Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies - the lizard likes them too!

I baked this Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies over the weekend at the request of my daughter who has finally fully recovered from her bad cough. This is a reward for scoring full mark in her maths test. Good job, girl!

This is the second (oh, in fact third time, see the story below) I baked this cookies using the recipe from 101cookbooks (original source: David Lebovitz's Great Book of Chocolate Recipe).

The first time when I baked the cookies two months ago, we did not get a chance to taste them before the  the lizard did!  I had left the warm cookies in the box half-covered to let them cool down while we went out for dinner. After dinner, the girls were so eager to get home for the cookies. While I was still closing the door behind me, the younger girl had jumped up the dinning chair to reach out for the cookies, then she screamed "There is a big lizard in the cookies!" And, indeed, there was a big lizard laying cosily in the bed of warm cookies, taking a rest after having its  big feast?? I quickly poured the entire box of cookies together with the lizard, into a trash bag and threw it down the rubbish chute. :( The girls were so upset and kept blaming the lizard for depriving them of the cookies. To comfort them, I baked them another batch the very next day.

This third time, I tweaked the recipe by adding mint essence as elder daughter has been asking for mint cookies for a while. They loved these very much, and brought some to share with their school friends on Monday morning too. Now the box is empty again, waiting for me to replenish with more cookies.

Here is the adapted recipe for Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies:

(for original recipe: 101cookbooks )

• 120 grams raw sugar
• 115 grams unsalted cold butter cut into small pieces
• 1 egg at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon mint essence
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 175 grams all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 150 grams Hersheys' mini semisweet chocolate chips

1. Beat the sugar and butter together until creamy and smooth
2. Mix in the egg, vanilla extract, mint essence and baking soda
3. Stir together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter
4. Mix in the chocolate chips
5. Scoop the cookie dough into 1 tablespoon balls  and place on  the baking pan lined with baking paper. Space out the cookies (4 inch apart) to allow room to spread. (About 18 cookies)
6. Bake in preheated oven at 150 degree at the top tier of the oven rack, for 18 minutes or until the cookies turn into pale golden brown colour
7. Remove from the oven and cool them on a wire rack before storing them in airtight container

PS: The cookies are very tempting to the lizards, so make sure you keep them safely :P