Mint Dipped Oreos

So easy to make, and hugely popular.

• Oreos
• Chocolate (about a pound will cover about four dozen cookies)
• Peppermint oil (I got a tiny vial at a candy making store, and it's lasted for a few years. I don't think it's the same stuff as peppermint extract.)

Melt the chocolate. You can use the microwave if you're careful, or a double boiler, but I like using my small crockpot. Add a SMALL amount of peppermint oil. You do not need very much. For the last batch I did, I used about a pound of chocolate and maybe a quarter teaspoon peppermint, and I think they were just right. Maybe a tiny bit more, but only at your own risk.

I worked with a woman who tried making these once, and didn't get the concept of "a SMALL amount." She said that they smelled so strongly of peppermint that you could have used them for air fresheners, and she had to take the garbage bag out to the garage immediately.

Put an oreo into the melted chocolate, flip it over to coat thoroughly, then fish it out with a fork or other implement. I have a two-pronged plastic utensil that works very well, also bought at the candy making store. Tap the fork against the edge of the crockpot to get the extra chocolate off the cookie, then slide the cookie onto a cookie sheet or other flat area that's been covered with plastic wrap, tin foil, wax paper, etc. This is the most time consuming and painstaking part. You want to get off as much chocolate as you can so it doesn't all drip down on to the pan and pool unattractively. But it never fails that at least once while I'm tapping off the extra, the cookie will fall back into the chocolate. Cursing ensues, and I start over.

Also, only do one cookie at a time. Don't try to get ahead of the game by putting a few in the chocolate at once, because by the time you fish them out, they'll get mushy or break or do something else equally unattractive.

Once they're done and cool, you can drizzle to top with white chocolate, but that's just for looks.

Make LOTS, because you and everyone you know won't be able to stop eating them!