Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Let’s face it, the variety for Girl Scout cookies available to celiacs is very weak. One of my faves are the thin mints. Well I tried and succeeded. Try them yourself and see!! Remember, you can always experiment with your own flour blends and substitutions. Just let me know what you did and how they turned out! And yes…. You can stick these in the fridge or freezer and chomp on them throughout the week just like the real thing 😊. Make sure your extract is gluten free! (Yes….. they sneak that crap into everything).

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

• 1 cup softened butter

• 1 cup of cane sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/4 tsp peppermint extract

• 3/4 cup of cocoa powder

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 7.2 oz of Melly Belly Flour ( recipe in blog posts or use your own)

Chocolate Mixture

• 7oz of semi sweet chocolate chips

• 7oz of dark chocolate chips

• 1/2 tsp vegetable oil

• 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract

Start by making your chocolate shortbread. In a bowl, mix your flour, salt, baking powder, and cocoa and leave it to the side. In a stand mixer, mix your butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract until nice and fluffy.

Slowly add in your flour mix about a cup at a time making sure it’s well incorporated . Once the flour mix is in, mix for one additional minute, then stop the mixer and scrape the sides with a rubber spatula. Turn the mixer on an additional 2-3 minutes.

Take out two sheets of wax paper and dump your cookie mix in the middle of one. It will be sticky. Place the second sheet on top, and with your hands start flattening your dough until it’s about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness depending on your preference. Use your rolling pin to flatten it out more if you prefer. Place your mix in the freezer for about 7-10 minutes to harden a bit. This will help you to make sure you have nice edges to your cookies and it will help with the cutting process.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line some cookie sheets with parchment.

Once your dough it ready, take it out and pick out a cookie cutter of your choice. If you aren’t picky, just cut your shortbread into squares with a knife.

Cut out your cookies, place them on the cookie sheets, and bake them immediately for about 10-12 minutes until the cookies look a little hard on the outside. Place the cookie sheet on the counter and leave the cookies to cool on the sheet for 3 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Once your cookies are fully cooled, make your chocolate coating by placing your semi sweet and dark chocolate chips with the oil, in a microwave save bowl. Temper your chocolate by cooking in 15 second intervals in the microwave and mixing in between. Once fully melted and smooth, whisk in 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract.

Gently dip in your cookies or decorate as desired. Let the chocolate set, and then Enjoy!!