A Salute to Kitchen Koncoctions

I have a long list of weaknesses and the first half have to do with food. Today I have the good fortune of not having to worry about making dinner and so I thought I would make some cookies. I certainly don't need them what with all the girl scout cookies we received earlier this month. I teach piano to the cutest Ukrainian girl and she is also a girl scout. Now I am kind of strange in that I don't particularly like to purchase items from parents when they are supposed to be sold by the children - you know, those character building experiences the young ones are being deprived of. So when a girl scout comes to my door and tries to sell me cookies, I am all for that and am happy to buy a box or two or five. I think the girl scouts are great and am happy to support them by buying their cookies (and most recently their Edy's ice cream mixes which are oh so yummy).

That leads me to today's Kitchen Koncoction: Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies. Now up goes the red flag in your mind and you are probably thinking, "wait a minute! By making them herself she is taking business away from those darling girl scouts!" Well in a sense that is true but let me tell you something - I still buy cookies from them, I still plan on buying cookies from them, and this lets me explore other varieties they have available instead of spending most of my cookie budget on the Thin Mints. Besides, my husband says this version taste better than the real thing and so who am I to turn down a compliment like that? This way I can have Thin Mints any time of the year! So here is the disclaimer - I am in no way encouraging you to stop or lessen your support of the girl scout program, are we clear on that? Alrighty, let us proceed.

This is a recipe I originally got from the Top Secret Recipes freebies and with a little tweaking made it my own.

GIRL SCOUT COOKIES THIN MINTS

Chocolate Cookie Wafers
1 18.25 oz package Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix
3 Tbs shortening, melted
1/2 cup cake flour, measured then sifted
1 egg
3 Tbs water
Non-stick cooking spray

Coating
3 12 -ounce bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
6 Tbs shortening

1. Combine the cookie ingredients in a large bowl, adding the water a little bit at a time until the dough forms. Cover and chill for 2 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough to just under 1/16 of an inch thick. To cut, use a lid from a spice container with a 1 1/2-inch diameter. Arrange the cut dough rounds on a cookie sheet that is sprayed with a light coating of non-stick spray. Bake for 10 minutes (cookies need to be crunchy so no doughiness here). Remove the wafers from the oven and cool completely.

Go ahead and pack the pan, they don't expand much if at all. I like this picture because a few rays of sunshine from heaven are shining down on these inspired cookies.... as well they should be.

4. Combine chocolate chips with peppermint extract and shortening in a large microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl. Heat on 50 percent power for 2 minutes, stir gently, then heat for an additional minute. Stir once again, and if chocolate is not a smooth consistency, continue to zap in microwave in 30-second intervals until smooth.

If you want to know how to get it so that there isn't a big puddle of chocolate on the bottom of your cookie, you've got to do this, essentially shake it off. While my hubbie likes a bit extra chocolate, I am all about having a good ratio of cookie to chocolate coating and so I do this. I was being a little too thorough in this clip so in reality it doesn't take this much time for just one cookie.

5. Use a fork to dip each wafer in the chocolate, tap the fork on the edge of the bowl so that the excess chocolate runs off, and then place the cookies side-by-side on a wax-paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm. After they are firm an are not melting in your hands, you can even pack them in a freezer safe bag and freeze them. We just pull some out individually and eat them straight from the freezer (very yummy). ** if the chocolate thickens up in your bowl before you are finished dipping your cookies, microwave in the oven again.

Makes 108 cookies. (I end up doubling the recipe because they go so fast and I can freeze them to have as a ready made treat or gift for the unexpected visitor)

Ready to eat and will probably not last the week!

And just so you know, I did burn a batch in the oven as I always do whenever I attempt to make cookies. This time my excuse is that I was using a cheap pan. I threw the cookies and the offending pan away.