Mint and chocolate are one of the world’s great loves stories. You’ve heard it before, right? Once upon a time, there was a guy named Chocolate. He was hanging out one day, just being all rich and sweet, when the beautiful young Mint entered the picture. She was smart. She was strong. She didn’t need him to be successful. But somehow they made each other better. They fell in love, and the rest was magic. Before long, it was almost impossible to imagine one without the other. So goes life as a power couple.
This time of year — aka Girl Scout cookie season — is when I crave mint chocolate the most. Because Thin Mints, guys. But the sad fact is I really shouldn’t eat them (soy allergy, blah, blah, blah), and as much as I love them (forever and ever and ever), I’m trying to be a responsible grown-up and steer clear. Of course, I say this after singlehandedly going through half a box of Thin Mints last week and then telling myself, “Never again!” just like I do every year. Love makes you do crazy things.
I know there are lots of Thin Mint copycat recipes out there, and I’m sure someday I’ll give one a try, but the memory of my first mint chocolate love is still too close. It’s too soon. So instead, I thought I’d mint-chocolatize another cookie. As soon as I did this, as soon as I tasted it, I wondered how on earth I haven’t done this before. Have you tried adding peppermint extract to everything chocolate in your life? Do it! Do it now!
These mint chocolate sandwich cookies aren’t Thin Mints, but I dare say they’re just as good. Really, they’re awesome, especially if you keep them in the refrigerator so you can eat them nice and cold.
And they’re pretty, too, right? It’s amazing what a little chocolate drizzle can do. And one batch of these guys makes about 50 cookies, so your efforts will be rewarded for days after. They keep really well in the refrigerator for at least four days (probably up to a week, but ours are always eaten by then!).
On a side note, the photo above was totally styled by Beany. “Let’s make a cookie heart, Mommy!” She’s a girl after my own cookie heart.
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- For the sugar cookie dough:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- For the chocolate filling/drizzle:
- 12 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate chips or chunks
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg, and cream until fluffy (takes about 2 minutes). Add vanilla, and mix until combined. Turn mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients, and mix until fully incorporated.
- Divide the dough between two large pieces of parchment paper, and roll each half of dough into a log shape, each about 8 inches long (just like you’d buy slice-and-bake cookie dough at the store). Wrap them each in their own piece of parchment, and put them in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and cover two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Once the dough has chilled, unwrap the first log onto a cutting board. Slice the log into thin cookie rounds, about ⅛ inch thick (basically as thin as you can feasibly get them, but try to keep them uniform), and place the rounds about 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Repeat with the other log. You should get at least 50 rounds from each log.
- Bake the rounds for 10 to 14 minutes (or until edges just begin to turn golden brown). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cookies are completely cool, melt the chocolate, either in a double boiler or the microwave (be sure not to let it go too long in the microwave, or it will get super grainy. Start with a minute, stir, and then keep going in 30-second increments, stirring in between, until it’s the consistency you want). Once the chocolate is melted completely, stir in the peppermint extract.
- Line up half of the cookie rounds, flattest side up, on a wire rack. Then line up the other half, flattest side up, on a piece of parchment to the side of the rack. This will make sandwiching the cookies together a lot easier. Working quickly, spoon about 2 teaspoons of chocolate onto each cookie round on the wire rack. Then carefully top each dollop of chocolate with the top cookie round (the ones on the parchment paper), flat sides together, to make your sandwich cookie, smooshing the chocolate just enough so it peeks out from the sides. If you work fast enough, you can dollop on the chocolate for all the bottom halves, then add your top halves all in a row. Or if that makes you nervous, just go one by one until all your cookie rounds are sandwiched together.
- Drizzle the leftover chocolate over the tops of the cookies. If the chocolate has become a little too stiff, you can stir in a teaspoon of canola oil so it’s smooth enough to drizzle again.
- Place the finished cookies on a large cookie sheet, and put them into the refrigerator until the chocolate has hardened. Then you can keep them in an airtight container at room temperature, or transfer them to an airtight container to keep in the refrigerator (that’s what I recommend!). Enjoy!
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XO,
Katrina