Goodbye, Thin Mints

My friend Melanie may be dismayed by the title of this post, as she's my source for Girl Scout cookies. Around here, pre-sales for those cookies have already begun; I placed an order earlier this week. Oddly, perhaps providentially, I didn't order any Thin Mints.

A couple of my students are going to be moving to a new classroom. One has been with me for two and a half years, the other for a year and a half. Though I think it'll be a great opportunity for growth for both of them, I'm sad to see them leave. As tomorrow is their last day, I wanted to bring in their favorite cookies to share with the class. I ran a "Random Cookie Poll" earlier today, to get everyone's favorites. I was hoping for something easy, but it was not to be. One listed oatmeal chocolate chip as her favorite; not a problem. The other one, however, presented more of a challenge: chocolate mint.

"Like Thin Mints?"
"Yep."

Oooookay. My search began when I got home, and I hit upon this recipe: chocolate cookies with a hint of mint, iced with melted Andes mints. They're really, really good - I hope my boy likes them as much as I do.



Chocolate Mint Cookies

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
36 Andes mints

In a large pan over low heat, cook butter, sugar and water until butter is melted. Add chocolate chips and stir until partially melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir until chocolate is completely melted. Pour into a large bowl and let stand 10 minutes to cool off slightly.

At high speed, beat in eggs, one at a time, into chocolate mixture. Add peppermint extract. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients, beating until blended. Chill dough about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350˚F (175˚C).

Roll dough into 1" balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 8-10 minutes. While cookies are baking, unwrap mints and divide each in half. When cookies are removed from oven, put 1/2 mint on top of each cookie. Let the mint sit for up to 5 minutes until melted, then spread the mint on top of the cookie. Remove cookies to cooling racks.

If you find that the chocolate isn't setting, pop the cooled cookies into the fridge for about ten minutes, You can then store them with waxed paper between the layers.