I was a Girl Scout from first grade until six or seventh grade and I have the patches to prove it.  I missed the Daisy stage in kindergarten but promptly informed my mother that things had to change.  I was a Brownie, and a Junior I think.  I can’t remember any of the other ranks.  I do remember troop meetings in the basement of the Methodist church right next to school, and camping trips and hikes near the Delaware Water Gap.

The corner stone of any respectable girl scout troop is the annual cookie sale.  I usually sort of cheated because I would send the sign up sheet with my dad to work.  He works in Manhattan so I took advantage of all those city folk who weren’t related to a girl scout.  Other than that, I only really only sold cookies to my neighbors and my grandparents because my town was so small that every girl scout had a very limited territory.

Perhaps the most iconic cookie on the list is the Thin Mint.  In my house we refer to them as “cold cookies” because my mom stored them in the freezer.  That’s definitely the best way to enjoy them.  The internet is riddled with copy cat recipes for Thin Mints, and even though the cookie takes a few extra steps than the average chocolate chip, I was surprised by how do-able they actually are.  I ended up picking a recipe that even used whole wheat flour, so they’re almost healthy!

Homemade Thin Mints

Yields about 50 cookies

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Ingredients

Cookie:

• 8 oz unsalted butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

Chocolate coating:

• 1 lb semi-sweet chocolate (might need a little extra)
• peppermint extract to taste

Method

1. Cream together butter and sugar.  Add vanilla.
2. Add in cocoa and salt.  Then add flour.  Mi until incorperated but try not to over mix.  The dough will be pretty crumbly.
3.  Turn the dough out onto the counter and form into discs of dough to place in the freezer to chill for 20 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 350.  Roll dough out pretty thin (remember how thin and small Thin Mints are).  Use cookies cutters to cut desired shapes and place on cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes.

   

5. Allow cookies to cool completely.
6. Melt chocolate by cutting into small pieces and microwaving for 30 seconds at a time until almost completely melted.  Then stir until chocolate is smooth and add peppermint extract to taste.  (You might want to melt chocolate in two batches so it doesn’t cool down too much while you’re coating the cookies)
7. Dip the cooled cookies in the minty chocolate.  Make sure to coat the whole cookie, but allow excess to drip off.  Used two forks to balance the cookie and allow excess to go back into the bowl of chocolate. Place coated cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
8. Place cookies in fridge or freezer to allow chocolate to set.  Enjoy!