Ultimate Grasshopper Cookies topped with chocolate ganache, minty frosting and Andes Mint pieces! Perfect for Christmas or all year long!
The Story:
I finally took the dive and went to my first blogger party.
I tend to be socially awkward in situations where I know not a soul, which is why I started baking in the first place. So 50 bubbly, well dressed women in one small room was a tad overwhelming given that I spend most of my time in the kitchen with just me and Pandora. It almost felt like speed dating because whenever one person left their chair another person would immediately fill it and ask me “So what do you blog about?”
They would quickly find out about my blog, my book and that I’m 23. Then they would continue to try and set me up with their younger brothers…*cough* The Alison Show *cough*.
But it was so much fun! So many awesome women doing what they love and making a living from it. I won $100 gift card from Nordstrom, free head shots, and went home with a fun swag bag from Jillee’s. I even got to meet 2 of the famous Six Sisters!
Ultimate Grasshopper Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 Box Devil's Food Cake mix
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 C. butter melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
Mint Frosting:
- 3/4 C. butter softened
- 1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
- 2-3 C. powdered sugar
- milk if needed
- green food dye if desired
Chocolate Glaze:
- 1 1/2 C. chocolate chips I like to use chocolate "melts"
- 4 Tbsp. butter
Andes Mint Candies, roughly chopped
Instructions
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
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2. Combine cake mix, eggs, butter (make sure you let it cool a little so it doesn't cook the eggs), vanilla and sugar. That batter will be stiff.
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3. Make dough balls a little large than a Tablespoon and place on cookie sheets to bake. (You may want to pat each dough ball down a little bit because cake mix cookies tend to bake up tall.)
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4. Bake for 7-9 minutes and let cool on cooling racks.
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5. Mint Frosting: Beat butter for 2 minutes. Add peppermint extract and slowly add it powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. Add 1-2 Tablespoons milk if it gets too thick. Add green dye for color if desired.
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6. Chocolate Glaze: Melt chocolate chips and butter together in a microwave proof bowl. Zap for about 30 seconds, then stir, then microwave in 10 second increments and stir until smooth.
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7. To assemble (see photos). Pipe on frosting, smooth over with a knife, spoon on your glaze and top with peppermint candies.
recipe adapted from Six Sisters Stuff
Start with any round tip. You don’t even need a tip you can just use a plastic bag as a piping bag and snip off the tip. It’s just faster and looks nicer than using a knife to slab it on.
Pipe a little frosting on…
Flatten it out with a knife or off-set spatula. I even made mine dip down a bit creating a shallow “bowl” for the chocolate glaze to sit it so it didn’t roll off.
Spoon on some glaze and spread it around a bit.
Press some Andes Mints into the chocolate. You don’t have to do this but it makes them look even more decadent.
This is completely random and unrelated to your post but I LOVE your nail polish color. What is it?? (Also, these cookies look absolutely amazing!)
I’m not at home right now but it’s a new polish of mine that is the China Glaze brand. it’s pretty opaque but I love one of loreals kinds that it a soft pink but a little more sheer.
It’s call “Innocence” from China Glaze
These look so great! I love all of the details that you added for the ultimate chocolate mint taste!
Yummy! Thanks
Oh my stars- those look so amazing. I have a few people in this house with a grasshopper obsession so I will be making these.
These look amazing….lots of possibilities with this method!!!
How many does the recipe make and what size are they?
About 24 cookies depending on the size. My dough balls for this recipe were about the size of a Tablespoon.
Can you freeze these? I’d love to make these in advance.
of course!
I love anything with mint + chocolate, so these look delicious!
Is your frosting tip on the outside of your bag?
No, I used a disposable bag so it’s looks tricky. You can see the plastic rim right below the top of the tip.
These look wonderful, and different! Thanks!!
Just checking….you used peppermint extract, not mint extract?
Love these! I don’t like to be in situations where I don’t no anyone either….but it happens and I deal with it! Congrats on the $100 gift card! 🙂
Do you add a little warm water to the glaze if its too stiff? I didn’t want to microwave it any longer as I was afraid the chocolate would burn. Great recipe though and mine turned out very nice. I just thought the glaze would be a little nicer to work with.
You can microwave it again! Don’t add water though, chocolate will seize up if you do that! You can also add more cream if you want.
What did I do wrong, mine came out flat and HUGE? My green icing was bumpy and the chocolate frosting was chunky as well? I want to perfect these, do you have any tips. I feel I used everything to the tee? I want to try again this weekend, any tips?
PS. they were very yummy, just not pretty!!
Thanks
Julie M
Well I used a Pillsbury cake mix, so give that a shot. If your icing/frosting was lumpy is means there were chunks of butter it it. Make sure to really beat the butter (it should be soft to start anyway) and then add in the other ingredients. If the chocolate glaze was chunky then you need to melt it down more. Melt/stir it until it’s smooth. Hope that helps!
In step 2 of your directions you have “make sure you let it cool a little so it doesn’t cook the eggs” what exactly are you referring to? Do you bake the cake mix and then add the other ingredients?
Let the melted butter cool a little bit before adding it! Hot. hot butter poured on top of the eggs will start to cook the eggs… Hope that helps! Sorry for the confusion!
I have found that if you let the dough sit for 15-20 mins before you roll into balls they will not come out flat and huge as i had this happen on the first batch.
YES! I was about to add that. Earlier in the week I made cake based cookies & the recipe called to chill the dough in the fridge for 30 min before rolling into balls & baking. I should have done that, I just took my cookies out of the oven & they are FLAT FLAT FLAT. second batch, slightly less flat, lol. Chilling the dough will help I think. I can’t wait to try these though, I think they will taste amazing.
Wondering if you can tell me how many cookies this recipe can make?
it makes about 2 dozen depending on how large you make the cookies!
These look A-Maze-ing!! I must make me a batch or two!! Thanks for sharing.
You use peppermint extract, not mint extract….right???
correct!!
I’m going to try these but I’m going to use creme dementhe extract.
How did they turn out?
My frosting was runny, and I used a buttload of powered sugared thicken it.
These look super yummy. I love mint and chocolate combo! Did the frosting harden or is it soft? I’m wondering for packing them for travel at Thanksgiving. Thank you!
It doesn’t get rock solid but it does get firm! Add more chocolate if you want it to be harder!
How do you make a vegan version of this?
These cookies won first place in a cookie contest at work I entered! I did change the icing/frosting to a yummy creamcheese frosting so it wasn’t quite so sweet. I also made them smaller. They tend to spread so much since it’s a cake mix. Thank you for the awesome recipe!
Oh good! That’s AWESOME to hear!
I am gluten free as is a girl friend at work. Her birthday is right after Christmas. I substituted Pamela’s” gluten free chocolate cake mix for the regular cake mix and followed all of the directions to a T. I must say I am so happy with the results that tears come to my eyes. Well, not really but these are soooo good! Thanks for the creation! It makes baking fun again!
Oh good!!!! That made my night to hear! I love using cake mix recipes for that reason 🙂
Thank you! I am gf and was hoping to find a gf adaptation in the recipe or comments. I have a Pamela’s choc cake mix in my pantry already and now I have a use for it!!!
I found with the first batch they were too big, I then made them the size of a teaspoon instead of tablespoon and found they were the perfect size. I guess it just depends on personal preference on the size of cookies each person likes.
Yeah, and smaller is usually better because once they have the frosting and chocolate… they’re pretty rich 🙂
A co-worker made and brought some of these in to work yesterday…they are to die for! OMG are they every good! She shared your blog link with me so I could get the recipe…I plan to make these for my son’s birthday party next weekend. Thanks for sharing your fantastic recipe!
wow looks so cute , very pretty, nice pictures, thanks for sharing
In step 2 what are you referring to when you say “that batter will be still.” ?
Every one had read it and no one caught that mistake, so sorry it’s supposed to be “stiff” I fixed it 🙂
on #3 did you mean to say “you may want to pat each dough ball down a little bit” instead of what you said: “You make one to pat each dough ball down.”?
Ha, oh my… yes, that’s what I meant! I made the correction!
Question, my cookie mix is not stiff. When adding the cake mix, is it just the packet of cake mix or do you add the cake mix along with the stuff that the cake mix says to add like water and 3 eggs and vegetable oil?
Just add the mix! I use Pillsbury mixes!
followed recipe exact and the dough is like a thick cake batter, too wet to roll and then flattens when baked, tried this recipe twice… any tips?
How many people does this recepie serve? I’m baking for a party of 40 and would love to make this but would like to know how much I’ll need for my party.
I would make 2 batches, then you’ll be good!
These look utterly incredible! Would you mind if I (attempted) to modify these to be dairy free?
Found you on tastespotting. These looks so delicious! Love it
I pinned your ultimate mint cookies http://pinterest.com/pin/44121271325486815/
For the frosting you say 2-3 Cup powdered sugar. You are saying 2 to 3 cups, right? Not 2/3 cup.
I WON our cookie exchange at work! First time in 9 years trying! Thank you…
How do you typically store these? And how long are they good for? I need to bake these on a Friday to give as gifts on a Sunday. I wasn’t sure if I should freeze them or if they should be OK in an air-tight container until Sunday.
I would put them in a tupperware and freeze them, just because of the cream in the frosting…
Could you use Creme de Menthe instead of peppermint extract?
Yes!
How many cookies does this recipe make? A friend of the family has an annual Cookie Blowout. She invites a bunch of women over and we all bake cookies and then they are judged to see which are the best. I need to make 8 dozen!
Made these today and they look delicious. I think though you have to make a couple times to get it just right. I don’t think chocolate chips work as well as chocolate that is made to melt. I tried chocolate chips and it doesn’t get thin enough without being in danger of overcooking, though it tasted good! I didn’t have chocolate melts so used Bakers chocolate squares. Even though I may make other adjustments (amount of milk, powdered sugar – due to my overuse, not recipe error), they look pretty good and are yummy too! Thanks for the great recipe! I’m sure I’ll use again and again.
Wish I would’ve read the comments here before making. Wasted so much money on ingredients. First time we made them they turned out huge and flat. Bought more ingredients to try again and they came out flat again. Very disappointed!
i have never posted a comment on any recipe before but these cookies were the biggest hit ever!
they started as a fathers day gift for a dad who loves mint, and now I get requests to make them all the time, when I get sick of mint I change recipe around and do butterscotch rum, or white chocolate and orange, but the mint is clearly the best everyone loves them
thank you