies. I did think about maybe melting them and just using them as a dip for the bottom of some biscotti . . .

They might be good in cheesecake but hubs is a cheesecake purist, likes it plain best.

Most of the time, they melt away, and just make blotches. :) What I do like them for is little crunchy chocolate chip cookies, about the size of a quarter. Then, regular sized chips would just be too big. They're also good for things like chocolate chip icing or ice cream.

I toss a couple of handsful into my brownie batter....or sprinkle a few on top of a dish of ice cream or just use them in chocolate chip cookies. I don't find they melt away into blobs any more than regular chocolate chips do. what I don't like are milk chocolate chips...or any other kind of "chips"....they all taste phony to me...butter scotch, lemon or whatever....blech!

I think they are too small. They don't have enough of a presence to be in a cookie. They'd be good in brownies or melted onto toffee but on their own they just disappoint. Biscotti dip would work.

Best use for mini chips would be meringue cookies with the chips folded in. I LOVE these. Easiest method is the low oven temp turned off when the cookies are put in oven, shut door and leave overnight. Perfection! Deadly sweet, of course, but so good.

Mmmm love meringues! Would you make me some Roxanna! I'm afraid I just don't have the patience for making such things. Eating by all means!

I have decided to make magic cookie bars with them, basically "dump cookies" which is about my speed. I have the rest of the ingredients, and it will help me get rid of that can of sweetened condensed milk my hubs bought by mistake too.

Thank you for all the suggestions and recipes! Hopefully some others to try at another time.

Here's another cookie, fresh from the oven using mini chips. Mint Vanilla Tollhouse cookies:

i used them to make chocolate chip pancakes when the kids were young. Something daughter loved from her first Girl Scout backyard camp out.