National Chocolate Mint Day - Yum!!

Got spoon?
(Google Image) 

By Diane Forrest,

It’s that time of year again, when the girl scouts come knocking at your door selling those wonderful cookies.  It is a love/hate relationship for me...While I love the Girl Scouts, and Love their cookies, I Hate to see them coming because I know I have absolutely no willpower when it comes to that order sheet they stick in my face.  I immediately order 2 boxes of the thin mint cookies, and then I will look through the sheets to see what else they have.  The worst part about it is when they finally arrive; I open the box, pull out a tube, and eat all of them at once!

Whoever thought of putting chocolate and mint together is one of my heros.  I love the chocolate mint ice cream, and as part of my research for this article (wink wink) I had to get a small pint to remind me why I love it so much.  That...and the girl scouts haven't reached my neighborhood yet.  The coolness of the mint and the creaminess of the chocolate are a perfect match.

It is gone...

The other morning, Valentine's Day morning, my mother placed some gifts on my front porch and when I went out and saw it I brought it inside to see what Cupid had left me.  There was a red tote, which was great, I love having a bag to carry stuff to places, but what was inside the tote was amazing!  There was a bag of Ghirardelli chocolate peppermint bark squares!  I thought I had died and gone to heaven!  Of course I had to open it right away and have one, even if it was only 8 o'clock in the morning.  I had first tried this at Christmas, and have been looking for them since then.  I was not aware that it was a limited edition variety, but fortunately my mother was aware of that fact, and hid this away for Valentine's Day.

In case there are no girl scouts in your area, I found this recipe for the thin mint cookies on allrecipes.com for you to try, but, if you can't wait long enough for the oven to pre-heat, you can run to the store for some Keebler Grasshopper cookies, they are just as wonderful as the thin mints from the girl scouts.

(Google Image)

Today is National Chocolate Mint Day, so treat yourself to some cookies, ice cream or candy in honor of this wonderful day.

Thin Mint Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
• 3 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup butter

Directions

1. In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter or margarine until creamy. Add the sugar, and beat until mixed well. Beat in egg and mint extract.
2. Sift flour, cocoa, and salt together into a small bowl. Add flour mixture by halves into creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.
3. Divide dough in half. On lightly floured surface roll dough into two 1 1/2 inch diameter cylinders. Wrap each cylinder in waxed paper, and refrigerate 5 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Thirty minutes prior to baking, place both cylinders in freezer.
5. Remove one cylinder at a time, and slice 1/4 inch thick pieces with very sharp knife. Place on cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 10 to 12 minutes.
6. Melt 1/4 cup butter or margarine and the semisweet chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. Drizzle over warm cookies. Place on wire racks, and let cool and harden completely.