Homemade Thin Mints

     Thiiin Miiints.  The iconic, universally loved Girl Scout cookie.  I somehow missed the opportunity to order a box this year.  And there were no Girl Scouts selling them in front of my grocery store.  Damn. 

     I needed my annual fix.  Can I make them at home?  Surely, someone else has thought of doing this and  has posted their recipe online.  A quick search and Allrecipes.com came to my rescue. 

     These cookies taste very, very much like Thin Mints.  Thin Mints are a touch crispier but these cookies, if you gave them to a poor sod who had never had the Real Thing...he would swoon with delight.  They are Really Good.

     Even better: they are ridiculously easy to make.  You dip Nilla Wafers into melted Andes mint chocolate chips.  Are you sold yet?  I am.  These are definitely going into the Christmas cookie rotation. 

     P.S. To my awesome friend Amber: Yes, you have some coming your way!
     P.P.S. To my awesome friend Merrily: Thanks for the double boiler!  I love it!

Homemade Thin Mints
Adapted from Thin Mint Crackers at Allrecipes.com
Makes approximately 40 cookies

Ingredients:
1 box of Nilla Wafers
10 oz bag of Andes mint chocolate chips*
1 tbsp shortening*

Directions:

1) Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Set aside.

2) Fill the bottom half of a double boiler with about 2 cups of water.  Bring the water to a boil and place the top half of the double boiler on top.

3) Put the Andes mint chocolate chips in the top half of the double boiler.  Add 1 tbsp of shortening.  Stir until completely melted.

4) Drop the Nilla Wafers into the melted chocolate.  Using a fork, flip the wafer in the chocolate until it is completely covered.  Use the fork to lift the wafer out of the chocolate, tap the fork on the rim of the double boiler so that the excess chocolate drips off.  Shimmy the chocolate coated wafer onto the cookie sheet.  Repeat with the remaining Nilla Wafers.  I was able to get through 2/3 of the Nilla Wafers box before I ran out of chocolate.

5) Set the cookie sheet in the freezer or refrigerator to set.  It takes about 15 minutes. 

*The shortening helps keep the chocolate coating from melting in your hands when you eat the cookies.  Although melted chocolate on your fingers ain't a bad thing either!

Nutrition Information Per Cookie:
Calories: 53.3, Total Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 3.5mg, Total Carbohydrates: 7g, Fiber: 0g, Protein: 2g