I have so much enjoyed the Saudi recipes that I have learned from my dear Mother-in-Law and Saudi friends. In turn, they have all told me how they have enjoyed receiving some traditional American recipes from me too. Since this is the season when many expats in the Kingdom and other places around the world like to do special baking of goodies, I thought I’d share a recipe that I enjoy. It is from one of my very favorite cooking magazines, “Taste of Home,” which thankfully has its great web site too.
This recipe is called Chocolate Mint Truffle Cookies. However I have discovered if you prefer to make them flat, rather than rounded like truffles, they taste very much like the Girl Scouts Thin Mint Cookies!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter, cubed
- 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup baking cocoa
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 package (4.6 ounces) mint Andes candies, chopped, divided
- 2 teaspoons shortening, divided (white Crisco)
- 1/2 cup vanilla or white chips
- Optional toppings: chopped nuts, sprinkles and crushed candy canes or crushed peppermints
Directions
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Remove from the heat; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Stir in the egg, sugars and extracts. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; stir into chocolate mixture. Fold in 3/4 cup Andes candies.
- Roll rounded tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Place 2-in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until tops appear slightly dry. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
- In a microwave, melt 1 teaspoon shortening and remaining chocolate chips and Andes candies; stir until smooth. Melt vanilla chips and remaining shortening in a microwave; stir until smooth.
- Dip half of the cookies in melted chocolate mixture; dip remaining cookies in melted vanilla mixture. Immediately sprinkle with toppings of your choice. Let stand until set. Yield: about 2-1/2 dozen.
And fortunately all the ingredients can be found at Tamimi’s in Saudi Arabia.
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Carol,
The perfect time of year to bring up ‘Taste of Home’. They have the best assortment of holiday dessert recipes. Their headquarters are in my city; they have the test kitchens, a store and everything. My Mom is obsessed with that magazine and used to drag me to that store all the time….so unfortunately, I’ve grown weary of their recipes a LONG time ago (and they tend to not be the healthiest either, unfortunately). So I’ve got “Taste of Home” burnout, but that recipe made me smile, my Mom would be ALL OVER that one. Thanks for sharing.
OMGosh, those look so YUMMY!! I made home made truffles once from Kraftfoods.com and boy, did they turn out AWESOME!!! I remember putting them out for guests and it was like eaten in the space of 5 minutes!! LOL That good , yep!
They were not that hard to make but of course anything home made takes time and effort. Yet, honestly, everything home made is BEST, in my opinion!!!
Miss talking to ya’ Carol, hope everything’s going well with you, Insha’Allah. Please keep in touch!
Those look and sound delicious. Thanks for sharing!
They got a high rating from my family here! I made Divinity (kind of like vanilla fudge with pecans) but I guess I chose the wrong day. It was raining and didn’t harden like it is supposed to. ): Although we are now using it as a topping over ice cream or puttling a dollop in with hot chocolate or latte.
Carol: Yep, humidity will literally throw a wet blanket on divinity. Almost anything with a very high sugar (or salt) content will suck up humidity from the air, leaving soggy, if not liquid, results.
An option is to make it on really dry days or to wait until central heating or A/C have dehumidified the kitchen.
I’m still blaming it on that my son does not have a candy thermometer! It’s the first time I ever failed at this dessert….although we have discovered softened divinity is delicious over ice cream, in hot chocolate as well as in latte!