Cookie Monster's Pick ...

When the early Spring comes around, I'm reminded of Girl Scout cookie sales... over the years, my daughters' troops sold their share of the goods! And boy, don't we love thin mints! We usually buy a few boxes and talk about storing them in the freezer for later consumption. Somehow, though, they never make it into cold storage. We gobble them up by the sleeve, never thinking about calories, fat, or good nutrition. And when they're gone, I'm back to baking my own recipes. I do love the combination of chocolate and peppermint, though, so finding a recipe for cookies with a bit of crunch AND that deadly flavor combination was a good thing.



This recipe was on a small slip of paper that came in a Baker's Chocolate package, years ago. For a long time that slip of paper was my only copy of the recipe and there came a time when it 'got lost' in the hodgepodge of my 'recipe bag'. When I searched for the slip and couldn't find it, I got pissed (oops, did I say that?) and called the girls. I was sure I'd given them the recipe, but alas... no one seemed to have a copy. I searched the Internet, went to the Baker's Chocolate website, tried Hershey's for good measure - no luck. I ended up using a recipe that made a cakey cookie. It was good, but NOT THE SAME (insert a food stomp and interesting pout, here).

Well, time passed. We moved. Things got jumbled about and rearranged. When we settled back down, I began to catalogue all my favorite family recipes into one master file on my computer. That involved going through all those scraps of paper, newspaper columns, magazine clippings, index cards, etc in my 'recipe bag'. One afternoon, I came upon a tiny, crumpled piece of white paper with minute type... and I knew what it was! Hurrah! The prodigal recipe!

For your inspection and testing... these are the best! Think a combination between a Girl Scout Thin Mint and a gingersnap. DO try them... and stow the recipe somewhere safe.

Pseudo Thin Mint Cookies - printer friendly

Pseudo-Thin Mint Snaps

Ingredients:
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1¾ c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
2/3 c. vegetable shortening
½ c. sugar
1 egg
¼ c. light corn syrup
1 tsp. peppermint extract
small bowl of granulated sugar for dipping the cookie dough

Making the Cookies:

1. Melt the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler, cool slightly.
2. Preheat oven to 350º F.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, beat shortening and sugar until creamy.
5. Add the egg and continue beating until fluffy.
6. Fold in the corn syrup and peppermint extract, stirring gently by hand to incorporate.
7. Fold in the chocolate, stirring by hand to combine.
8. Blend in the dry ingredients.
9. Shape the dough into ping-pong ball-sized rounds (roll them like snowballs using your hands.
10. Dip the cookie balls into a bowl of sugar, coating one side and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, sugar side up.
11. Bake for 12-15 minutes and remove from the cookie sheets after they have been out of the oven for one minute.
12. Cool on a cool surface.

Yield: about 3 dozen 2½- inch cookies