Chocolate Mint Surprises
Before mom started making them, I had never seen anything like these Chocolate Mint Surprises. In fact, until I started researching for this post, I still had not seen anything quite like these cookies. It turns out that this recipe is a homemade version of the Australian Mint Slice biscuit released by Arnott’s in the 1960’s. In the US, the closest correlation is the Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies which have a similar flavor profile (and if you are a fan of Thin Mints, you will definitely be a fan of these), but Thin Mints lack the contrasting textures that these Chocolate Mint Surprises offer by layering the crisp cookie base with a cool, refreshing mint cream – something which I think elevates these cookies above the Thin Mints.
I can’t remember exactly when mom started making these. I know it was before I left for college and I remember her making them for several years at least before I left. I’m sure she must have made them at least once before she added them to her Christmas cookie line up, but I only ever remember them being made at Christmas time. The recipe makes a large batch (~80 cookies) and it is time consuming to make the individual components, assemble and dip each cookie, so I understand why these became a special occasion cookie for her.
These, along with the York Sensation Brownies, were a particular favorite of my husband’s – he was pretty excited to see that I was making them. This was the first time my daughter had ever tried these and she has been quite enjoying them, asking if she can have the “pattie cookies” for dessert. My sons had had the opportunity to try these before, but they were very young at the time and did not remember them, so they’ve been enjoying discovering them all over again.
As I’ve mentioned before, when posting about my Dark Chocolate Mint Thumbprints, I’m not a huge fan of mint. I don’t hate it, but it always gives me toothpaste vibes which is not exactly what I’m looking for in a dessert. But, I do love some peanut butter with my chocolate. One year in high school, I suggested to mom that she try a peanut butter variation of these cookies. We were already making the Magic in the Middle Cookies, which had a peanut butter filling that could be rolled into balls – so why not use that same filling to replace the mint cream portion of this recipe? Nothing else needed to change, it sounded like an easy swap. So we tried it and they were a huge success! Essentially we had recreated the Girl Scout Tagalongs with a chocolate cookie base instead of the plain shortbread cookie base (to my way of looking, a definite improvement 🙂)
Now mom had two versions of the cookies that, once enrobed in chocolate, looked identical. How were people to know which cookie they were selecting from the tray? What if someone hated mint or peanut butter or had an allergy? That is when she decided to switch to the colored candy melts to enrobe the cookies – green candy melts for the mint cookies and red candy melts for the peanut butter cookies. As an added bonus, the new color coding added pops of bright, seasonally appropriate colors to the Christmas trays. When I was recreating the recipe for this post, I decided to make both variations, just like mom did, and I decided to do some with the colored candy melts and some with the chocolate candy melts. I still wanted to be able to see at a glance which cookie was which, so I added a drizzle of the colored candy melts on top of the chocolate.
I bet there could be many other successful variations – just imagine how many different flavors of buttercream there are! I’d love to try a caramel version – either a caramel buttercream, whipped caramel, or maybe even a chewy caramel layer (Twix, anyone?). How about a vanilla, cookies and cream or cookie dough adaptation? If you enjoy fruit with your chocolate, maybe a raspberry, strawberry or cherry buttercream would work. This is another great opportunity to play around and make your own best version of the recipe. I hope you all enjoy!
Equipment
Ingredients
Method
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.2 1/2 cups (330 g) flour, 1 1/2 tsp (1 ½ tsp) baking powder, 1/2 tsp (½ tsp) salt
- Cream butter and sugar together until light, fluffy and pale in color.3/4 cup (168 g) butter, 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.1 egg, 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla
- Add the melted chocolate and mix until homogonous.3 oz (85 g) unsweetened chocolate
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture. Mix just until combined and a soft dough forms.
- Shape the dough into 2 10″ long rolls, wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.
- Preheat your oven to 375° F
- Unwrap the dough and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place the slices 2″ apart on ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes or until the edges are firm. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
- Combine the powdered sugar, butter, milk, peppermint extract and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.4 cups (480 g) powdered sugar, 3 tbsp (42 g) butter, 1/4 cup (60 ml) evaporated milk, 2-3 tsp (10 ml) peppermint extract, 1/2 tsp (½ tsp) vanilla
- Shape into 1/2″ balls (use a #110 cookie scoop). Place a ball on the center of each cookie and flatten to an even thickness.
- Freeze the cookies for about 30 minutes.
- Place the compound chocolate in a microwave safe bowl or double boiler. Melt, stirring frequently, until completely smooth.2 lbs (907 g) candy melts
- Remove the cookies from the freezer. Dip each cookie in the melted compound chocolate to completely cover. Place on wax paper until set.
- Remove from the wax paper, store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
Preparation Notes:
- Peppermint extract is very strong, start with a small amount and increase to taste – I found that 2 tsp was plenty.
- I recommend increasing the salt to 3/4 – 1 tsp and adding 1/2 – 1 tsp espresso powder to the dough, this helps bring out the chocolate flavor in the cookie base
- If you’d like to use actual chocolate rather than the compound chocolate/candy coating, be aware that you will need to temper the chocolate. Otherwise it will not set properly and will quickly melt when in contact with your hands.
Peanut Butter Variation Filling (use to replace the mint filling)
- 2 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Private Notes
Nutrition
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