Thin Mints were my absolute favorite Girl Scout cookie. Samoas were a close second, but Thin Mints won every time. I’d definitely sell more than I ended up eating, thank goodness, but there were a few boxes of those buttery, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate shortbready cookies waiting for me every year when I donned my saleswoman attitude and took to the streets of Eagle Point neighborhoods, heralding the springtime revelation that is all Girl Scout cookies. I was a proud scout for 10 years, starting with Daisies, then graduating to Brownies, then Juniors, then Cadets, then Seniors (for those who aren’t familiar with the Girl Scout organization, there are different titles/names for each level as you get older – and for those who deride the Girl Scouts as a bunch of 19th century wimps who prescribe to all the male-decided feminine stereotypes out there, here’s a wake up call: it’s 2021 and your “opinions” have no place here). The Girl Scouts are a trail-blazing organization that have welcomed and championed not only women’s rights, but LGBTQIA rights, civil rights, and everything in between. As opposed to the Boy Scouts, who’s overarching leadership seeks to imprison boys in hetero-normative, anti-gay life tracks that end up hurting more than they help. And now they’re trying to redeem themselves by “allowing” girls to join Boy Scouts, while doing nothing to promote their actually-morally-sturdy counterpart, the Girl Scouts.
Anyway, chocolate mint is a favorite of mine, far more than overpriced popcorn, and so these mint chocolate shortbread cookies (took my chocolate shortbread recipe, subtracted the cacao nibs and added mint extract), dunked in melted milk chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy canes, are a new holiday favorite. I’ve always wanted to try to recreate Thin Mints, which, technically, I still need to do, but for now, these cookies are tiding me over to 2021 when more exciting baking can happen, free of the cloud that is this year.
If you’re on the holiday cookie train and want some more ideas to keep that train going, try these! Our pistachio snow cookies, or these chocolate peanut butter mud cookies, or these tahini chocolate chunk cookies, or these browned butter pecan shortbread cookies, or this millionaire shortbread, or these classic, homey oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, or these simple, chewy almond cookies!
Gluten Free Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread
Equipment
- Cookie sheets
- Parchment paper
- Plastic wrap
- Electric mixer
Ingredients
For the shortbread:
- 1 1/2 Cups salted butter room temperature
- 1 Cup white sugar
- 1/4 Cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp mint extract
- 1/2 Cup arrowroot starch
- 2 1/2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum in it (if your mix does not contain xanthan gum, add 3/4 tsp of it now)
- 1/2 Cup good quality cocoa powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp espresso powder
For the decoration:
- 1 1/2 Cups good quality milk chocolate chopped
- 1/2 tsp mint extract
- 5-6 large candy canes crushed
Instructions
- First, make your shortbread! This will need to chill before baking. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and white sugar on medium high speed for 2-3 minutes until lighter and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar, espresso powder, vanilla, mint extract, salt, and cocoa powder and continue to beat until fully combined and smooth. Then, using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the arrowroot starch and gluten free flour mix – it will be very stiff and hard to mix but you want it to be a ball of dough – not runny or wet. If it doesn't seem dry enough, add a bit more flour.
- Then, separate the dough into two equal chunks, and pat/form them into logs. I place each chunk on a large sheet of plastic wrap and roll/form them into square logs, then wrap tightly with the plastic wrap and place in the fridge to firm up/chill for at least an hour (you can leave them in overnight as well).
- Once the logs are chilled, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and lightly grease two cookie sheets. Line the sheets with parchment paper and grease again with butter or cooking spray, then set aside. Remove logs from the fridge and unwrap, then carefully sliced 1cm/1/3 inch sections to create your shortbread cookies, placing them about an inch and a half apart on your prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until dry and firm to the touch. Let cool completely before glazing or eating.
- While the cookies are cooling, make your decorations. Melt the chopped milk chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until fully melted. Add mint extract and stir to combine. Once cookies are cooled, dip fully or halfway into the chocolate and then place on a cooling rack and sprinkle crushed candy canes on top. Let cool completely (the chocolate will harden) before eating!
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cookies!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
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Jasmine TS
Love these! The peppermint crunch is amazing, and they are just so cute!