Fat Mints

Fat Mints

This is a really good cookie. In fact, it might be my current favorite, and I make a lot of cookies. Well, it might be a tie between these and garam masala cookies, but chocolate mint might be more of a crowd-pleaser. I made a batch yesterday for a final-class potluck, and then I made another 1.5 batch today to bring to my own students. That's one thing I miss about communal living and/or living at home: I can't just make stuff for other people. But with sweets, at least, I've realized that I can bring pretty much anything to school and it will get eaten.

I decided to call these cookies "Fat Mints" because they taste very much like Girl Scout Thin Mints, but they're not crunchy; instead, they melt in your mouth. Also, they are physically less thin.

This recipe is adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking, but the proportions are greatly altered. This is an incredibly rich cookie; I can't believe it calls for 50% more butter (and more sugar and chocolate chips, too) than I use. I enjoy strong mint and chocolate flavors; I would not increase the amounts beyond what is in this recipe.

In other news, I have both a sourdough starter and a hard cider going! I feel a bit like a mad scientist in my kitchen. Updates to follow.

Fat Mints
(adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking)

Ingredients
1 "egg" (ener-g egg replacer)
1/2 c vegan butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 1/2 c white flour (or substitute 1/2 whole wheat)
1/4 c cocoa (unsweetened)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c or more semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350*. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a pyrex, small bowl, or small foodprocessor, whip together "egg" (2 TB water + 1 1/2 tsp egg replacer = 1 egg).
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add "egg" and extracts.
In another large bowl, combine flours, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the butter mixture and mix well. Then add chocolate chips. Because of the reduced butter, this dough will appear very dry and crumbly. However, under pressure, it becomes the consistency of dry fudge. Using a fair amount of hand strength, press dough into small blobs, then roll into spheres (1 to 1.5-in diameter).
Place cookies on parchment paper-lined sheets. Cookies need not be spaced out very much.
Bake for 10 minutes. Cookies will still be very soft, but they will begin to crack open, and a toothpick inserted will come out clean. Allow cookies to sit and cool on baking sheet before moving them (they are fragile at first!). Makes 3 or 4 dozen small cookies.