Homemade Thin Mint Cookies

Do you ever have a craving for something minty and chocolatey?  I definitely do.  I love the combination of rich chocolate with cool and refreshing mint.  Since I missed out on buying Girl Scout cookies this year, I decided to make my own homemade version.  These cookies taste similarly to Thin Mint cookies, but they have a richer flavor due to the cocoa powder that I used.  If you love chocolate and mint, you are sure to love this homemade version of Girl Scout Thin Mints. 

Thin Mint Cookies:

This recipe was adapted from the TKO (i.e., chocolate shortbread) recipe in the Bouchon Bakery cookbook.

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
• ½ cup (44g) unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder¹ (I used this kind)
• ¼ tsp (0.8g) baking soda²
• 1 stick (113g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp (3g) salt
• ½ cup (81g) granulated sugar
• ½ tsp (1.6g) mint extract

Making the Thin Mint Cookies:

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Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder into a medium-sized bowl, whisk together to combine, and set aside.

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Beat butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a  large bowl if using a  hand mixer) until smooth.  Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy on medium-low speed.  Then mix in the salt and mint extract. Next, add the dry ingredients in 2 additions and mix until just incorporated.  Do not overmix.  The dough will be crumbly, but it will come together when chilled. 

Place the dough on a piece of plastic wrap and gently knead the dough into a disc.  Then, set the dough in the fridge and chill for at least 1 hour (or until firm enough to cut with cutters). 

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Roll out the dough using a rolling pin between two sheets of plastic wrap until it’s an ¹/₈ inch thick.  Use a cookie cutter to cut out round cookies from the dough. If the dough gets soft while working with it, put it back in the freezer for a few minutes until it firms back up.  Place the cookies on a cookie sheet and bake for 13 minutes.  Rotate the pan halfway through baking to ensure even baking. 

Set the cookie sheet on a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes and then transfer the cookies to the wire rack to cool completely. 

This recipe makes approximately twenty-four, 1⁷/₈” cookies. 

Chocolate Coating

Ingredients:

• 8oz (226g) semi-sweet chocolate
• 4-5 drops of peppermint oil (food grade)

Tempering the Chocolate:

I’m not going to lie to you, I am terrible at tempering chocolate.  This is definitely one of those techniques that I have tried many times in the past and no matter how closely I follow the instructions (e.g., using a thermometer to heat the chocolate to a specific temperature) I always seem to have trouble.  For that reason, I’m going to direct you to another website that has comprehensive instructions for how to temper chocolate. 

When the chocolate in the bowl has melted, add the mint oil.  If you do not have mint oil, you can add mint extract but also add a small amount of vegetable oil to the chocolate, so the chocolate does not seize.  The alcohol in extracts makes chocolate seize.  If this happens, the chocolate mixture will need to be thrown out. 

Make sure to test the tempered chocolate before pouring it over your cookies.  This will save you a lot of heartache.  Dip the tip of spatula into the chocolate or pour a small amount of the chocolate on a piece of parchment paper and wait for it to harden.  When tempered correctly, it should be firm to the touch and shiny after 3-5 minutes of cooling.  If the chocolate has a bloom on it (i.e., whitish coating on the top of the chocolate) or if the chocolate is not hardening, this means the chocolate did not temper correctly.  If it has not tempered correctly, you can try to temper it again.

Covering the Thin Mint Cookies:

Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper.  Place a cookie into the tempered chocolate until completely covered.  Using a fork, remove the cookie from the chocolate and let the excess chocolate drip off into the bowl.  Gently scrape your fork against the edge of the bowl to remove any excess chocolate from the bottom.  Then, place the cookie on the prepared baking sheet for the chocolate to set at room temperature.

The finished product is a cookie that is rich and crispy in the middle with a refreshing minty coating that melts in your mouth³.   

Do you like Girl Scout cookies?  If so, let me know in the comments below what your favorite Girl Scout cookie is.  Mine is a tie between Thin Mints and Peanut Butter Sandwiches (sometimes called Do-Si-Dos). 

Notes:

1. If you don’t have this type of cocoa powder, you can use a Dutch process cocoa powder.
2. These are the scales that I use to weigh ingredients.  The smaller scale is more sensitive to small amount of ingredients while the larger scale can handle most ingredients.
3. I did try to make these cookies with a chocolate sugar cookie as well.  While they tasted amazing, the cookie softened after being coated in chocolate so there wasn’t a contrast in texture.  I felt the texture difference was necessary for this recipe, so I used a shortbread recipe instead. 

Want more cookie recipes?

• Bouchon Bakery’s Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Harry Potter Sugar Cookies
• Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches