April 12, 2008

Chocolate Mint Cookie Sandwiches


I saw these cookies made on the Martha Stewart Show and they said they rivaled the Girl Scouts' Thin Mint cookies. I loved the Thin Mints until I gave up garbage ingredients, in particular, partially hydrogenated oils, preservatives, and artificial anything about 3 years ago. Sorry Girl Scouts, until you improve your recipe, your cookies won't make it into my house even if it is for a good cause. Anyway these cookies were delicious and so much better than Thin Mints by a landslide. The recipe was easy to follow and I can't wait to make them again because my family gobbled them up quickly. Just a note, they are rich cookies. I used Guittard semisweet chocolate mixed with some of their bittersweet.

Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies
Makes 3 dozen
FOR THE COOKIES
1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
Confectioners' sugar, for work surface
FOR THE GANACHE
1/4 cup heavy cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
FOR THE GLAZE
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped
Directions
1. Make cookies: Whisk together cocoa powder and flour in a bowl. Put butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg until well blended. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Transfer dough to a work surface lightly dusted with confectioners' sugar. Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out cookies using a 2-inch round cookie cutter; space 1/2 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining scraps of dough. Bake cookies until firm, rotating sheets halfway through, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
3. Meanwhile, make ganache: Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chocolate. Cook, stirring constantly until chocolate is smooth. Stir in peppermint extract. Let cool slightly, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Spoon 1 teaspoon ganache onto the bottom of 1 cookie; sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies and ganache. Refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes.
5. Make glaze: Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring constantly. Let cool slightly. Dip one flat side of each sandwich into melted chocolate to coat; gently shake off excess. Place sandwiches, chocolate sides up, on wire racks set over baking sheets. Refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes. Cookies can be refrigerated in a single layer in airtight containers up to 2 days.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

These look delicious! I recently discovered that Back to Nature (http://www.backtonaturefoods.com/) has started making Girl Scout-type cookies with better ingredients. They still use palm kernel oil, but at least it's not partially hydrogenated. Back to Nature's Fudge Mint Cookies are quite similar to the Girl Scouts' Thin Mint Cookies.

Mama Mia said...

oh wow! Like thin mints but even better!

Wendy said...

Thanks for the link cacao! I went to their site and recognized the packaging from Whole Foods (my favorite grocery store hands down).