Chocolate Mint Cookies

So sometimes the craving hits and there's nothing you can really do about it. that craving struck recently, and the desire was for Thin Mints! You know them: those chocolate, minty, crunchy Girl Scout cookies. Sadly, Girl Scouts peddling their wares where nowhere to be found in my area, so there was only one solution to be found: making my own.
When trying to find the perfect recipe, we wanted something that stayed true to the nature of the original product. The inner cookie should be crispy and chocolate. The outer chocolate layer should have that nice, minty flavor to it. to create the base chocolate cookie, we used a combination of flour, corn starch, and cocoa powder. The outer chocolate was simply melted dark chocolate with a little peppermint extract.


Ingredients

COOKIES

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla paste

CHOCOLATE COATING

• 1lb dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/4-3/4 teaspoon peppermint oil, depending on taste
• 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until the mixture is fluffy. Gradually add milk, egg, and vanilla paste and continue to incorporate. Slowly add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
3. Divide the dough into two equal parts and flatten the two halves and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. chill in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes until the dough is cold and firm.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
5. Pull one half of the dough from the fridge and on a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to 1/4" thick. Use a round cutter to punch out the cookies and transfer to the baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 1/2" apart. Repeat with remaining dough.
6. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, then let the cookies cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. While cookies are cooling, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place a clean wire rack on top (this is for easier clean up).
8. Add vegetable shortening, chocolate, and peppermint extract to a glass bowl. Set a pot on the stove with the water boiling and rest the glass bowl over top. Melt the chocolate, stirring frequently until the mixture is smooth, removing the glass bowl from the heat every 30 seconds or so to prevent overheating.
9. Once the chocolate is melted, remove the bowl from the heat and set over a folded kitchen towel. Drop one cookie at a time into the melted chocolate. Use a fork to coop the cookie from the bottom and let any excess chocolate drop from the cookie. Transfer the cookies to the prepared wire rack to let harden.