Homemade Thin Mints

During the first of the only two seasons where I ever sold girl scout cookies, my dad bought 30 boxes of Thin Mints so that I could "earn" the super seller girl scout patch that had a harp seal pup on it. An additional prize was in the mix too, but I was really into harp seals, specifically, and my earnest patch-wantin' tears coaxed my dad into footing the bill for a freezerful of cookies. Not like he complained though, because as much as the rest of us, my father the girl scout hero could totally eat a whole tube of thin mints in one sitting. And then three summers ago my mom was leaving Safeway and decided to confront a cookie-selling scout about the hydrogenated oil and corn syrup that were standard (at the time) in girl scout cookies. The girl was most likely an eight-year-old do-gooder with no idea what my mother the girl scout villainizer was talking about, but still, Mom had a point. Enter:  homemade thin mints! 

I made them a little too large, a little too thin, and none too smooth, but they are so very, very good, that they might permanently thwart your craving for actual Thin Mints. Plus, the chocolate wafer that they use also makes an excellent snacking cookie and a phenomenal sandwich cookie for ice cream and filling (more on that later). 

Homemade Thin Mints

Adapted from Alice Medrich, Bittersweet

This wafer recipe makes approximately 70 cookies. I divided the dough in two and used one half for these thin mints and the other half for the tops to ice cream sandwiches. You could either halve the recipe below or double the chocolate coating recipe to make a whole batch of thin mints.

1 1/2 cups (6.75 ounces) flour

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (I used the fancy shit)

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

3 tablespoons whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1.  In the bowl of a food processor, put flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, and baking soda, and pulse a few times until blended. Cut the butter into 12 chunks, add it to the bowl, and pulse it a few times. Combine the milk and vanilla in a small bowl and with the processor running, add the liquid and continue to process until dough clumps together. Transfer the dough to a large bowl and knead a few times to ensure that it's thoroughly mixed. 

2.  Divide the dough in two, and roll each into a log that is 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter (I used the smaller diameter for the thin mints, larger for the ice cream sammiches). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about an hour, or up to a day as needed.

3.  Preheat the over to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Slice your cookies into thins that are 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch thin, and space one inch apart on the sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Cookies will puff up and deflate as they bake, and they are ready about 1 1/2 minutes after they deflate. They should crisp as they cool, and if they don't, you can pop them back in the oven for a few minutes so they finish baking. Cool cookies on their sheets on top of cooling racks. When completely cool, being the chocolate-coating process!

Chocolate Mint Coating

This makes enough for 35 to 40 thin mints, or about half of what the recipe above yields. You can either halve the cookies, double this chocolate to make a huge she-bang, or keep the wafers in the freezer and use them as needed for ice cream sandwiches or snackin'.

12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chips or chopped

2 to 3 teaspoons peppermint extract, or to taste

1.  Prep your station by lining cooling racks or cutting boards with waxed or parchment paper.

2.  Place the chocolate in a metal bowl set over gently simmering water. Stir frequently until chocolate is melted, smooth, and glossy. Start by mixing in a teaspoon of peppermint extract, and increase by half-teaspoons until you reach your desired level of mintiness (I used a full three teaspoons). 

3.  Using a fork or clean fingers, dip the cookies in the chocolate one at a time, coating both sides with a thin layer. Let the excess drip off, and place the dipped cookies onto the wax paper to set. If the dipping chocolate ever gets too thick, put it back over simmering water for a minute to thin it out. Place the finished cookies in the freezer or fridge for 20 minutes to speed up the setting of the chocolate. I kept my thin mints in the freezer the whole time because frozen thin mints are the best, but they'll keep stored in an airtight container at room temperature too.