Dirty Girl Scout Cookies



 Contributed by Lucy Baker

For most adults, Halloween means two things: candy and liquor. To satisfy both cravings, you could mix up a decadently sweet cocktail or try to come up with a recipe that pairs well with a Butterfinger. But fortunately, there’s another option—spirited baking.

 We turned to Lucy Baker’s handy book The Boozy Baker, which came out this summer and features recipes for 75 cakes, pies, cookies and more that all call for alcohol, plus 25 cocktails to go along with them.

 Desserts that include liquor really aren’t that strange. In fact, there’s a long tradition of combing the two—think bourbon pecan pie and rum-raisin ice cream. (Heck, vanilla extract is basically just a flavored spirit: FDA regulations say it must be 35 percent alcohol at minimum.) And Baker uses everything from gin and to Jägermeister in her delicious creations.

 For Halloween, we figured her Dirty Girl Scout Cookies would be both a treat and a trick. They look like standard-issue bake sale chocolate-coffee cookies, but they’re glazed with a potent mix of Irish cream, coffee liqueur and crème de menthe. And each one is topped with a Junior Mint for good measure. But please only give them to grown-up trick-or-treaters.

 

INGREDIENTS:

 •.5 lb Unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
 •1 cup Granulated sugar
 •.5 cup packed Light brown sugar
 •2 Eggs
 •.5 tsp Vanilla extract
 •2 tsp Instant espresso powder
 •2 cups All-purpose flour
 •two-thirds cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
 •1 tsp Baking soda
 •1 tsp Salt
 •1.75 cups Powdered sugar
 •2 tbsp Irish cream liqueur
 •1 tbsp Coffee liqueur
 •1 tbsp Crème de menthe
 •Junior Mint candies (one per cookie)
 

PREPARATION:

 Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

 Cream together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, vanilla and espresso powder, and beat until combined.

 In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary and beating until just combined.

 Roll about 3 tablespoons of the dough into a ball and place on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing balls about 2 inches apart. Bake until the cookies have flattened and are cooked through, about 15 to 18 minutes. Cool on the baking for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

 In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and the three liqueurs until smooth. Drizzle glaze evenly over the cookies (about 1 teaspoon per cookie), and press a Junior Mint into the center of each.

 Recipe Source: http://www.wirtzbeveragegroup.com/wirtzbeverageillinois/?p=627