Homemade Girl Scout Cookies - Thin Mints!

I couldn't help myself. Maybe it was because my homemade Samoa experience was so fulfilling or maybe it was just for the satisfaction of crossing these off of my list. But I no longer have to wait for March to get my hands on these every year.

YOU DON'T OWN ME, GIRL SCOUTS!!!

There is no shortage of versions of this recipe all over the Internet. I found about 5 or 6 during my initial search. Want to try a low carb and gluten free version? Love Thin Mints and do you want them all year round? You can really make these at home and the results are outstanding. I hope you try! 

I hadn't planned on taking pictures throughout the baking process with these but I didn't think you would believe me that this recipe really will turn out if you give it a try. Just look at how crumbly this dough was at first! I was starting to have my doubts. But press on and you will be happy you did!

Chill, roll out the dough, cut out the cookies, bake, then dip! The rolling out can be tricky as it is crumbly. I used wet hands at times and even microwaved the dough for a few seconds before working with it. Next time I may not even chill the dough at all. I found these dark chocolate mint candy melts at Pat Catan's. You could use chocolate chips and peppermint extract too.

 Printable Recipe Here:
Homemade Thin Mints

Homemade Thin Mints
Source: Adapted from Handle the Heat, Makes 30-40 cookies

Chocolate Wafers:

· 1 cup butter, room temperature

· 1 cup powdered sugar

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

· 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

· 3/4 teaspoon salt

· 1 1/2 cups cake flour (all-purpose would work just fine)

·

Chocolate Peppermint Coating:

· 1 package mint dark chocolate candy melts

-or-

· 1 pound good quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

· peppermint extract to taste (about 1 teaspoon)

Cookie dough: In a mixer cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and continue to cream, scraping the sides of the bowl a couple times if necessary. Stir in the vanilla extract, salt, and cocoa powder. Mix until the cocoa powder is integrated and the batter is smooth and creamy, resembling a thick frosting. Add the flour and mix just until the batter is no longer dusty looking but still a bit crumbly. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter, gather it into a ball, and knead it together into a nice, smooth mass. Divide the dough in 2, flatten into disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 15 minutes.

Rollout and bake: Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough out really thin, about 1/8-inch. These are called thin mints after all. You can either roll it out between two sheets of plastic, or dust your counter and rolling pin with a bit of flour and do it that way. If the dough is too firm to roll you can microwave it for 5 seconds. Cut out cookies and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.
 
Make the peppermint coating: Meanwhile, prepare your chocolate coating. Using a double boiler, slowly melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally until it is glossy and smooth. You can add 1 tablespoon of shortening if your chocolate is too thick. Alternatively, use a microwave in short 15-20 second bursts to melt the chocolate. Stir in the peppermint extract if you don’t have the mint candy melts.

Finishing the cookies: Using a fork gently drop the cookies one at a time into the chocolate coating. Flip to coat all sides. 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 a parchment lined baking sheet, and repeat for the rest of the cookies. Place the cookies in the refrigerator or freezer to set.