The Ultimate Healthy Homemade Thin Mints
These homemade cookies taste just like the original Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies! They’re crunchy, with lots of rich chocolate and mint flavor, and coated in melted chocolate. A dream come true for any chocoholic! They’ll keep for at least a week if stored in an airtight container.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup (80g) white whole wheat flour or gluten free* flour (measured like this)
- ⅓ cup (27g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter, softened (see Notes!)
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp (120g) coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp (30mL) unsweetened cashew milk
- 1 tsp peppermint extract
- ¾ cup (168g) chopped chocolate (see Notes!)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift them at least once to ensure no clumps of flour or cocoa powder remain. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and coconut sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in the milk and peppermint extract. Gradually beat in the flour mixture.
- Transfer the cookie dough to the center of a large sheet of plastic wrap. Using a spatula, shape the cookie dough into a ½”-tall rectangle. Top with another large sheet of plastic wrap. Fold up the excess plastic wrap, and chill the cookie dough for at least 3 hours. (The cookie dough may be chilled for up to 2 days.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two large baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Leaving the cookie dough between the sheets of plastic wrap, roll it out to ⅛” thick. Using Using a 1 ½”-wide round cookie cutter, cut out circles of cookie dough, leaving as little unused dough as possible. Pull the unused dough away from the cut-out shapes, and transfer the cookie dough circles onto the prepared baking sheets. Gather the unused dough, squish it into a ball between your palms, and roll it out between the sheets of plastic wrap again. Continue to cut out circles until all of the dough has been used.
- Bake the cookies at 350°F for 13-16 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Line two large baking sheets with wax paper. Melt the chocolate in a small bowl. (This size is perfect! I also highly recommend keeping the melted chocolate warm while dipping – see Notes!) Carefully dip each cooled cookie in the melted chocolate using two forks, and let the excess drip off. Place onto the prepared baking sheets. Let the chocolate harden completely before serving or storing.
Notes
IMPORTANT MEASURING NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: It's very important to measure the flour and cocoa powder correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That's the one I own and love!) Too much of either will dry out your cookie dough, and too much cocoa powder will make your cookies taste bitter instead of rich and chocolaty.
IMPORTANT CHILLING NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: If chilling the cookie dough for more than 6 hours, you may need to let it "thaw" for a few minutes on the counter before rolling it out.
IMPORTANT COOKIE CUTTER NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: To cut out the cookies, use a cookie cutter with a 1 ½” diameter. It’s sometimes hard to find that size individually, but you can usually get that size in a set like this! (← That's the set I own!) If you can’t find one, then use a glass spice jar’s metal lid. Those tend to be a good size too.
IMPORTANT CHOCOLATE NOTES – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: I originally used bars of 70-72% chocolate (like this from Ghirardelli or this from Lindt!), and while I absolutely loved those cookies… They tasted much darker in flavor than the Girl Scouts’ Thin Mints.
Hershey’s special dark chocolate or Cadbury dark chocolate tastes much closer to the Girl Scouts' Thin Mints. (Both of those are "milkier" in flavor than 70-72% dark chocolate!) My taste testers slightly preferred the flavor of Cadbury dark chocolate. However, once melted, bars of Hershey’s special dark chocolate and Cadbury dark chocolate tend to be a lot thicker compared to bars of 70-72% dark chocolate, which results in a clumpy or uneven chocolate coating layer. If you're not using 70-72% dark chocolate, I recommend adding at least ½ teaspoon of canola or vegetable oil to the melted chocolate so it coats the cookies in a more even layer.
You shouldn’t need to use all of the melted chocolate—but it’s easier to dip when you have more than enough in the bowl! Because it’s easier to fully dunk the cookies in a smaller bowl (I use this one!), I melt the chocolate in batches.
Do not use chocolate chips. They contain a stabilizer, which prevents them from melting properly.
HOW TO KEEP MELTED CHOCOLATE WARM: To keep your bowl of melted chocolate warm, {a} turn on an electric pancake griddle or a metal panini press (I don’t have the former, so I use the latter – mine is no longer sold in stores, but this panini press is very similar to mine!) and {b} place a washcloth that’s been folded in half in between the bottom of your bowl and the electric griddle or metal top of the panini press. If you use this set-up, your bowl of chocolate should stay warm and at the same consistent temperature, which makes coating your cookies so much easier. (They’ll also look prettier! If you let the bowl of chocolate sit on your counter and periodically reheat it, your cookies will look speckled.)
AFTER DIPPING IN CHOCOLATE: To help the chocolate harden faster, place your baking sheets in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes or in the freezer for 3-5 minutes.
FLOUR ALTERNATIVES: Whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour. Regular whole wheat flour may be substituted in a pinch, but the cookies will have a more wheat-y flavor.
COCOA POWDER NOTE: Do not use Dutched or special dark cocoa powder. In this recipe, their flavor is bland and flat, compared to regular unsweetened cocoa powder (also called "natural cocoa powder" or "natural unsweetened cocoa powder"). They also have a different acidity level, which affects the taste and texture. For regular unsweetened cocoa powder, I generally use this one.
BUTTER NOTE + ALTERNATIVE: Do not substitute coconut oil for the butter. Its melting point is much lower, which will affect the cookies’ texture. For a vegan or dairy free version, use stick-style vegan butter (I like this one and this one) instead.
COCONUT SUGAR ALTERNATIVES: Granulated sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar. I haven’t tried any other solid-form sweetener, and I don’t know how those other options will turn out. Do not substitute any liquid sweetener (i.e. pure maple syrup, honey, liquid stevia).
MILK ALTERNATIVES: Any milk may be substituted for the cashew milk.
GLUTEN FREE VERSION: Most store-bought gluten free flour blends (I like this one by Bob's Red Mill) will work, if measured like this. Do not substitute coconut flour; it makes the cookie dough too dry and crumbly.
EGG FREE, DAIRY FREE + VEGAN VERSION: Substitute stick-style vegan butter (I like this one and this one) for the unsalted butter. I don't recommend tub-style vegan butter or coconut oil; they won't produce the same texture.
HOW TO STORE: Store leftover cookies in an airtight container. They should keep for at least one week, if not longer.
For more tips and information regarding the ingredients and instructions (especially the last dipping step!), please read my blog post above!
{gluten free, egg free, clean eating, dairy free option, vegan option, low fat}
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I'd love to hear what you think of it in a comment below! If you take a picture, tag @amys.healthy.baking on Instagram or use the hashtag #amyshealthybaking.