Use Girl Scout Cookies to Make These Next-Level Desserts

Yahoo Food
Updated

Lauren Salkeld

Yes, that’s right: It’s finally Girl Scout cookie season. To celebrate this long-awaited event, we took several boxes of cookies into the kitchen, and created three Girl Scout cookie-inspired desserts.

Tagalongs, which are also called Peanut Butter Patties, were probably the trickiest cookie to turn into a dessert but we came up with this peanut butter mousse cake. Arrange the cookies however you like to create your own pop art-style design.


We combined Samoas, AKA Caramel deLites, with vanilla ice cream to create a cookie-studded ice cream cake, drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauce. It’s super easy to make, and takes less than 30 minutes (plus freezer time) to put together.



For our Thin Mints dessert, we ground the cookies in a food processor and added butter to create a minty chocolate cookie crust, which forms the base for a luscious mint chocolate cheesecake. This is the most involved of the recipes but it’s also the most sophisticated and well worth a little extra time in the kitchen.

If you’re anything like us, you look forward to Girl Scout cookies so much that you order perhaps a few too many boxes. Now you have a several more ways to enjoy them.

THIN MINT CHEESECAKE
To create this Girl Scout cookie–inspired dessert, grind Thin Mints and use them to make the cookie crust for a luscious mint chocolate cheesecake. 

Ingredients
For the cookie crust

  • 1 (9-ounce) box Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies, coarsely chopped

  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

  • 12 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

  • 2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature

  • 1 3/4 cups sugar

  • 4 large eggs

  • 1/4 cup heavy cream

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

  • 1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Preparation

Make the cookie crust: In the bowl of a food processor, finely grind the cookies. Add the melted butter and process until the crumbs start to stick together. Press the crumb mixture firmly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Chill until ready to use.

Make the filling:Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. In a dry metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Let cool until lukewarm.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar until blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated. Add the melted chocolate, along with the heavy cream, cocoa powder, and the vanilla and peppermint extracts and beat, scraping down the bowl and paddle as necessary, until smooth and streak-free.

Pour the filling into the prepared crust, smooth the top, and bake until the center is just set, about 1 hour. Transfer to a rack to let cool for 20 minutes. Press down gently on the puffed edges to flatten then run a small sharp knife around the top edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Do not remove the pan sides. Let cool completely then cover with a double layer of plastic wrap and chill overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving, if desired. DO AHEAD: The cheesecake can be baked ahead, cooled, wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap, and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

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