Homemade Chocolate-Thin Mint Cookies

A recipe shared by Sara Richins for Valentine's Day, but which leads nicely into our copycat meeting coming up!

Recipe found at http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/01/04/homemade-girl-scout-cookies-thin-mints/

Homemade Chocolate-Thin Mint Cookies
Cocoa Wafer Cookies
3 T. butter
1 egg white
1/4 c. brown sugar
pinch of Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. flour (plus 1/4 c.)
2 drops pure peppermint oil
Combine all ingredients together. Add flour as needed, until dough is roll-able and not sticky at all. Roll verrrry thin. Cut into desired shapes. Bake at 325 for 4-7 minutes, or until cookies have firmed and browned slightly around edges. Remove from oven and cool.
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Peppermint Buttercream Layer
2 c. powdered sugar
4 T. melted butter
2-3 drops pure peppermint oil
1/2 tsp. heavy whipping cream
Mix together until it becomes thick and easy to roll with a rolling pin. Roll until about 1/4″ thick. Cut into desired shape. Place atop cooled cookies. Place cookies into melted chocolate CANDIQUIK, spoon chocolate atop until fully covered. Allow to dry on a piece of parchment paper. Makes about 30 cookies.

Granola Bars & Granola Crumbles

Thank you, Melissa, for sharing these recipes (and tasty samples) at our February meeting:

Granola Bars

2 c granola

2 c old-fashioned oatmeal

1 c raisins or chopped dried apricots

1 c sunflower or sesame seeds

½ c peanuts, broken or chopped

1 c honey

½ c peanut butter

2 eggs, beaten

4 Tbs. margarine

Butter a 9x13-baking pan.  Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Combine the honey and peanut butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until smooth and liquid.

Add the beaten eggs slowly (or they’ll separate), stirring continuously until the mixture begins to boil.  Remove from the heat, stir in the margarine.  Let cool to room temperature.

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir to coat evenly.  Spoon mixture into prepared pan and smooth using the back of the spoon.

Refrigerate covered for at least two hours before cutting into squares.  Wrap these individually in waxed paper, foil or plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Granola Crumble

 4 c oats

1 c wheat germ

1 c chopped walnuts or slivered almonds

½ c sesame seeds

¼ c brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

1/3 c vegetable oil

1/3 c honey

1/3 c water

1 6oz. dried sweetened cranberries

Heat oven to 300 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oats, wheat germ, nuts, sesame seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the oil, honey and water.  Toss until well combined.

Spread the mixture evenly on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 40 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring every 10 minutes to keep the mixture from sticking.  Let it cool, and then stir in the cranberries.  Store in an airtight container.  Makes about 7 cups.

A Few Granola Tips

To me, granola has always been considered a "health food," so I was a little surprised when I looked at the Nutrition Facts of one granola recipe--it was very high in fat and high in calories.  I had to remind myself that nuts are naturally high in fat--but the good kind of fat. I was happy to find there was 0 Trans Fat and Saturated Fat was only about 1/4 of the total fat.

So, health-wise, a little goes a long way. A sprinkling on top of yogurt, a small bowl with milk, or a simple granola bar could be a great source of fiber and various vitamins/minerals.

As for cost-efficiency, most at our February meeting felt that it didn't really save any money to make your own. The benefit, however, is that you can add what you want to your mixture--raisins, cranberries, marshmallows, chocolate chips. You can also avoid things your family doesn't enjoy or can't tolerate. For example, we have a tree-nut allergy in our house and I can't buy store-bought granola because they all have at least one type of tree nut (that I've found so far). So making if myself makes me feel a little bit safer.

Side note: after I proudly served my home-made granola, I found out that my allergic-kid doesn't even like granola. But maybe that's because it's always led to scratchy throats before. :)

Two tips for granola making:

1. If you toast your nuts and seed before mixing everything together, you'll get a darker, rich flavor.
2. If you are baking the mixture (which most recipes call for), don't overbake. The granola will continue to crisp after you've pulled it out of the oven. Nothing say's "I love you" like non-burned granola. My kids wish they have experienced this kind of love before. I'll keep trying... :)

Whole Lotta Nuts Granola

Thanks to Denise for sharing this great recipes from Mary Rollins!

