Thin mint cookies - 2 recipes

[cruelshoes]

I found these on another board. I have not tried them, but I thought some of you might be craving a thin mint right about now.

Girl Scout Cookies - Thin Mints
Makes 108 cookies.

If those cute little cookie peddlers aren't posted outside the market, it may be tough to get your hands on these - the most popular cookies sold by the Girl Scouts each year. One out of every four boxes of cookies sold by the girls is Thin Mints. This recipe uses an improved version of the chocolate wafers created for the Oreo cookie clone in the second TSR book "More Top Secret Recipes." That recipe creates 108 cookie wafers, so when you're done dipping, you'll have the equivalent of three boxes of the Girl Scout Cookies favorite. (See? That's why you bought those extra cookie sheets.) You could, of course, reduce the recipe by baking only 1/3 of the cookie dough for the wafers and then reducing the coating ingredients by 1/3, giving you a total of 36 cookies. But that may not be enough to last you until next spring.

Chocolate Cookie Wafers
1 18.25-ounce package GF chocolate fudge cake mix
3 tablespoons shortening, melted
1/2 cup GF cornstarch, measured then sifted
1 egg
3 tablespoons water
Non-stick cooking spray

Coating
3 12-ounce bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
6 tablespoons shortening

1. Combine the cookie ingredients in a large bowl, adding the water a little bit at a time until the dough forms. Cover and chill for 2 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough to just under 1/16 of an inch thick. To cut, use a lid from a spice container with a 1-1/2-inch diameter (Schilling brand is good.) Arrange the cut dough rounds on a cookie sheet that is sprayed with a light coating on non-stick spray. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the wafers from the oven and cool completely.

4. Combine chocolate chips with peppermint extract and shortening in a large microwave - safe glass or ceramic bow. Heat on 50 percent power for 2 minutes, stir gently, then heat for an addition minute. Stir once again, and if chocolate is not a smooth consistency, continue to zap in microwave in 30-second intervals until smooth.

5. Use a fork to dip each wafer in the chocolate, tap the fork on the edge of the bowl so that the excess chocolate runs off, and then place the cookies side-by-side on a wax paper - lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm.

----------------------------------
Thin Mints
Make 3 or 4 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Wafers:
8 ounces butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
3/4 cup potato starch flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum

Chocolate Peppermint Coating:
1 pound good quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 teaspoon plus a couple drops of peppermint extract

Preheat your oven to 350. Racks in the middle zone.

Make the cookie dough: In a mixer cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and cream some more, scraping the sides of the bowl a couple times if necessary. Stir in the vanilla extract and then the salt and cocoa powder. Mix until the cocoa powder is integrated and the batter is smooth and creamy, sort of like a thick frosting. Add the flours & xanthan gum (mix well together before adding to the butter mix) and mix just until the batter is no longer dusty looking, (I would use the food processors. Mireille)
Turn the dough out onto a counter, gather it into 2" by 10" cylinders. Wrap with saran wrap and place them in the freezer for 20 minutes to chill.

Remove the dough from the freezer and slice out with a very sharp butcher knife really thin, remember how thin Thin Mints are? That's how thin you need your dough, about 1/8-inch. Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely on a baking rack if you've got one.

Make the peppermint coating:
While the cookies are in the oven you can get the coating ready. I use a makeshift double boiler to melt chocolate (a metal pan over a saucepan of gently simmering water), but I know many people who swear by melting chocolate in the microwave. Slowly melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally until it is glossy and smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract. If you think the chocolate needs a bit more peppermint kick, add more extract a drop or two at a time - but don't go overboard.

Finishing the cookies: You are going to coat the cookies one at a time and then gently set them on a parchment-lined baking sheet to set. Drop one cookie into the chocolate and (using a fork) carefully make sure it gets fully coated. Lift the cookie out of the chocolate with the fork and bang the fork on the side of the pan to drain any extra chocolate off the cookie. You are after a thin, even coating of chocolate. Place on the aforementioned prepared baking sheet, and repeat for the rest of the cookies. Place the cookies in the refrigerator or freezer to set. They will set at room temperature, it just takes much longer, and I prefer them straight out of the freezer anyways.
_________________
-Colleen

Where are we going, and what am I doing in this handcart?