Homemade Thin Mints

Instructions

Make the homemade Thin Mints cookies

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the sugar and shortening (or butter) until creamy and well combined, about 1 minute. TESTER TIP: If you're using shortening, the mixture won't become as light and fluffy as when you beat sugar with butter. That's okay.

Reduce the speed to medium-low and first add the egg, then the egg yolk, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and peppermint extracts. Slowly add the flour and beat until just combined. The dough will be pretty darn sticky.

Lightly coat the cookie dough, your hands, and a piece of parchment paper with confectioners' sugar. Shape the dough into a disk and place it on the parchment paper. (If the dough is too sticky to shape into a disk, just plonk it in the fridge for 30 minutes and it'll be more manageable.)

Now wrap the disk of cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and adjust the oven racks to the middle and upper third positions. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough on the parchment until it's 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Depending on how long the dough was in the refrigerator, you may need to let the dough sit at room temperature a little so it's soft enough to roll it out.

Using a 1 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out cookies from the dough and place them 1/2 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Reroll any scraps and cut out more cookies. Place the baking sheets in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Bake the Thin Mints straight from the freezer, switching the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until dry and crisp and firm around the edges, anywhere from 10 to 18 minutes, depending on exactly how thick your cookies are. Let the cookies cool slightly on the baking sheets and then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. TESTER TIP: The cookies will crisp as they cool. If they're not crisp throughout at room temperature, the next time you make this recipe, the cookies will need a little more time in the oven.

Make the chocolate glaze

Meanwhile, in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over but not touching a pan of gently simmering water, heat 2/3 of the chocolate until it melts and registers 115°F (46°C) on a candy or deep-fry thermometer.

Stir in the remaining chocolate and let it sit, without stirring, over the water for 5 minutes. Then stir to combine. Remove the pan from the heat and let the chocolate cool to 90°F (32°C).

Coat the homemade Thin Mints with the chocolate glaze

Submerge a cookie in the melted chocolate glaze and use the tine of a fork to turn it to coat all sides. Remove the cookie from the chocolate glaze and shake off any excess chocolate. Place the cookie on a piece of parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining cookies and chocolate glaze, reheating the chocolate as needed to maintain it as close to 90°F (32°C) as possible.

Let the cookies rest, undisturbed and unnibbled, until the chocolate glaze has set, at least 30 minutes. In theory, the cookies will keep, layered between sheets of parchment paper in an airtight container, for up to 1 week. Good luck keeping them around that long.

Dessert