Paleo Thin Mint Cookies
Girl Scout Cookie lovers! Fret no more. I’ve paleo-ized the fan favorite Thin Mint for your guiltless snacking pleasure.
The Girl Scout cookie booths and door-to-door {flawless/brilliant/sadistic marketing} scheme may have come to a close, but if you’re like me, the cookies are still haunting you. I have sleeves of Thin Mints stashed in my freezer, boxes of Trefoils hiding in my pantry, and quite possibly a few stashes of Samoas hidden in the house for a rainy day. The problem is, I can’t say no!
I was a Girl Scout allllll the way to the end. I got my Gold Award {equivalent to an Eagle Scout for you newbs} and stayed on as an advisor through college. I love the organization and experienced it a little differently than its reputation sometimes grants. I opted for the rugged, camping, stargazing, bugs everywhere, cooking with fire, horseback riding, cookies galore, hold the glitter & macaroni art, service opportunities out the wazoo, public speaking Girl Scout experience. It was an empowering experience and one that I reflect on as foundational for who I am today.
As such, when I see a Girl Scout selling cookies, I MUST buy a box. I must. There’s no way around it. Ringing my doorbell {when I’m home} or setting up a booth at my grocery store is a guaranteed sale. My purchase, however, always comes with a pep talk revolving around their Gold Award plans, college plans, and professional dreams.
The poor Girl Scouts selling cookies have to put up with this person. Yep, that’s me …sporting mah minty pants! Thank goodness for colored denim and for mint fashion sticking it out in 2013. I hope the neon trend hangs on too. I don’t know if I’m ready for the 60’s fashion revival.
Anyways, I’ve been dreaming of the day that I feel confident enough in my paleo baking skills to try out a healthier version. Thanks to everyone who voted last week on my “Thin Mints” vs. “Trefoils” paleo remake contest on Facebook and Instagram!
Although the Thin Mints won by a landslide, I promise to perfect and share my Trefoil recipe. After all, Trefoils are my Dad’s favorite and tomorrow happens to be his birthday …a perfect excuse for a trial batch!
If you’re not familiar with the Girl Scout Thin Mint, I’ll {first wipe the shock off my face and then} explain…
Thin Mints are a glorious mint-flavored chocolate cookie coated in a thin, minty, velvety chocolate frosting. They’re really refreshing, addicting, and are especially tasty when frozen.
My paleo version hits the spot. I recommend you keep them in the refrigerator so that the chocolate coating stays firm.
Enjoy!
To start off, preheat your oven to 350 F. Then, combine all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. I used Ghirardelli’s 100% Natural Unsweetened Cocoa powder for the batter.
In a separate bowl, melt the coconut oil into the honey (so that it has a more liquid consistency), whisk in the egg and the mint extract.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry.
Stir until its texture is even.
Using a melon scooper or spoon (of about 1 Tbl) scoop and place the cookie dough balls on either parchment paper or a Sil-Pad lined baking sheet.
To flatten the cookies into their “thin” size, cut a square of parchment paper to place on top of each dough ball. Using the bottom of a glass or bowl, press down to flatten the cookies.
Bake at 350 F for 13 minutes. Note: I recommend you check the cookies at about minute 11 to ensure they don’t burn … different ovens heat differently. The cookies will be soft when you take them out. Let them rest for at least 15 minutes to harden and cool before you frost them.
While the cookies are resting, begin the frosting with a double boiler. In a small/medium-sized saucepan, heat about 1” of water to a light boil. Place a glass bowl on top of the pot and fill with the dark chocolate chips.
Stir constantly until they’re completely melted.
Add in the coconut milk and mint extract.
Stir together.
Keep stirring until it’s nice and creamy.
Remove from the heat and place the cookies individually in the frosting.
Using a couple forks, flip and drain the cookies over the frosting bowl.
You can either place the cookies over wire-cooling racks so that they may further drain or on parchment paper. In the example here, I used the wire racks. With this method, the cookies stuck somewhat to the racks. Next time I make these, I’m going to use parchment paper.
