Homemade Thin Mints

So, yesterday I was making dinner and stepped on a turtle.

Wait, let me rewind.

We have this adorable little triscuit-sized turtle (named Triscuit, hehe) which swims around in a fancy-shmancy bowl that we keep outside, away from the saber toothed-cat that likes to play with the turtle. But Sunday night, the turtle was inside after a bowl cleaning.

We went to bed, forgetting about Triscuit, and in the morning, realized our grave mistake.

Sometime during the night, monster-cat Mao flipped Triscuit out of his peaceful home and onto the floor, and we went crazy trying to find him before work. Alas, he was lost in the (relative) vastness of our apartment.
Fast forward to when I returned home and started making dinner, listening to my siblings trying to find Triscuit. "Tristcuit, you get back here right now!" my sister declared.
As if by magic, a few seconds later, my piggy toe landed on something hard and unusual. My subconsciousness knew what it was, and as I looked down, I shrieked. Triscuit.

So, the lost was found, but my piggy toe is still a little freaked out. Look, don't touch, is my policy when it comes to turtles.

Which leads me to what else is triscuit-sized but doesn't freak me out. Thin mints! The wonderful chocolate-mint girl scout cookie that is always there for you. Actually...no they're not. They're only sold at rare, magical times throughout the year. BUT, they can always be there for you if you know this recipe! 'Cause it's pretty dang close to the real thing--in fact, better.

So apparently it's a thing to keep thin mints in your freezer. I have never tried it, but I have tried keeping these homemade thin mints in the fridge, and they were fantastic--so crisp and minty, with an indulgent coat of chocolate. So I definitely suggest cooling them. Definitely.

A few notes about the recipe before you get baking. I didn't include the original recipe here because Sally's post is so comprehensive. She's amazing, yo. But, here are a few things that I learned while making them.
You CAN use chocolate chips instead of bars of semi-sweet chocolate. They don't melt as well, but just mix them often while melting, and do not burn them. Trust me, not pretty.
I used a fork to dip my cookies into the chocolate, as suggested. However, the tapping part did not go so well since the chocolate chips melted into a pretty thick liquid. What did work was after dipping a cookie, I smoothed the chocolate over the cookie with my finger while balancing the cookie on a fork. Messy, but they ended up with a rustic charm.
As I finished chocolate coating a few cookies, I popped them into the freezer for a few minutes to harden up before stacking them all together in the fridge. Didn't want that chocolate to smudge!

So, with that, get baking!

P.S. Watch where you step in the kitchen. I don't make this stuff up ^^

Find the recipe at: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2016/03/09/homemade-thin-mint-cookies/