thin mints

'Tis the season--the girl scout cookie season, that is! As such, I recently attempted a recipe I've been meaning to try for the longest time. The thing is that this recipe makes 30 cookies and that's not something I need in my house! So I recently had the opportunity to make cookies for other people and I tried this.

This is a recipe from my Babycakes cookbook; as such, it was originally gluten-free and vegan. It remains vegan but I made it not gluten free for my own comfort and to fit what I had in my kitchen.

I give you...thin mints (and my apologies to anyone allergic to mint--not one of my allergies and chocolate and mint is one of my favorite flavor combinations!)

1 ¾ c flour

1 c sugar

½ c unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

¾ c canola or coconut oil

1/3 c unsweetened applesauce

2T vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

3 T mint extract

Preheat the oven to 325. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the oil, applesauce, and vanilla and mix with a rubber spatula until a thick dough forms.

Drop the dough by the teaspoonful onto the prepared baked sheets, about 1 ½ inches apart. Gently flatten each mound of dough, smoothing the edges with your fingers. Bake for 7 minutes, rotate the baking sheets, and bake for 7 minutes more. Let stand on the baking sheets for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the chocolate chips and mint extract in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until the chips are just melted. Do not overcook. Remove from the heat. Dunk the top of each cookies into the melted chocolate and place in a single layer on a platter. Refrigerate the cookies for 30 minutes, or until the chocolate sets.

Makes 30.

Now I have my typical few comments to be made on the recipe--be careful with the chocolate/mint step. Mine burned. I was watching it carefully and stirring but it still burned. It could have been my mint extract, which was old and likely expired and probably not quite 3T. Also, my apartment smelled very strongly of mint for the longest time. I personally enjoyed that, but it's not for everyone.

Also, I didn't line my cookie sheets. I may regret that later, but I watched them carefully and took them out a little early. I had three different cookie trays going and one of them burned a little around the edges, but the rest were perfect. According to my friends to whom I gave the cookies.

And to the observant reader who notes that there is applesauce in these and I can't eat them, kudos. I ate a few because apples are a bit of a quandary for me (I ate an apple on the core once and had no problems, I ate applesauce and felt miserable) but I did truly give most of them away. Even without the mint and chocolate covering, they were rated as delicious. So there's a thought too!

While I haven't had a girl scout thin mint in ages, I have it on good reports that they taste almost exactly the same. So enjoy!