Place the freshly frosted cookies in the refrigerator. Let them cool/set for at least 1 hour.
Enjoy and store in the fridge!
Paleo Thin Mint Cookies
Makes ~3 dozen
Ingredients:
Cookies:
3 cups Sifted Fine Almond Meal (like Bob’s Red Mill)
4 Tbl 100% Natural Unsweetened Cocoa (I prefer Ghirardelli)
1/8 tsp Kosher Salt
½ tsp Baking Soda
1/3 cup Honey
2 Tbl Liquid Coconut Oil
½ tsp Mint Extract
1 Egg
Frosting:
2 cups Dark Chocolate Chips
1 cup Full-Fat Coconut Milk
½ tsp Mint Extract
Directions:
Cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Combine all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, melt the coconut oil into the honey (so that it has a more liquid consistency), then whisk in the egg and the mint extract.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until its texture is even.
Using a melon scooper or spoon (of about 1 Tbl) scoop and place the cookie dough balls on either parchment paper or a Sil-Pad lined baking sheet.
To flatten the cookies into their “thin” size, cut a square of parchment paper to place on top of each dough ball. Using the bottom of a glass or bowl, press down to flatten the cookies.
Bake at 350 F for 13 minutes.
Note: I recommend you check the cookies at about minute 11 to ensure they don’t burn … different ovens heat differently.
The cookies will be soft when you take them out. Let them rest for at least 15 minutes to harden and cool before you frost them.
Frosting:
While the cookies are resting, begin the frosting with a double boiler. In a small/medium-sized saucepan, heat about 1” of water to a light boil. Place a glass bowl on top of the pot and fill with the dark chocolate chips.
Stir constantly until they’re completely melted.
Add in the coconut milk and mint extract then stir.
Remove from the heat and place the cookies individually in the frosting.
Using a couple forks, flip and drain the cookies over the frosting bowl.
You can either place the cookies over wire-cooling racks so that they may further drain or on parchment paper.
Note: In the example here, I used the wire racks. With this method, the cookies stuck somewhat to the racks. Next time I make these, I’m going to use parchment paper.
Place the freshly frosted cookies in the refrigerator. Let them cool/set for at least 1 hour.
Store in the fridge and enjoy!
Time: 40 minutes + cooling/setting time
Fed and Fit 
They look AMAZING! And I feel the exact same way about not being able to say no to the cookie sales!!
Thanks, Brenda!
I can NOT wait to try these this weekend!!
Awesome! I’d love to know how they come out! I’m constantly working to fine-tune recipes.
These look amazing!
Thanks, Amanda!
Amazing! I will definitely be trying these soon- love finding new paleo desserts to try!
Thank you! Looks like you have some pretty incredible paleo desserts too! I’d love to know your thoughts on how the cookies come out 🙂
They look great – but Paleo has no refined sugar – are your chocolate chips unsweetened? If so, what brand do you prefer? Thanks!
Thank you! You are correct – 100% paleo foods contain no sugar. My paleo baking recipes all use honey and 70%+ dark chocolate (if the recipe calls for chocolate). It’s a stretch for the sake of coming up with a healthier accessible alternative built around the paleo lifestyle. I typically prefer Ghirardelli chocolate products. Their chocolate baking squares and chips have a really nice consistency. The frosting could be attempted with unsweetened baking chocolate (again, I would gravitate towards Ghirardelli) and then later sweetened with honey.
Enjoy Life is a brand of chocolate chips that is generally considered paleo…
I love that brand! And, I’ve noticed that more stores are starting to carry them =0)
Oh I adore Ghiradelli! I’m also a fan of E Guittard. I must send these on to the Thin Mint maniacs I know…(and of course, I’ll just “have” to bookmark the recipe for myself too…)
Thanks so much! =0)
Of course! Thank you!! Putting E Guittard on my list 🙂
Oh I must try this soon. I have been missing cookies. I am looking forward to the trifoil ones too
I’d love to know what you think of them, Shirley! I’ll keep working on the trefoils until they’re absolutely perfect.
Reblogged this on Salt and Sunbeams and commented:
This looks like a really good idea
Oh my!! Those are my favorite cookies!!! I can’t wait to try these!
They’re one of my favorites too 🙂 I hope you like them!
I have a tree nut allergy, therefore, i cannot use almond meal. What else would you recommend for this recipe besides almond meal?
Hmm …I have not tried this recipe with any nut-free flours. I would probably begin by experimenting with a seed flour. Sunflower flour would be a good place to start. You can make your own by grabbing some unroasted sunflower seeds in bulk and blend until they’re an even powder. The nutrient profile of the sunflower seed will be different than the almond flour, so the cookies may take some tweaking before they come out right. Please let me know if you give them a try!
I wonder- could you use coconut flour? I have that in my pantry
Hi Rachel! I haven’t made this cookie with coconut flour, so I can’t say what the conversion needs to be. Coconut flour behaves much differently than almond flour. CF is really absorbent and requires a different wet:dry ingredient ratios than AF. If you experiment with the CF, I’d love to know what modification worked for you!
These look so freaking good! Way to go to make your own paleo recipe- I bet these taste even better than the original!
Haha thanks, Mallory!
these look amazing! about how many cookies does the recipe yeild?
Hi Kayley! It should make ~3 dozen.
Reblogged this on d'liteful cravings.
Yes please! Thin mints are my favorite!
Didn’t care for the Pepsid ad…..not a healthy product.
Hi Jan! Thank you for your comment. For the time being, I work with an independent advertising company and have no control over the ads. This Fall, however, I am transitioning to a new platform that will give me ultimate control. I will filter the ads so that they’re all relevant to our high standard for health and well being. Again, thank you for your feedback. It gives me one more reason to be excited about the transition!
Can I use something else instead of almond meal because I’m allergic? I love the rest
Waiting for your reply…. Thanks so much
Maybe I could use gluten free all purpose flour from Bobs Redmill? Or maybe another nut meal?
Hi Lneill! You can try all purpose flour or another nut flour. I haven’t tried with anything else, but it’d be worth an experiment!
These looked so good, I just made a batch! They were good, but my husband, who is a purist, said he definitely would not mistake them for the real deal. BUT since going Paleo, he and I wouldn’t want one that sweet anyway! Followed the recipe exactly and tasted the batter before I slid them into the oven and the mint flavor was barely noticeable. So, I doubled the mint for the frosting which made it taste incredible. Next time I’ll definitely add more mint, press them thinner or use a smaller melon scoop. Don’t make the same mistake I did and leave them on the thick side… Thinner is definitely better, hence, the name “Thin Mint”! I’ll definitely make them look more like yours next time :), maybe even just a bit thinner. Instead of covering each cookie with parchment paper to flatten, I took my round, flat-bottom meat tenderizer pounder-thingy and covered it with a piece of parchment bound with a rubber band and that worked REALLY well. If you rotate it just right, you can get the thinner edges and domed centers. Once they cooled, I only dipped the tops to conserve my chocolate (no need to do that, I had a bunch left over) and the texture of the bare side of the cookie definitely took away from the real Girl Scout cookie experience. With those tweaks, I think even a non-Paleo palate would definitely approve and ask for more! Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe!! I’ll be making more in the shape of hearts for my Valentine’s Day Bunco Brunch. A great guilt-free-go-to-Girl Scout cookie knockoff I’m sure all the girls will LOVE! Definitely a five star unrefined cookie experience that satisfies our sweet tooth! Thanks again!!! My husband is waiting on pins and needles for you to create the peanut butter sandwich cookies!!!!!!
Jules:)
HI, just made a batch…. so yummy, I could eat the batter all day long!! Great recipe!!Thinking about trying it with a wholemeal spelt flour…. do you think that would work ok??