Paleo Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies (Copycat Recipe)

These Paleo Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies consist of a gluten free chocolate cookie coated in dark chocolate. This easy chocolate mint cookie recipe is the perfect replacement for conventional Girl Scout Cookies - actually healthy but still delicious.

Thin mints used to be my favorite Girl Scout cookies! They were the one box that my parents purchased each and every season - a box (or two) for the pantry and one for the freezer. (Have you tried thin mint cookies in the freezer? You must!)

Today I'm sharing MY recipe for Paleo Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies. (I've already shared my take on Paleo Tagalongs and those were a huge hit.)

These thin mints are round, mint-flavored chocolate cookies coated in dark chocolate. Crisp, sweet and perfect for the mint-chocolate lover.

Have you taken a look at the ingredients in the classic Thin Mint Cookies? They aren't exactly healthy and they're definitely far from Paleo.

But not to worry! My easy Thin Mint Cookie recipe is Paleo friendly and actually healthy.

Healthy Thin Mint Cookie Recipe

Conventional Thin Mints contain wheat flour, refined sugar, vegetable oil, soy, colorings and natural and artificial flavorings - ingredients that are gut damaging, void of nutrients and frankly don't belong in a healthy diet.

But this healthy thin mint cookie recipe has a lot of great qualities. These cookies are:

• gluten free & grain free
• dairy free
• nut free
• refined sugar free
• no colorings, flavorings or preservatives

If you're wanting Girl Scout Cookies, but don't want to sacrifice your health, then this mint chocolate cookie recipe is a must! They taste like Thin Mints and they have a similar texture, but they're actually healthy.

So, what do you need to make these gluten free Thin Mints?

Ingredients for Thin Mints

A short list of nut free, Paleo ingredients are needed to make these cookies. Here's what you need:

For the Cookies:

• tigernut flour
• coconut sugar
• cocoa powder
• salt
• non-hydrogenated shortening
• egg
• vanilla extract
• peppermint flavoring
• tapioca flour

For the Coating:

• dark chocolate
• coconut oil
• peppermint flavoring

Ingredient Substitutions

Tigernut Flour

I wanted to make these nut free Paleo thin mint cookies. So, tigernut flour was my top choice for this recipe. Often times, almond flour will work in place of tigernut flour (measured by weight), but I have not tried this substitution for these cookies.

I used Iya Foods tigernut flour for these Thin Mints. Other brands should work, but this is the brand I used.

Coconut Sugar

Any granulated sugar may be used in place of the coconut sugar. For a low carb thin mint cookie, replace the coconut sugar with monk fruit sweetener.

Shortening

I use Nutiva's non-hydrogenated shortening in many of my recipes. Why? Because it works similarly to butter, but is dairy free. This is the best dairy free butter alternative I've found and I love it!

That being said, room temperature butter should work as a replacement. Coconut oil may work too, but may make the cookie dough harder to roll out and cut into shapes.

Egg

These Paleo Thin Mints are not egg free. The egg acts as a binder for this cookie dough. An egg substitute may work, but I imagine you'll have a hard time rolling the dough and cutting out shapes.

Tapioca Flour

Tapioca flour is used for rolling the cookies. The dough is sticky, so some sort of starchy flour is necessary. Arrowroot flour would be the best alternative.

How to Make Paleo Thin Mint Cookies

These Paleo mint chocolate cookies are easy to make. Here's what you need to do:

Make the Cookie Dough

First, combine the dry cookie ingredients (except tapioca flour) in a medium-sized mixing bowl. This includes the tigernut flour, coconut sugar, cocoa powder and salt.

Next, add in the wet ingredients. This includes the shortening, egg, vanilla and peppermint. (I just used a spatula to mix the dough until it had a smooth, consistent texture.)

Chill the Cookie Dough

Next, refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. This Thin Mint cookie dough needs to be chilled in order to roll out and cut into circles.

This is a good time to preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll the Dough & Cut into Circles

After chilling, grab the cookie dough from the fridge, along with two sheets of parchment paper, a rolling pin and the tapioca flour.

Dust one sheet of parchment with tapioca flour. Form the cookie dough into a ball and flatten on top of the parchment. Dust the dough with tapioca flour, then place the other sheet of parchment paper on top. Use the rolling pin to roll the cookie dough between the sheets of parchment. The cookies should be ⅛-1/4 inches thick.

Next, remove the top layer of parchment and cut out small circles. This can be done with a small, circular cookie cutter or a shot glass. Place the cut out cookies on a lined baking sheet. (They don't spread much, so they can be baked close together.)

Continue rolling and cutting the cookie dough until it's all been used up. Remember to dust the parchment and dough with tapioca flour each time.

Bake the Cookies

After cutting out the cookies, bake them in your preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Cool them on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Dip the Cookies in Chocolate

Once the cookies have cooled to room temperature, melt the chocolate, coconut oil and peppermint flavoring for the coating. Tip: chilling the cookies in the freezer for 20-30 minutes makes them easier to dip because the chocolate hardens quicker.

Place the dark chocolate, coconut oil and peppermint in a small sauce pan, on the stove top. Set the heat to low and stir the mixture frequently until fully melted.

Grab the cookies and dip them, one at a time into the melted chocolate. Place them on a sheet of parchment paper to dry.

After all of the paleo Girl Scout cookies have been dipped, put them in the fridge or freezer so the chocolate coating fully sets.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to store Paleo Thin Mints?

These thin mint cookies are best stored in the fridge or freezer. They will last well up to two weeks in the fridge, a month in the freezer.

Are Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies gluten free?

Classic Thin Mints are not gluten free. But my Paleo Thin Mints recipe is! In fact, it's both gluten free and grain free.

Do I have to use tigernut flour?

Tigernut flour is the best option for this thin mint cookie recipe - it's all that I've tested. However, almond flour often works as a substitute for tigernut flour. If you give this substitution a try then let me know the outcome in the comments below.

What's the best way to dip the cookies in chocolate?

My trick to dipping these mint chocolate cookies is to do it with a fork. