A good thin mint

I can never find a Girl Scout when I need one.

My own scouting time was brief; I quit after one year. In that year, I learned to line dance to "Purple People Eater," to appreciate high tea and scones, and to glue popsicle sticks...but not to tie knots, to hike, or to use a compass. After quitting, I realized I'd cut off my pipeline to delicious, seasonal cookies sold by aspiring wilderness girls.

Even if I could find a reliable supplier*, the thought of buying a $5 box of trans-fat-filled tastiness--and the knowledge that only about 75-ish cents gets back to the local troop--cools my desire to use the official Girl Scout Cookie locator.


Decades ago, Thin Mints were made of recognizable ingredients like butter, flour, and sugar. Now....hydrogenated oils are par for the course. Even though there are "zero" grams of trans-fat per four-cookie serving, I know no one who can stop at four Thin Mints. In fact, I know people who have eaten a whole box in a day. Once, in my youth, I finished an entire sleeve in a sitting...and had a well deserved tummy ache afterward. That was a bad choice.


Heidi at 101 Cookbooks has created a fantastic recipe for healthier Thin-like Mints. Now that I've made these replicas--made of real, recognizable ingredients--I'm not going back. The next Girl Scout who comes to my door pedaling cookies will leave with a check for her local chapter.

Before you starting whipping the butter, I'll leave you one final thought on Girl Scout Cookies, from The Addams Family:

(Girl Scout approaches Wednesday and Pugsley Addams, who are selling lemonade.)

Girl Scout: "Is this made from real lemons?"
Wednesday: "Yes."
Girl Scout: "I only like all-natural foods and beverages, organically grown, with no preservatives. Are you sure they're real lemons?"
Pugsley: "Yes."
Girl Scout: "Well, I'll tell you what. I'll buy a cup if you buy a box of my delicious Girl Scout cookies. Do we have a deal?"
Wednesday: "Are they made from real Girl Scouts?"


Thinish Mints (without scary preservatives)
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Cookies:

• 8 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup cocoa powder (use the best stuff you've got, like Dagoba or Green & Blacks)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned into a measuring cup (I used King Arthur flour)

Coating:

• 10 - 20 drops peppermint extract (mine came from Crosby Mint Farm)
• 16 oz. semi-sweet (or dark!) chocolate chips

1) Make the dough

Cream butter in a mixer until it's fluffy and light. Add the powdered sugar and cream some more. Add the vanilla extract, salt, and cocoa powder, then mix until the cocoa is fully incorporated and the batter is smooth. Add the flour and mix just until the dough is no longer dusty.

Turn the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and shape it into a ball. Knead the dough once or twice before stretching into a long cylinder approximately 2" in diameter. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 20 minutes.

2) Bake the cookies

Remove the dough from the freezer and let it sit on the counter for five minutes to thaw. Slice cookies that are about 1/8" thick and place them on cookie sheets lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a baking rack before coating. (I even refrigerated the finished cookies for 10 minutes to further prepare them for the upcoming warm chocolate bath.)

3) Coat the cookies

Use a double boiler (or a saucepan nested in a larger pan of simmering water) to melt the chocolate. Stir the chocolate until it's glossy, smooth, and fully melted. Stir in the peppermint extract to taste. Add more peppermint a drop or two at a time.

Drop one cookie into the chocolate at a time; flip the cookie with a fork to make sure it gets coated. Lift the cookie with the fork and gently rock the fork back and forth to drain any excess chocolate. You're aiming for a thin coat.

I used a spoon to stir the melting chocolate, a fork to coat each side and shake off excess, and a knife to gently slide cookies from the fork to a prepared cookie sheet. Despite all these tools, I still managed to coat my arms, my face, and the stove in melted chocolate. Be warned. Go slowly and use as little force as you can to shake away extra chocolate.

Refrigerate or freeze the cookies to set. Store them in air-tight containers or in thick freezer bags, refrigerated or (as I prefer) in the freezer. Makes 3 - 4 dozen Thinish Mints.

*I have since found a reliable Girl Scout Cookie supplier at work! Thank you, thank you, Colleen! You keep me in Thin Mints when I'm too lazy to make my own!

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