Homemade Girl Scout Cookies: Thin Mints

Instructions

1. In a stand mixer, with a cookie paddle attached, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. Add the cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla, and mix until incorporated. Add half of the flour and mix. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time until you get a pretty dry dough. You don’t want the dough to be sticky at all, and it might even crumble just a little. Don’t be worried about a dry dough… We want a cookie that doesn’t spread when baked and that is crispy!
3. Divide the dough into 3 balls, and pat them together to form a disk. Cover the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 15 minutes.
4. Now, if your world is crazy like mine, and 3 hours, instead of 15 minutes, pass before you get back to baking, let the dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. The butter makes the dough super stiff if it’s too cold.
5. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove plastic from 1 disk and roll your dough out between 2 pieces of parchment paper or on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough thin! We are talking 1/4-inch to an 1/8-inch thick.
6. Use a 2-inch circle cutter to cut out the cookies. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 9 minutes. It’s super hard to tell when a near-black cookie is done. I baked mine for 10 minutes the first round, and they tasted burnt on the bottom, so you’ll need to adjust as you go. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Place the cookies on a wire rack to cool.
7. After cookies have cooled completely, it’s time to get dippin’!
8. Chop up your chocolate. Put it in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave it for 1 minute. Reduce your power to half, and continue to microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds. Do this until your chocolate is smooth and melted. It’s possible to scorch and ruin your chocolate in the microwave. If you are prone to this, use a double-boiler method, instead. If your chocolate seems too thick, you can add a little shortening to thin it out. When your chocolate is melted, stir in your peppermint extract. I started with 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract and then added in a few drops at a time until it was minty enough for me. You should be right around 1 teaspoon of extract.
9. Drop a cookie in the melted chocolate, and make sure all of it gets covered in the chocolate. Fish the cookie out with a fork. Tap the fork on the edge of your bowl to encourage extra chocolate to drip off. Place the chocolate-coated cookie on a piece of parchment or waxed paper until set.
10. Best if enjoyed after waiting 8 hours after dipping in chocolate.