Mint Slices

A quick warning- there’s a potential I may bombard you over the next day or so. With the semester coming to a close and online school for my kids slowing down for the break, I’ve had time to bake over the past few days. I want to share all the recipes! I won’t, but I’ll share as many as I can while I have this brief bit of space. You already have my sugar cookie recipe (didn’t work so well in Puerto Rico’s humidity, but made some cute snowmen this year!).

While we gave most of the baked goods away, I made sure to save enough for us all to sample at least a bite of each. I had the family rank in preference for the sake of figuring out which recipe to share first, and these mint slices won. Admittedly, our family may be partial to these. When we lived in Australia, most fell in love with Tim Tams, but I only had eyes for Mint Slices. Marry a Thin Mint with a Peppermint Patty, and they produce Mint Slices. When friends travel to Oz, my request is always to bring back a package of Mint Slices. I have been known to pack a suitcase within a suitcase so that I can fill the extra suitcase with all the Aussie biscuits. For those stateside, you can find them somewhat regularly now at World Market!

A couple years ago, I attempted to make my own Mint Slices. They hit the spot, and they were so pretty. I actually planned to share the recipe here this holiday season, but they’re quite a bit of work. Then I saw a post from a Kiwi a few days ago with these Mint Slice bars. I tried them immediately, have made them twice now, and realized this is the version to share. So much easier. And there is no baking involved!! If you’ve been enjoying the outdoor fires and s’mores, there’s a chance you may already have all the ingredients on hand. The only ingredient you might have a little trouble with is the vanilla bean paste. If you have a Wegmans or Sur La Table, they should have it. Or there’s always Amazon, though it’s generally more spendy there.

The base is essentially a graham cracker crust with cocoa powder. The original recipe also has 1 cup of desiccated coconut, but I didn’t want anything competing with the mint/chocolate combo so I omitted it. Feel free to add. Don’t skip the parchment paper in the pan. You can just use one piece and make sure it goes up all four sides about an inch. Or you can use two pieces to create more of a sling. I tried both ways. Didn’t notice a difference, so I’ll just use one sheet in the future.