When I was a young girl, my parents enrolled me in brownies. I remember despising my 'brownie' outfit, the ugly brown dress, the lame orange scarf, the sash that used to fall off when walking, and the obnoxiously itchy stockings. My mom always made me wear leotards/nylons whenever I wore a dress. What's up with that? I think back in the day, it was probably considered a faux pas to be caught with your bare legs showing. I remember thinking that when I was old enough to dress myself, I would never wear stockings again, and I haven't. True story. I did think brownies was pretty awesome though - besides the attire. One summer I went away for the weekend on a brownie retreat. We went 'fake camping', as in slept indoors and had a fake fire with tissue paper for flames. That weekend, I lost my favorite pink blanket. I remember thinking that I had lost a piece of my childhood, that I was no longer a kid with a blanket, just an older kid with no blanket, who knew how to make a fake fire.
I wish I had of been interested in gymnastics, ballet, rock climbing, snow boarding. Something cool. If I had of taken gymnastics, then I would probably be able to do a cartwheel, a handstand, or the splits. In the past month or so, I've been making many attempts to stand on my hands and force my legs into the splits position, but being upside down is weird, and I'm pretty sure it is completely unnatural for my legs to split in that manner. Or maybe if I had of been enrolled in boy scouts, I would know how to tie a thousand knots and make a real fire. Totally kidding, I know how to make a real fire. When I was growing up, me and my family lived in the forest. I was basically a boy scout. I was more bad ass then any of the boys I knew. My dad taught me all sorts of survival skills, like never eat anything in the forest. Probably saved my life a couple of times.
After brownies, I graduated to girl guides. I don't remember many details of girl guides, or even what we did for that matter. My only memory was winning 'best costume' at a girl guide Halloween party. I was dressed as a vampire, and it totally rocked, true blood style. That year, my sister went as Cleopatra. My mom spent weeks making her costume, and I was so jealous. What a brat I was. The only other thing I remember about girl guides, was those cookies. I hated selling them, but I loved eating them. When I was a girl guide, we only had chocolate and vanilla. A couple of years later, they upgraded to chocolate mint. To be honest, I'm glad I was past my girl guiding days when they introduced the chocolate mint cookies. I would have likely eaten to many and made myself sick. I know this too be true, because my dad once got a case of Cadbury cream eggs from work. I remember there being like a thousand cream eggs {when I was young, any number over 20 was like a thousand}. I would bring them to school and hand out to my favorite friends, while also trying to lure in new ones. Now, the thought of a cream egg makes me feel a little queasy.
[Print Recipe]
THIN MINT COOKIE RECIPE
makes 36 cookies
recipe adapted from 101 Cookbooks
Ingredients
8 ounces of butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 package (12 oz) of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
Directions
1. In a large bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and continue to mix until creamy.
2. Add the vanilla extract and the cocoa powder and mix until the consistency of chocolate frosting.
3. Add the salt and whole wheat pastry flour, and beat until the dough sticks together but is still a bit crumbly.
4. Drop the dough onto a floured surface and knead together to form a ball. Flatten into a disc and wrap in Saran wrap. Place in the freezer and let chill for 20 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. Take the dough out of the freezer and place it between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thin. With a cookie cutter, cut out your desired shapes. If the dough becomes to soft to lift the cookies onto the cookie tray, place the rolled, cut dough on a baking tray, and place it back in the freezer for 10 minutes. The cookies should then peel off of the parchment paper with ease.
7. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes.
8. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips with the peppermint extract.
9. Dip the cookies into the chocolate and place on parchment paper to dry. To speed up the cooling process, place the cookies in the fridge or freezer.
THIN MINT COOKIE RECIPE
makes 36 cookies
recipe adapted from 101 Cookbooks
Ingredients
8 ounces of butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 package (12 oz) of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
Directions
1. In a large bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and continue to mix until creamy.
2. Add the vanilla extract and the cocoa powder and mix until the consistency of chocolate frosting.
3. Add the salt and whole wheat pastry flour, and beat until the dough sticks together but is still a bit crumbly.
4. Drop the dough onto a floured surface and knead together to form a ball. Flatten into a disc and wrap in Saran wrap. Place in the freezer and let chill for 20 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. Take the dough out of the freezer and place it between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thin. With a cookie cutter, cut out your desired shapes. If the dough becomes to soft to lift the cookies onto the cookie tray, place the rolled, cut dough on a baking tray, and place it back in the freezer for 10 minutes. The cookies should then peel off of the parchment paper with ease.
7. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes.
8. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips with the peppermint extract.
9. Dip the cookies into the chocolate and place on parchment paper to dry. To speed up the cooling process, place the cookies in the fridge or freezer.
