Hhhmmmm…deglutenize Thin Mints… Yes! That’s it! But Thin Mints are made in two stages: mixing and baking the cookie, and dipping the finished cookies in melted chocolate… I guess I’ll be doing my first two-part blog post! Part 1: the cookies themselves.
Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened
1 ¼ c. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. peppermint extract
1 ½ c. gluten-free AP flour
1 c. rice flour
½ c. cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. xanthan gum
½ c. powdered sugar
¼ c. cocoa powder
Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine flours, cocoa, leavening, salt, and xanthan gum, whisking thoroughly to break up any lumps.
2. Add egg, milk, and peppermint extract to creamed mixture, beating until smooth. Slowly add dry mixture in parts, fully incorporating the previous addition before adding more, and regularly scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
3. Turn dough out onto plastic wrap and press wrap against dough to squeeze out extra air. Set dough in fridge and let chill at least three hours.
4. After three hours, preheat oven to 350°. In a pie plate or cake pan, combine powdered sugar and cocoa. Remove dough from fridge.
5. Slice off bits of dough and roll between palms to form balls about ¾ in. in diameter. Roll dough ball in powdered sugar mixture, place on parchment-lined pan, and flatten with heel of palm.
6. Bake 15-18 minutes, turning pan after 10-12 minutes. Prep second pan of cookies while first pan is baking. If dough softens before all cookies are rolled, re-wrap in plastic and put in freezer for 5-10 minutes.
7. Pull cookies from oven after 15-18 minutes and allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool completely before moving to phase 2: dipping.
And that’s it! That’s how you make the cookies for gluten-free knockoff Thin Mints. Actually, Thin Mints are okay, but I always liked Keebler Grasshopper cookies better. Cheaper, tastier, and a decent number of cookies per package, Grasshoppers are just better. And once we cover how to dip the cookies in my next post, I think you’ll find that these cookies are better than both. Fresher, first of all, fewer artificial ingredients, and most importantly of all, a great way to show off your mad baking skills to your friends and family.
Stay tuned for Part 2 next week! Leave your thoughts in a comment below, or get in touch with me directly by filling out the form on the contact page.
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