These high altitude tested, homemade thin mint cookies feature buttery chocolate mint cookies dipped in melted semi-sweet chocolate. Reminiscent of the classic Girl Scout cookies, these thin mints or fudge mint cookies are easy to make and sure to please everyone.
You might also love these high altitude recipes for chocolate crinkle cookies, chocolate thumbprint cookies, and dark chocolate mint sandwich cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. The cookie dough recipe is based off my no spread chocolate sugar cookie recipe, which comes together quickly and easily with a food processor.
Long Shelf Life. These thin mint cookies will stay fresh tasting for quite a long time if you store them in the refrigerator or freezer. In fact, I think they taste best when they’re cold from the fridge, which will keep the chocolate shell firm and snappy.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude. However, today’s recipe will work at any altitude, since there’s no leavening in the cookies.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour. Provides strength and structure to the sugar cookies.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. Adds rich, dark chocolate flavor. I suggest using a good-quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder. For an extra dark color in the cookies, you can replace 1 tablespoon of the Dutch processed cocoa powder with black cocoa powder, which will give them more of an Oreo flavor.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens the sugar cookies, while the fine texture of the powdered sugar makes them soft and tender.
- Salt. Coarse Kosher salt balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the chocolate.
- Unsalted Butter. Adds moisture, flavor and fat. When the cookies bake, the water evaporates from the butter and creates steam. The steam fills the cookie with little pockets of air which creates tiny flaky layers for tender, buttery chocolate sugar cookies.
- Vanilla + Peppermint Extracts. Flavor. Be sure to use peppermint (not mint) extract. Mint will taste like spearmint.
- Milk. A splash of whole milk adds moisture to the chocolate sugar cookie dough and binds it together, without the use of an egg, which would make the cookies puff and spread.
- Chocolate. You’ll need chocolate, and quite a bit of it, for dipping the cookies into. I used a store-brand chocolate baking bar around 55% cacao, which is a semi-sweet chocolate. If you like a darker chocolate, you can go as high as 65-70% cacao.
Instructions
Make the Cookie Dough
- In your food processor, pulse the flour, cocoa powder, powdered sugar and salt until combined.
- With the processor running, drop in the pieces of butter, one at at time, pulsing a few times until the butter is evenly distributed, and the dough is moistened and crumbly.
- Add the vanilla, peppermint extract and the milk, then process until the dough starts to stick together.
- Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and use your hands to finish bringing the dough together, kneading in any stray dry ingredients. The dough should be soft, smooth and supple.
- Shape the dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with sheets of parchment paper.
Cut and Bake the Cookies
- On a clean work surface lightly dusted with flour, place the disk of dough, and dust the top of the dough with flour, too. Roll out to an even thickness between 1/8-1/4 inch thick.
- Use a 2 inch round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut as many cookies as you can, placing the cut cookies 1 – 1 1/2 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheets.
- Gather up the scraps of dough, roll them out again, and continue cutting as many cookies as you can. You should be able to cut around 3 dozen cookies.
- Place the baking sheets with the cut cookies in the refrigerator to chill briefly while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. With chocolate cookies, it’s impossible for their color to be an indicator of doneness. But you shouldn’t see any appearance of raw or wet dough if you carefully turn one of the cookies over.
- Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Dip in Melted Chocolate
- Finely chop the chocolate with a sharp chef’s knife. Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate until smooth. I recommend tempering the chocolate for the best results.
- Dip the cookies into the melted chocolate one at a time, coating them completely, then lift the cookies up with a fork. Gently shake off the excess chocolate, then place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with a clean sheet of parchment paper.
- After all the cookies are dipped, you can lightly drizzle any remaining melted chocolate over the tops of the cookies.
- Refrigerate the cookies for about 15 minutes to set the chocolate.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
I generally don’t recommend using chocolate chips for melted chocolate, since they contain stabilizers that prevent them from melting smoothly.
Store the cookies in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
If you don’t have a food processor, you’ll need a large bowl and a pastry cutter. In the bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Scatter with the cold butter pieces and use the pastry cutter to cut the butter in until very finely cut and evenly distributed. Drizzle with the extracts and milk, then use your hands to work the liquid into the dry ingredients until it forms into a soft dough.
To make the dough in advance, wrap the disks of dough in plastic wrap, label them, and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for 3-6 months. Frozen dough should be thawed overnight in the refrigerator. Then take the dough out of the fridge about 1 hour before you’re ready to roll out the dough. It should still be cool to the touch when you roll it out, but pliable enough to roll without too much difficulty.
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Homemade Thin Mint Cookies
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Food Processor or Pastry Cutter
- Rolling Pin and 2-Inch Round Cookie Cutter or Biscuit Cutter
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¼ cup unsweetened, Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp peppermint (not mint) extract
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 lb semi-sweet (55% cacao) chocolate baking bars
Instructions
Make the Cookie Dough
- In your food processor, pulse the flour, cocoa powder, powdered sugar and salt until combined.With the processor running, drop in the pieces of butter, one at at time, pulsing a few times until the butter is evenly distributed, and the dough is moistened and crumbly.Add the vanilla, peppermint extract and the milk, then process until the dough starts to stick together.
- Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and use your hands to finish bringing the dough together, kneading in any stray dry ingredients. The dough should be soft, smooth and supple.
- Shape the dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with sheets of parchment paper.
Cut and Bake the Cookies
- On a clean work surface lightly dusted with flour, place the disk of dough, and dust the top of the dough with flour, too. Roll out to an even thickness between 1/8-1/4 inch thick.Use a 2 inch round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut as many cookies as you can, placing the cut cookies 1 – 1 1/2 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheets.Gather up the scraps of dough, roll them out again, and continue cutting as many cookies as you can. You should be able to cut around 3 dozen cookies.
- Place the baking sheets with the cut cookies in the refrigerator to chill briefly while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. With chocolate cookies, it's impossible for their color to be an indicator of doneness. But you shouldn't see any appearance of raw or wet dough if you carefully turn one of the cookies over.
- Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Dip in Melted Chocolate
- Finely chop the chocolate with a sharp chef's knife. Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate until smooth. I recommend tempering the chocolate for the best results.
- Dip the cookies into the melted chocolate one at a time, coating them completely, then lift the cookies up with a fork. Gently shake off the excess chocolate, then place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with a clean sheet of parchment paper.
- After all the cookies are dipped, you can lightly drizzle any remaining melted chocolate over the tops of the cookies.
- Refrigerate the cookies for about 15 minutes to set the chocolate.
- Store the cookies in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
Notes
- Making the Dough without a Food Processor: If you don’t have a food processor, you’ll need a large bowl and a pastry cutter. In the bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Scatter with the cold butter pieces and use the pastry cutter to cut the butter in until very finely cut and evenly distributed. Drizzle with the extracts and milk, then use your hands to work the liquid into the dry ingredients until it forms into a soft dough.
- Freezing the Dough: To make the dough in advance, wrap the disks of dough in plastic wrap, label them, and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for 3-6 months. Frozen dough should be thawed overnight in the refrigerator. Then take the dough out of the fridge about 1 hour before you’re ready to roll out the dough. It should still be cool to the touch when you roll it out, but pliable enough to roll without too much difficulty.
Wow, these look amazing. Going to make these with my daughter for sure. Thank you!