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Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies clone

Source of Recipe

by Marsha, from Ell.1


Recipe Introduction

Girl Scout Thin Mints from your kitchen: If you love those cookies, you’ll love these. Make an extra batch to give as gifts.

Recipe Link: messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-fdcooking&msg=10124.1

List of Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped


Recipe

Whisk flour, cocoa powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in peppermint extract and vanilla extract. Beat in sugar in 3 additions. Add egg and beat until blended. Add dry ingredients and beat just until blended (dough will be sticky).

Divide dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Using plastic wrap as aid, form dough on each into 2-inch-diameter log. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate dough until well chilled, at least 2 hours. (Dough can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Position 1 rack in center and 1 rack in top third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap cookie dough logs; roll briefly on work surface to form smooth round logs. Cut logs crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies until tops and edges are dry to touch, about 15 minutes. Transfer baking sheets with cookies to racks; cool completely. Stir chocolate in top of double boiler set over simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from over water. Cool melted chocolate until slightly thickened but still pourable, about 10 minutes. Dip fork into melted chocolate, then wave fork back and forth over cookies, drizzling melted chocolate thickly over cookies in zigzag pattern. Refrigerate cookies on baking sheets until chocolate is set, about 10 minutes. (Cookies can be made 1 week ahead. Refrigerate in airtight container between sheets of parchment paper or waxed paper.)

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen.
Bon Appétit

January 2002

*NOTES* from reviewers:

My recipe turned out exactly like GS thin mints. The trick is to double the amount of peppermint extract in the dough (as other reviewers have said), add about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. of peppermint oil (it works better than extract) to the chocolate (I dipped mine instead of drizzled), and be certain the dough is very firm when cutting it (make the dough and form it into the log shapes then refrigerate at least overnight). Also decrease oven temp 25 degrees if using dark cookie sheet like Caphalon. This way the cookie is thin and perfectly round.

**Miss Ell's Notes**

You use 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of peppermint oil in the chocolate. I used 1/4 tsp and they were fine. The original recipe used less extract in the cookies and no oil in the chocolate coating but the reviews were pages and everyone loved them except they weren't minty enough. Little by little the reviewers 'tweaked' and the 'tweaks' were reviewed.

Another reviewer suggested decreasing the oven temp if using dark cookie sheets, like Calphalon, by 25 degrees.

I had trouble shaping the ends of the rolls to a nice flat circle. When it came time to bake, I took a roll, sliced the ends thin and put them together to make one sort-of-hand-shaped-cookie. If it is not beautiful, it goes to the baker to sample. LOL!

I didn't use a fork to drizzle chocolate on the cookies. I dunked the tops. (There's plenty of chocolate.)