Not all addictions are bad. For example, we all need our addition to water and to oxygen to survive. And some of us need that annual addiction to Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies to survive, too. That would be Brian.
Apparently he has never bought any other Girl Scout cookie except the Thin Mints. And although he does buy several boxes, they don’t last through the year. I just learned you can freeze them, but that hasn’t been an option explored by him.
I’ve wanted to make the cookie myself — not that we won’t support the Girl Scouts still — but a week after his four boxes are gone, what am I to do for Brian? It’s a long, long way to next spring.
I have googled and searched and baked and I’m still looking for the right recipe. There are many attempts out there to duplicate the Thin Mint, but I haven’t found one that is truly satisfying yet. There are lots of silly ones, like the idea of coating a Ritz cracker with chocolate mint. That’s not going to work and you don’t even have to test it to know that.
Along the way, some of the candidate recipes have been good and I’m presenting one below. It’s a good chocolate mint wafer. I can’t get the right coating for it yet, but if I do, or if I find a true substitute for the original thin mints, I’ll let you know.
And if you know of a true Thin Mint recipe, please share it. In the meantime, this Thin Mint Wafer is good on its own or would be ideal as a sandwich cookie. If you are making a sandwich cookie, cut the frozen dough a full ¼ inch thick or more, and bake only 13 minutes so the cookies remain soft, not crisp. Then take two of these wafers, and cement them with some mint buttercream. Chill the sandwiches slightly before eating to intensify the mint flavor.
Thin Mint Wafers
Yield: about 40 cookies
Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
6 Tablespoons cocoa powder
½ Teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
½ cup of butter, room temperature
⅓ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Preparation:
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. It’s best to first cream the butter, then add the sugar one tablespoon at a time. With the mixer on low speed, add in the milk and the extracts. The mixture will look curdled. Gradually, add in the flour mixture until fully incorporated.
On wax paper bases, shape the dough into two logs, about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Warp tightly in plastic wrap or foil and freeze for at least 1-2 hours, or until the dough is very firm
Preheat the oven to 375° F.
Slice the dough rounds not more that ¼ inch thick. If they are too thick they will not be crispy. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. The cookies will not spread very much, so you can put them quite close together.
Bake for 13-15 minutes ,until the cookies are firm at the edges. Cool the cookies completely on a rack before dipping in chocolate or using frosting to make sandwich cookies.
Source: Adapted from bakingbites.com