HTML chocolate mint cookies

First of all I would like to congratulate myself ("how selfish of her!") for finally getting grip of some of this html crap! I say it's crap 'cause I just could not wrap my head around these random codes and numbers....until now!! Well I'm not exactly a computer programming genius over night, but I did manage to create my own little header (or blog title thing) that fit perfectly into the frame. hooray! It's still not perfect so I'm probably gonna change it lots and lots - you gotta keep it fresh ya know.

before and after baking

And now to the cookies. Well they actually involve a little accident, these were supposed to be Girl Scout thin mints which are really thin crisp chocolate mint cookies covered with chocolate.

I actually haven't tasted the original girl scout ones but they sounded great plus I'm a slave to everything (anything!) flavored with chocolate and mint.

So my mistakes started right at the most crucial part of those cookies, cutting them thin, very thin. I have no explanation for why I insisted on cutting them way too thick AND not noticing it trough out the whole baking process...urhhg.

So instead of coating delicate crispy cookies with a thin chocolate layer I just took two fat cookies, spread some chocolate on them, sandwiched them together and called it a day!

I must say I was a tad disappointed at myself for not following the recipe completely but on the other hand I got some great chocolate mint sandwich cookies- and that is never a bad thing. NEVER!

Also, I was surprised by the use of mint extract in the dough itself, I was sure it would evaporate during baking or go by unnoticed but it really tasted minty and goood.

Homemade Thin Mints:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white sugar
115 gr butter, room temperature
1/3 cup milk (any kind)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp peppermint extract

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. With the mixer on low speed, add in the milk and the extracts. Mixture will look curdled. Gradually, add in the flour mixture until fully incorporated.
Shape dough into two logs, about 1 1/2 inches (or about 4 cm) in diameter, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1-2 hours, until dough is very firm.
Preheat oven to 180°c. Slice dough into rounds not more than ½ cm (or 1/4 inch) thick - if they are too thick, they will not be as crisp - and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cookies will not spread very much, so you can put them quite close together.

Bake for 13-15 minutes, until cookies are firm at the edges. Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before dipping in chocolate.

Dark Chocolate Coating:

300 gr dark or semisweet chocolate
115 gr butter, room temperature

In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Melt on high power in the microwave, stirring every 45-60 seconds, until chocolate is smooth. Chocolate should have a consistency somewhere between chocolate syrup and fudge for a thin coating.
Dip each cookie in melted chocolate, turn with a fork to coat, then transfer to a piece of parchment paper or wax paper to set up for at least 30 minutes, or until chocolate is cool and firm.
Reheat chocolate as needed to keep it smooth and easy to dip into.

Makes 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.

• If you want them like I made mine, cut the cookies much thicker and after baked and cooled sandwich them together with melted chocolate. Don't try adding the mint extract directly to the chocolate except if you have an oil based one. The most common extracts are alcohol based and by adding that to the chocolate it will curdle and be ruined, so read the label of your extract.