Whole Lotta Nuts Granola

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup hulled green pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds or pine nuts
1/2 cup crushed pecans or walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Optional:
1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates
1/2 cup dried cranberries, blueberries, or combination

Preheat oven to 324 degrees.

Mix the honey, oil and spices together before pouring it over the oats, nuts, and seeds in a 9 x 13 pan. Bake, stirring every 10 minutes to keep from sticking or burning, for about 20 minutes. (Do not overcook; the granola will crisp more when cooled.) Cool the granola on top of the stove and then stir in dried fruits. Granola may be kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

Crock Pot Yogurt

Ingredients:

8 cups (half-gallon) milk 

1/2 cup store-bought live/active culture plain yogurt

Directions:

Pour milk into crockpot and turn to low. Cover and cook for 2 1/2 hours.

Unplug crockpot. Leave cover on, and let sit for 3 hours.
 

When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of milk. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt to the 2 cups, then pour all back into the crockpot. Stir to combine. If desired, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup powdered milk, to help thicken.

Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keeping it unplugged, wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.

Let it sit for 8 hours or overnight.

In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened. :)

Stir thoroughly until yogurt is smooth. Pour into containers and chill in refrigerator for several hours. 

After chilling, and if desired, drain extra liquid (whey) by putting yogurt into a cheese-cloth or coffee filter lined colander. Reserve whey for cooking (see link below).

Save 1/2 cup as a starter your next batch.

Serve plain or sweetened. Sweeten with honey, fruit puree, instant pudding mix, jam, etc. Use plain as a substitute for sour cream or buttermilk.

Uses for Whey

Homemade Yogurt Basics

Yogurt is easy to make, and making it yourself can save a lot of money. Essentially a gallon of milk would make a gallon of yogurt. (Think $2 for the milk plus maybe .50 cents for add-ins. That's the same as paying for only a quart of yogurt, if it's on sale).

There are several methods of making it, but they all involve the same science. In a nut-shell he's what to do, and I'll also post the recipe I used on this blog.

1. Heat milk to 185 degrees (to prepare milk proteins).
2. Let milk come down to 110 degrees (the temp that yogurt bacterias can multiply).
3. Pitch the yogurt (add a little yogurt with active cultures that will then multiply through the milk).
4. Let it set for 7-8 hours or overnight keeping the temperature at 110 (the longer you let it ferment, the thicker & tangier the yogurt will be).

That's pretty much it, but there are some other tips that will make the yogurt even better. For example, the yogurt will be pretty runny. If you'd like it thicker you can add powdered milk when you pitch. After it's fermented, you can let it sit in the fridge for several hours to thicken. You can also strain it through a coffee filter or cheesecloth over a colander. The liquid that drains out is whey, which can be used in other cooking or tossed. (I happened to make bread with mine -replacing the milk with the whey- and I was very happy with the result.)

You can flavor the yogurt with just about anything--honey, fruit puree, jam, sugar. To ease my family into homemade yogurt (it's definitely not go-gurt), I added a little instant vanilla pudding powder. It thickened and sweetened without losing the tang. I figure after a couple goes with that, they'll be ready for a little more authentic taste.

When you pitch your milk, be aware that different store-bought yogurts have different numbers of active cultures. Yoplait and Dannon contain two, some store-brands zero, Stoneyfield has six. The yogurt you make will only multiply the original bacterias you put in. Keep a little of your homemade yogurt each time because you can use that to pitch the next batch.

Finally, there are several methods to heat the milk (stove-top, hot chocolate maker, crock-pot) and several methods to keep the milk at 110 degrees (heating pad, oven's pilot light, thick towel around crock pot, dehydrator). There are also yogurt makers out there that will do everything for you.

I used a crock pot method, which was nice because I didn't have to move my pot around a lot, but it did add about 4 hours of time (waiting for the milk to heat & then cool to 110). There are definitely quicker methods out there, although all will need the 8 or so hours to ferment..

So those are the basics. I found a lot of information on-line, and you all had great suggestions. Thanks especially to Mimi and Rachele! I also really liked this site to understand what was happening during each step.

I'd love to know who has made yogurt & how you did it!