It's That Time Of Year...

For the past month, girls dressed in green have been knocking on doors across America, selling boxes filled with everyone's favorite treat -- Girl Scout cookies. These little circles of pure deliciousness have been a staple in American tradition and are quite addicting. When selling season starts, the cookies are certainly in high demand. The Girl Scouts of America’s website even has a “Cookie Finder” feature that allows you to locate the nearest seller in your area, and the iPhone has a similar app that tracks sellers by zip code. 

Although the selling season is about to die down, cookie connoisseurs finally found a solution to the nearly 11-month absence of Girl Scout cookies from the average American household: online recipes. My personal favorite cookie is the Thin Mint {recipe below}. You can now have the luxury of keeping these cookies in your home all year round. But if you do, you won’t be able to use that excuse about only indulging once a  year :) Enjoy! 

*Homemade Thin Mints*

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour, 1/4 cup cornstarch,
 6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder,
 1/2 tsp salt,
 1 cup white sugar,
 1/2 cup butter, room temperature,
 1/3 cup milk (any kind),
 1/2 tsp vanilla extract,
 3/4 tsp peppermint extract

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. With the mixer on low speed, add in the milk and the extracts. Mixture will look curdled. Gradually, add in the flour mixture until fully incorporated.
Shape dough into two logs, about 1 1/2 inches (or about 4 cm) in diameter, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1-2 hours, until dough is very firm.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Slice dough into rounds not more than 1/4 inch thick – if they are too thick, they will not be as crisp – and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cookies will not spread very much, so you can put them quite close together.
Bake for 13-15 minutes, until cookies are firm at the edges. Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before dipping in chocolate.

For the Dark Chocolate Coating
: 10-oz dark or semisweet chocolate,
 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Melt on high power in the microwave, stirring every 45-60 seconds, until chocolate is smooth. Chocolate should have a consistency somewhere between chocolate syrup and fudge for a thin coating.
Dip each cookie in melted chocolate, turn with a fork to coat, then transfer to a piece of parchment paper or wax paper to set up for at least 30 minutes, or until chocolate is cool and firm.
Reheat chocolate as needed to keep it smooth and easy to dip into.

Makes 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.