St. Paddy's Day Mint Thins

Drizzled in green to celebrate St. Patrick's Day but you could enjoy these any time of year and after you taste these I am quite confident you will !

I found this recipe online after looking for ideas on how to mimic those yummy Girl Guide cookies we buy boxes of each year. Now instead of waiting for my daughter to bring some home, we can enjoy them whenever we want.

These little numbers are simple chocolate wafers coated in a peppermint oil infused chocolate candy coating. A drizzle of green icing tops them off nicely.

I found the recipe here on Food Buzz as posted by In Katrina's Kitchen

I adapted it somewhat:

• rolled the dough out between 2 sheets of waxed paper
  
• reduced baking time to 8 minutes
• used Wilton Candy Flavoring oils to add that peppermint taste - 3 drops to a bag of Dark Chocolate Candy Melts is all you need. Do NOT use artificial extracts as it will affect the candy coating consistency and you don't want that! Use oil based flavors only*.
  
• For the green drizzle, I simply melted some green candy melts and put the melted chocolate into a Wilton Candy Bottle used for drizzling. You can add the drizzle right after you dunk the cookies in the chocolate and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Then let them cool in the freezer for 15 minutes before indulging.

* For the oils, LorAnn Oils are also fantastic and top-notch quality. I found some in Bulk Barn but you can also buy them online here at the Vanilla Food Company.

This is my all-time favorite tool for dunking cookies into melted chocolate.
You can buy it where they sell candy making ingredients.
If you don't have one, simply use a fork.

And when making these, have some fun and try different cookie cutter shapes. Given the upcoming St. Patty's Day festivities, why not opt for a shamrock cutter?
Or think easter eggs shapes for April !

I didn't get a chance to take a pic of a decorated shamrock cookie but here they are fresh out of the oven. As you can see, they don't rise up as the recipe has no leavening agents. They also hold their shapes incredibly well. Basically after you cut them and prep them for the oven
they truly are "what you see is what you get" once baked.

These are great cookies that have definitely won my vote for being a staple treat around here.

ENJOY !!!