(Thin) Mint Cookies & Cream Slab Cake

Eating Andes mints on repeat, a house fully dedicated to Thin Mints, too I have been chasing this one for months. Part giant Oreo of your dreams, part ice box cake, this Thin Mint Cookies & Cream Cookie Cake is a stunner on the eyes and the taste buds and is my bulls-eye mint dessert moment in texture, vis and nostalgia. And best yet, it gets better with age and loves to be made in advance.

Mint + chocolate + clear vanilla extract hits on a bright freshness (mint), acidity (chocolate) and creaminess (clear vanilla) making our pallet feel like it’s hit a home run. 

When gathering ingredients note:

-Clear vanilla extract is the creamy, dreamy lighter cousin of dark vanilla extract. It’s THE essence of the center of an Oreo among many other nostalgic flavors (creamsicle! birthday frosting!)

-Peppermint extract is the mint chip moment you want. MINT extract will give more toothpaste- which I personally keep solely for toothbrushing sessions and out of my baking pantry.

-Corn syrup- love it, hate it. It cues our taste buds that something nostalgic is HERE, and usually that’s a creamy, dreamy, vanilla moment

-Shortening- not only vegan friendly (did you know Oreos are coincidentally vegan?!) using shortening for part of this recipe ensures that butter doesn’t try to steal the flavor mic from the clear vanilla and peppermint moments and importance in balancing flavor here. You can go full shortening in both the frosting and cookie if you like!

A note on technique: We’ve kind of served you wrong as a baking community, telling you to refrigerate a brick of dough you’re then meant to temper, roll out, flour the surface to avoid sticking, but not too much, and not too little. Are you frustrated/exhausted/disenchanted yet? Yeah, me too. Until I realized, you can just take your cut out cookie dough out of the bowl, roll between two sheets of parchment while still malleable, removing the need for extra flour, zero instance of sticking. Chilling after produces the same “resting” of the dough (ensuring a tender, snappy product out of the oven), cutting and moving the dough is then a breeze and you, of course remain king/queen/royalty of the kitchen.

Why does it get better with age?

Some baked goods are meant to be eaten a la minute- chocolate souffle, chocolate chip cookie dough, a pavlova, freshly topped with curd and fruit. But don’t turn your nose up at an aged baked good- it can also equally be the best thing, provided you understand the why. In this case, over a day or two, both the moisture and flavors migrate from frosting to cookie round creating an unbelievable melding effect- the cookie softens just enough to slice softly, the frosting firms up a bit more and the mint cookies & cream flavor is even more a knockout.

Size it as you like!

I love a 6” slab, but you can make 3 x 9” rounds or several mini handheld versions. You’re in charge.