You can`t tell through your screen, but I am thoroughly excited about sharing this recipe with you. It has been in the works for months. I don`t really want to bore your with the whole backstory...but I`ll be quick (haha!), so you can get to eating these addicting cookies that are like Girls Scout`s thin mints, but not really. :P
Not sure if you know, but I`m obsessed with thin mints. (And samoas, but they are not the star of the show today.) These wonderfully, addicting cookies only comes once a year. I swear, every year, I eat a whole box of thin mints and samoas myself. No lie. I always buy more than 1 box of each to share, but I pretty much down those cookies like nobody`s business. (I`m desperately hoping, I am not the only one here either!)
Anyhoo, I buy a lot so I can stash them in my freezer for the rest of the year (evidenced by Instagram). Plus, let`s be honest here. Thin mints are seriously the best from the freezer. Once I started eating them cold, from the freezer, I have not gone back. The mint is more apparent when it`s cold...for some reason?
I wanted to make my own for that sad moment where I`ve eaten all the thin mints, but I`m craving more. Sure, you can buy the Keebler`s take on them...but I`ve compared the two side by side. They`re slightly different. One cookie is thicker? Something, like that.
I knew if I made my own, it wouldn`t be exactly the same, but I wouldn`t mind since I made them! I saw recipes using Ritz crackers. But, thin mints are chocolate cookies...so one day, while I was snacking on some Oreos...I had a brilliant idea. Why not use only the chocolate cookie parts of Oreos to make thin mints? WHAT? I was mind-blown. It was going to be revolutionary. I told my sisters and they were like, "Do it! Do it!!" I was pumped!
However, I actually dislike working with melted chocolate. It gets so messy and I`m a neat freak...so I never jump at the idea of dipping things in chocolate. So, I just let the idea sit in my brain. Then, one day, I saw that the wonderfully, talented Izy, from Top With Cinnamon, had the same idea.
Devastated, I scrapped the idea and tried to figure something else. Then, I realized, I sometimes dip my thin mints in peanut butter. Because, why not, right? I already dip Oreos in peanut butter. Once, I cheered up a friend by giving him frozen thin mints and peanut butter and called it "happiness". It totally worked, too! :D
Long story, short: these cookies were born. They`re chocolate peanut butter cookies coated in mint chocolate! They`re basically the peanut butter version of thin mints. So, enjoy some "happiness" with a fellow thin mint + PB fan! :)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Thin Mint Cookies
Ingredients:
Cookies:
-
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
-
¼ cup cocoa powder
-
½ teaspoon baking powder
-
½ cup peanut butter
-
½ cup unsalted butter
-
½ cup brown sugar
-
½ cup granulated sugar
-
1 large egg
-
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Coating:
-
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
-
2 tablespoons shortening
-
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
Directions:
Cookies:
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper, or baking mat.
2.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour , cocoa powder, and baking powder
well. Set aside.
3.
In a bowl with electric mixer, cream together peanut butter, butter, and
sugar until light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes).
4.
Add egg and vanilla extract and combine.
5.
Gradually add flour mixture, half at a time, until combined.
6.
On a clean, flat surface, roll out your cookie dough until about ¼ inch
thick.
7.
Using a flour-dusted cookie cutter, cut out cookies into desired shapes.
8.
Space each cookie about 1 inch apart on baking sheet.
9.
Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden.
10.
Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before removing
them to cool completely on a cooling rack.
Mint Chocolate
Coating:
11.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
12.
Using a double broiler (or a heat safe bowl on top of a pot of simmering
water), melt together the chocolate and shortening.
13.
Once chocolate is completely melted, stir in the peppermint extract.
14.
Dip each cookie into melted chocolate with a fork and place on parchment
paper.
15.
Chill until chocolate hardens or let chocolate harden at room
temperature.
*Notes:
-
Andes chocolate baking bits will also work, omit peppermint extract.
Chocolate might be slightly clumpy and it's easier to melt.
-
Personal preferences, I like the cookies hard from the fridge/freezer.
They are softer at room temperature.
-
My cookies were about 1-1 ½ inches in diameter (pretty small).
