Ritz Cracker Cookies and Cream & Health Bar Cookies

A good advertising campaign is one that we remember.  It's not the flash and dazzle, the talking dogs, the cute babies, or endearing old people.  It pretty much all boils down to a clever slogan that becomes burned into our brains.  One of the best slogans that I can recall was created back in the late seventies/early eighties and spoken by a trustworthy pitchman in the form of Andy Griffith.  We believed him when he said, "Everything tastes better when it sits on a Ritz."  We not only believed him, we remembered him, at least I did.  This is a slogan that I remember to this day, and do you know what?  It turned out to be true!  And this goes for both sweet and savory.  

After the great success I had with the Thin Mint Clones, I decided to continue to experiment and came up with two other recipes that are as least as good as the Mint Cookies, if not better (my husband swooned over the Cookies and Cream).  They are also ridiculously quick and easy.  I made both at the same time I was making a pot of mushroom soup. 

Cookies and Cream Cookies
 Total Time: 25 minutes
 Yield: 10-12 cookies

1 cup Ghirardelli white chocolate chips

1 teaspoon solid shortening (I used Crisco)

2 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed (I used Oreos)

10-12 Ritz crackers

1/4 cup Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Melt white chocolate chips and shortening in a heat-resistant bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir in crushed cookies. Drop Ritz crackers, one at a time, into the warm mixture, turning to coat. Place on baking sheet to harden (you can expedite this by putting them into the refrigerator for about 5 minutes). After all crackers have been covered in the mixture and have been allowed to hardening, melt dark chocolate chips in a small bowl in the microwave. Using a small spoon, scoop up melted chocolate and drizzle it over the cookies in a back and forth motion.

I made the Heath cookies first and used the extra chocolate to drizzle over the Cookies & Cream.

Heath Bar Cookies

Total Time: 15 minutes
 Yield: 10-12 cookies

1 cup Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

10-12 Ritz crackers

1/4 cup Heath brand brickle chips

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Melt milk chocolate chips in a heat-resistant bowl set over a pan of simmering water. When melted and creamy, drop Ritz crackers, one at a time, into the warm mixture, turning to coat. Place on baking sheet.  While chocolate is still warm, generously sprinkle Heath bits over the tops to cover.  Allow to harden (you can expedite this by putting them into the refrigerator for about 5 minutes). 

This is linked to:

Ritz Cracker Thin Mint Clones

"Remember, a balanced meal is a cookie in each hand!" - Anonymous

Just before Christmas a friend asked me if I had a good recipe for cookies that tasted like the popular Girl Scout cookie, Thin Mints. My only experience, up until now, was a recipe that Sandra Lee of the Food Network had provided some years ago which was coating vanilla wafers with mint-flavored chocolate.  So, one year I tried this, and put the cookies out on the tray.  My oldest son grabbed one, bit into it and said, "What is this, a Vanilla Wafer covered with chocolate?"  Umm, yes, it was, and it was obvious that it was.

This year, however, my daughter-in-law (different son) told me about a very simple recipe to make an amazing clone of the beloved cookies.  I tried it and am hooked. These are wonderful and the recipe couldn't be simpler.

Girl Scout Thin Mint Clone

1 12-oz. bag chocolate chips

3-4 drops peppermint oil

A sleeve of Ritz Crackers

Melt the chocolate over simmering water in the top of a double boiler.  Add peppermint oil to taste.  Dip crackers, coating well with chocolate, and place onto waxed paper to set.

I made these after midnight the evening before our Boxing Day dinner.  I used 60% cacao Ghirardelli chocolate chips and whatever happened to be left in the bottle of mint extract (my guess is probably 1/4 teaspoon). After letting them set, I decided to give them a more festive look by melting about 1/2 cup of green mint Ghirardelli chips and drizzling this over the top.

Delicious!

I'll never buy a Thin Mint again (but don't worry, Girl Scouts, there are plenty of your other offerings that I will buy!)