Top Secret Recipes
version of
Girl Scout Cookies Thin Mints
by Todd Wilbur

      Those cute little cookie peddlers have just recently put away their boxes of these chocolatey munchables until next year. So if you want to enjoy some Thin Mints, you're going to have to wait a while. Or you could make a homemade version with a little help from TSR. This recipe uses the chocolate wafers from last week's improved Nabisco Oreo cookie clone (March 16, 1998), and it makes the equivalent of three boxes of the chocolate-dipped Girl Scout Cookies favorite.

3 10-ounce bags Nestle Mint Chocolate Morsels
6 tablespoons shortening
108 chocolate wafers (from TSR improved version of Nabisco Oreo)

1. Combine mint chocolate chips with shortening in a large microwave safe glass or ceramic bowl. Heat on 50% power for 2 minutes, stir (with a plastic or wooden spoon), then heat for an additional minute. Stir once again, and if chocolate is not a smooth consistency, continue to zap in microwave in 30 second intervals until smooth.
2. Use a fork to dip each wafer in the chocolate, tap the fork on the edge of the bowl so that the excess chocolate runs off, and then place the cookies side-by-side on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm.
From: http://www.topsecretrecipes.com
 Makes 108 cookies.

Tidbits
This recipe was designed to use all of the chocolate cookie wafers from the TSR improved version of Nabisco Oreos. However, if you only want to make the equivalent of one box of Thin Mints, or 36 cookies, simply reduce the ingredients to 1/3 of what's listed. In other words, one bag of mint chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of shortening will cover 36 chocolate wafers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top Secret Recipes
Improved
version of
Nabisco Oreo (Wafers)
by Todd Wilbur

      When I first designed the Oreo cookie clone recipe for the second book, More Top Secret Recipes, I decided that a cake mix would suit the recipe best. However, the variety and brand I chose -- Duncan Hines Dark Dutch Fudge -- became unavailable in many parts of the country. Now, for all of my faithful readers, it is time to fix that problem with a cake mix that should be available everywhere. Many of the ingredients have changed to create an even more tender, chocolatey cookie that can be the same color as the real thing if you decide to add some brown paste food coloring. You will also note that the method has been improved to create cookies that are more uniform in size by using a spice bottle lid on the thinly rolled out dough. This will allow you to make your wafers faster, and they will all be the same size. The filling recipe remains the same, and can be found on page 68 of More Top Secret Recipes. For those of you who don't have the book (and, of course, for those who do), tune in next week for a brand-new recipe that requires these wafers. (Hint: T.M.)

1 18.25-ounce pkg. Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix
3 tablespoons shortening, melted
1/2 cup cake flour, measured then sifted
1 egg
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons brown paste food coloring (optional)*

1. Combine the cookie ingredients in a large bowl. Add the water a little bit at a time until the dough forms. Cover and chill for 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. On a lightly floured surface roll out a portion of the dough to just under one 16th of an inch thick. To cut, use a lid from a spice container with a 1 1/2-inch diameter (Schilling brand is good). Arrange the cut dough rounds on a cookie sheet that is sprayed with a light coating of non-stick spray. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove wafers from the oven and cool completely.
4. As the cookies bake, make the filling (recipe in More Top Secret Recipes on page 68).
5. When the cookies have cooled, roll a small portion (heaping 1/4 teaspoon) of the filling into a ball (just over 1/4-inch in diameter), and press it between two of the cookies. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

From: http://www.topsecretrecipes.com

Makes 108-116 wafers; for 54-58 sandwich cookies.

*This is an optional step to help recreate the color of the original cookie. If you do not use the paste food coloring be sure to change the amount of water added to the wafer cookies from 3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup. The food coloring gives the cookies the dark brown, almost black color. The coloring can be found with cake decorating supplies at art supply and craft stores.

Tidbits
If the dough seems too tacky, you can work in as much as 1/4 cup of flour as you pat out and roll the dough. Use just enough flour to make the dough workable, but not tough.