Every time somebody asks me about this blog, I get a bit antsy and say something along the lines of, “I’m not blogging much these days, but I’d like to start it up again.” This is my first attempt in awhile to revive this space and get back into the routine of sharing the going-ons of my kitchen. I’d like to get more creative with my food photography and also redesign the site, but I have to start taking more photos and posting more often for that to happen. I have also toyed with the idea of making this a personal blog versus just a baking blog, but for now everything is staying as is.
I’ve been in the kitchen a lot lately and have been trying a bunch of new recipes. I’m getting more into baking with alternative flours and experimenting with vegan baking, but I will always love me a cookie made with good, old-fashioned butter. These homemade thin mint cookies are butter based and are also surprisingly from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking. It is a pretty standard cookie recipe, but I suppose what makes them “natural” enough for Heidi’s cookbook is that they are made with real ingredients versus the crap (for lack of a better term) used in the beloved Girl Scout version. For the record, I love the boxed cookies–I order a few boxes every year, but this homemade version takes thin mints to a whole other level.
There are two basic components to thin mint cookies: the chocolate cookie base and the mint-chocolate coating. The chocolate cookies are made with butter, confectioners sugar, whole wheat pastry flour (all-purpose would work fine too), cocoa powder, vanilla, an egg white and salt. The dough is super chocolaty, easy to work with, and doesn’t really spread when baking.
The mint-chocolate coating is just melted chocolate with some peppermint oil or peppermint extract stirred in. [If you are a food nerd like me, you may want to read this article detailing the difference between the oil and the extract. I've got more notes on this in the recipe.]
Once the cookies are coated in the mint-chocolate, you can throw them in the freezer to set. Et voilà! A beautiful, homemade version of everyone’s favorite Girl Scout cookie.
If you’re interested in other homemade versions of store bought treats, here are a few more recipes for homemade peanut butter eggs, wheat crackers, and graham crackers.
Get the recipe>>