Skinny, Minty, Yummy Thin Mints

Thin Mints are a particularly delectable type of chocolatey, minty cookie that I found myself hooked on last summer while I was in New York.  They’re also remarkably easy to make at home and were a nice little way to stave off the late summer boredom I’ve been experiencing in my unemployed state.

190g flour

95g cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

200g butter

3 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsps mint extract (rather than essence)

• Mix together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter. Add the sugar to the butter and beat together.  
• Add the milk, vanilla, and mint and mix together.  
• Slowly add the contents of the dry ingredients bowl while beating continuously.  
• Resist the urge to eat the chocolatey, minty mess you’ve created - oh, go on then, have a taste.
• Once all the ingredients are well combined, you can use your hands to roll the dough into a ball and then roll into a log shape.  
• Wrap the dough in baking paper and put in the fridge for two hours. This gives you a couple of hours to read up on the news, do some knitting, wait patiently for your friends to finish work, or, if you happen to be as bored as I was this particular day, whip up a batch of regular chocolate chip cookies.

                            

• Once the dough’s been chilled, take it out and slice it into biscuits. 

                            

• Place them on a baking tray, taking care to leave enough space between each biscuit (they puff up quite a bit) and bake for 10-15 minutes at 170 degrees (C). 

                            

• Once they’ve cooled you can top them off with some melted mint chocolate for a little extra gluttonous goodness.

                            

Happy baking!

Emma x

Cookie Cookie!

I decided to get my cookie groove on today for two reasons. The first is that I've been very sick with a gastric flu over the past couple of days and was feeling significantly better today and NEEDED to do something after being bed-ridden for what seemed like an absolute age! The second reason was due to a little purchase I made while down in Cork in the beautiful O'Conaills chocolate shop. It is a haven for all chocolate lovers with a fantastic variety of different chocolates and divine marshmallow-endowed hot chocolate. Anyway, I'll stop my salivating! I bought a bag of milk, dark and white chocolate drops while ogling the chocolate wonders that surrounded me. It would have been criminal not to have made cookies when I was so laden with chocolate chips!

Due to the recent fragility of my little tummy, I decided not to risk tasting them! I think dry toast will be my daily menu for another few days. So I decided to parcel them up in some cellophane, embellish them with a ribbon and write a little note on some pretty Daintree paper. I gave them to two of my best friends and the last one to the boyfriend. My sister ate the other half of the tray and gave them her seal of approval!

Thanks to my sister Clare Doherty for taking the photos for me. I was very sleepy and she swooped in and clicked away. I think she did a fabulous job. Merci bien ma fille!

Here's the recipe:

Makes about 25 Cookies.

Ingredients

• 300g Butter at room temperature
• 1 Egg
• 375g Caster Sugar
• 450g Plain Flour, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 250g Chocolate Chips

Method

1. Beat the butter, egg and sugar until completely combined.
2. Mix in the flour and the baking soda.
3. Finally add the chocolate chips or fruit if you prefer.
4. The dough should stick together. If it is too crumbly, it means the butter was not soft enough to begin with, so beat for a little longer. If it still does not combine then add two tablespoons of milk.
5. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for one hour.
6. Roll out on a floured board to 5mm thick and cut into rounds with a cookie cutter.
7. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in an oven preheated to 170C/gas mark 3 for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
8. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.

Go forth and bake some cookies!

Have a good week.

Love Bríd