Final Four Food Fare – Thin Mint Cookie Recipe

April 3, 2015

In Which Sweet 16 Team Will Get Just Dessert, written by Jon Gold, sweet desserts are paired with the top 16 teams in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Not what you would think. It wasn’t something with cheese for Wisconsin or bourbon for Kentucky. Rather a funny take on what best “sweet” food describes each team. Now that we’re down to the Final Four – let’s look at the foods for those teams:

• Kentucky is a doughnut. Perfect and complete package.
• Wisconsin is brownie a la mode. Hot on the inside and cold on the outside.
• Michigan State is a Thin Mint. You forget about them in November, but can be sold on them in March.
• Duke is a chocolate cake. Has the potential to be the best, but is often disappointing.

Since I am originally from Michigan, I figured I would pick the Thin Mint and find a good recipe that replicates this iconic Girl Scout cookie. The web is full of variousrecipes attributed to different people, but I weeded them out and came up with one consistent recipe.

Thin Mints

Ingredients

Chocolate Cookie Wafers

• 1 (18 1/4 ounce) package fudge cake mix
• 3 tablespoons shortening, melted
• 1/2 cup cake flour, measured then sifted
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons water

Coating

• 3 (12 ounce) bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 6 tablespoons shortening

Directions

Cookie

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Combine chocolate wafer ingredients in a bowl until well mixed.  You may need to get your hands in there! On a surface lightly dusted with flour, shape dough into two logs, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
3. Wrap in plastic wrap, waxed paper or parchment and freeze for at least 1-2 hours, until dough is very firm.
4. Slice dough into rounds not more than 1/4 inch thick – if they are too thick, they will not be as crisp – and place on a parchment lined baking sheet (or spray with non-stick cooking spray). An alternative is to roll the dough out flat between 2 pieces of waxed paper and chill for 10-15 minutes. Then use a cookie cutter (food.com suggests using the top to a spice container that is 1 ½ inches in diameter) to cut out the circles.
5. These cookies will not spread very much, so you can put them quite close together.
6. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until cookies are firm at the edges. Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before dipping in chocolate. (Some recipes called for just 10 minutes, so start there and add minutes if needed).

Coating

1. Combine chocolate chips with peppermint extract and shortening in a large microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl.
2. Heat on 50 percent power for 2 minutes, stir gently, then heat for an addition minute.
3. Stir once again, and if chocolate is not a smooth consistency, continue to zap in microwave in 30-second intervals until smooth.
4. Use a fork to dip each wafer in the chocolate, tap the fork on the edge of the bowl so that the excess chocolate runs off, and then place the cookies side-by-side on a wax paper-lined baking sheet.
5. Refrigerate until firm.

Enjoy watching basketball this weekend while munching on your team’s sweet dessert.

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