Cookie Collection Recipe 1

Yes, it's that time of year... cute little imps are running around knocking on doors and selling cookies. If you can't wait for your six boxes of Thin Mints to be delivered, you can satisfy your craving by making these cookies.

CHOCOLATE MINT COOKIES
Makes ~3½ dozen cookies

These cookies taste quite a bit like Girl Scout Thin Mints. The dough can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen until ready to be sliced and cooked. I like to drizzle these cookies with some lightly green-tinted white chocolate instead of the bittersweet chocolate.

1½ cups bleached, all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ teaspoon peppermint extract
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 large egg

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


Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, and salt together in medium bowl to blend and set aside.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Mix in the peppermint extract and vanilla, then mix in the sugar in 3 additions. Add the egg and mix until blended, then add the reserved flour mixture and mix just until blended (the dough will be sticky).

Divide the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap and, using the plastic wrap as an aid, form each piece of the dough into a 2”-diameter log. Wrap with the plastic and refrigerate the dough until well chilled, at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease or line with parchment paper two half-sheet pans.

Unwrap the dough logs and roll them briefly on the work surface to form smooth round logs. Cut the logs crosswise into ¼“ thick rounds and place the rounds on the prepared pans, spacing the cookies 1“ apart. Bake the cookies until the tops and edges are dry to touch, ~15 minutes. Then cool them completely on the pans.

Stir the chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water until the chocolate is melted and smooth, or melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe container at 50% power in a microwave. Let the melted chocolate cool until slightly thickened but still pourable, ~10 minutes. Dip a fork into the melted chocolate, then wave the fork back and forth over the cookies, drizzling the melted chocolate thickly over the cookies in a zigzag pattern.

Refrigerate the cookies until the chocolate is set, ~10 minutes (if using confectionary coating or if you tempered the chocolate, you can skip the refrigeration).

[Next Week: Samoas/Caramel de-Lites Knock-Offs]