Mintywiches

Mintywiches are a chocolate-mint sandwich cookie that earns a permanent spot in your holiday cookie rotation. Two chocolate cookies rolled in granulated sugar press around an Andes mint candy half the second they come out of the oven, and the residual heat melts the mint into a creamy filling that hardens as the cookies cool.

The trick to clean assembly is timing. Pull each batch from the oven, wait just a few seconds, then sandwich the mints between hot cookies. A slight twist when pressing together fills out the corners of the mint square. Wait too long and the cookies are too firm to bond.

Overnight chilling on the dough is non-skippable. The chocolate-rich dough is too sticky to roll into balls at room temperature, and a long cold rest also lets the flavors deepen. Keep the dough in the fridge between batches if your kitchen runs warm. Pair with hot chocolate or strong coffee for a winter treat.

Pro Tips

• Sift the flour twice as written. This light, fine flour produces tender cookies that hold their shape under the mint candy.
• Work in small batches of dough balls. Anything left out for more than 10 minutes gets too soft to handle.
• Have Andes mints unwrapped and halved before the first batch comes out of the oven. Speed matters.
• Let assembled cookies cool fully on racks before stacking. Warm cookies will stick together.

Variations

• Use peppermint patties cut to size for a thicker, more intense mint filling.
• Swap mint for peanut butter cups for a chocolate-peanut butter sandwich variation.
• Add 1 teaspoon of espresso powder to the dough for a mocha-mint flavor profile.