Bake: Mini Mints

It's that time again.  Girl Scout Cookie season.  Having made awesome Tagalong and Samoa taste-alikes last year, and in celebration of National Chocolate Mint Day on the 19th, I figured I'd try my hand at Thin Mints.  I started with a recipe for chocolate mint wafers from Martha Stewart, added some high-quality chocolate coating, and at J's suggestion, sprinkled Kosher salt on top (which really takes the cookies to another level).  The resulting cookie was a bite-sized morsel of deliciousness, slightly cake-ier than true Thin Mints, but still so addictive.



Mini Mints
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours
Yield: 30 bite-sized cookies


4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
0.25 c sugar
1 extra large egg 
1 tsp peppermint extract
0.5 c unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
0.25 c flour
6 oz Scharffen Berger 70% cacao baking bits
2 tbsp Kosher salt

(1) Cream butter and sugar together

(2) Add egg and peppermint extract, mix until combined

(3) Add cocoa powder and flour

(4) Mix on high speed until combined (about 10 seconds)

(5) Roll dough into a long tube about the circumference of a quarter; wrap in parchment paper

(6) Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours
(7) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
(8) Remove dough from refrigerator, slice into cookies about an eighth of an inch thick

(9) Place cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet

(10) Bake for 10 minutes

(11) Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes

(12) Move cookies to a wire rack to cool completely

(13) In a double boiler, melt the chocolate bits over medium heat

(14) Temper the chocolate as follows: bring it to 120 degrees, remove from heat and allow it to cool to 105 degrees, begin stirring chocolate until it cools to around 75-80 degrees, place back on low heat and raise to 88-90 degrees

(15) Keeping the chocolate at between 88 and 90 degrees, coat each cookie in chocolate and place on the wire rack lined with parchment or freezer paper

(16) Sprinkle each cookie with Kosher salt

(17) Freeze for 15 minutes, then move to the refrigerator


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What was cooking this time last year?

Notes: As mentioned above, the cookies are slightly cake-ier than Thin Mints.  Baking them longer would likely remedy this issue (if it is an issue for you).  The chocolate hardens around the cookie, so the finished product still has a "crunch" when you bite into it.  The cookies do not spread when you bake them, so you can place them quite close together on the cookie sheet.  Tempering the chocolate is important for appearance, but it also allows it to set properly (yielding a melt-in-your-mouth-not-in-your-hand coating).  You'll notice my wire rack was not topped with parchment or freezer paper after I coated the cookies.  I learned from that mistake, resulting in the cookies sticking to the rack (which J had to pry off with a fork) - so, make sure to use parchment or freezer paper.