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Checkerboard cookies are not hard. They're not. There are some secrets, though, to getting them to look right. Almost no matter what, they'll taste right. Light and buttery, they're like a cross between sugar cookies and butter cookies. And the dough is really quite nice to work with. But now hear this: These cookies take their sweet time. Try to rush them, and your cookies (the checkerboard pattern in particular) will pay the price. No mercy!

These cookies are for impressing. They are for gifting. For saying thank you. They are what you bring to your mother-in-law who still hasn't given you credit for all the wonderful things you do for her son, but seems like she might be ready to give you an inch. Or to your boss who sang your praises in that big meeting where his boss stood up and took notice of your always stellar work. Or to your mom, who always tells you that you're so, so pretty, even when you have a pimple. Or your husband, who shushed the kids in vain all Saturday morning so you could sleep in just this once. This time of year, as my mind plays an endless game of Tetris to puzzle out how all the different cookie shapes will fit together in their gift boxes, these cookies are the ones the others must learn to work around. Here's how it's done.

Semi-Pro Tip #1: When you are shaping the dough, keep it at room temperature. It will be super easy to roll out, or to shape into a 3-D rectangle. Then, when you want it to set in shape, so you can square the corners and slice the layers, place it in the freezer until it's firm (between 5 and 10 minutes).

Semi-Pro Tip #2: For the prettiest cookies, resist the urge to cut the recipe in half so you can skip the step of wrapping the checkerboard like a present in rolled out dough. Wrapping the checkerboard rectangle in a piece of rolled-out dough that is the opposite color of the four corners of the checkerboard serves two purposes. It helps keep the checkerboard in place, and the contrasting colors give a more professional appearance.

Semi-Pro Tip #3: Here's the final tip. As you slice the pieces that will become the checkerboard, remember that you are seeking 3-dimensional rectangles that are 1-inch tall x 1-inch wide. That will help guide you through the instructions. Don't worry. I explain it all, in plain language (mostly because that's the only language I speak, except for the unspoken language of l-o-v-e).

There are so many gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipes on this blog that it would be embarrassing if it weren't so terribly necessary. This kind is different. It has chopped Andes Mints (they're gluten-free!), and the cookies are green (but not too green). And if I don't develop these recipes, they're not going to develop themselves.

By the way, a programming note: I am resolved to continue to love the buildup to the holidays. Even if the actual holidays themselves, when they begin, have proven to be excruciating exercises in self-control that I didn't even know I had.  I keep thinking that I'll enjoy the actual holidays themselves when my children are grown and my family grows with whomever they bring home and we can make the holidays easy and inviting and warm and kind. That's how it is in my mind's eye, which will have to do unless and until my children grow up and/or I get an invitation to spend the holidays with someone else's easy and inviting and warm and kind family. It is in that spirit that I continue the Cookie Baking Brigade. With this very important recipe for gluten free chocolate chip cookies that has just the right mix of chocolate and mint.

Now I'm not going to bury the lede. I used artificial food coloring. I did it. I feel a little bit bad about that, because I know that some of you simply can't use artificial food coloring. But I made 5 batches of these cookies (5 batches!) before I settled on this exact recipe. And I tried everything with those India Tree natural colors. But no matter what I did, the color baked right out of the cookies. No matter how psychedelic the green color before baking, after baking the cookies were brown. And anyway even though I'm immature enough to think that lightly green mint cookies taste more minty (power of suggestion!), I know that it's not really true (it isn't, right?). So you can safely omit the green coloring and maybe close your eyes and imagine them green. Or just eat them with eyes open and taste the just-right combo of peppermint extract and Andes mint pieces, and find them just minty enough thankyouverymuch.

Before you even ask, yes, Andes Mints are gluten-free. I didn't always know that, but then I learned that. And it's the truth. It says so right on the website, and they don't hedge. They don't waffle. They just say so. And they also say they have baking chips that are gluten-free, too, but I have never seen these supposed baking chips in real life. They're like unicorns, except that unicorns don't have a website saying that they exist. At least not that I know of.

Oh, and if you do plan to use green food coloring, go light. The artificial stuff really does hold its color. The dough should be a nice, pale green when it's raw. Trust me. Remember – 5 batches. 5! Here's the best of the best—thick and chewy, slightly crisp around the edges and the perfect mix of mint and chocolate: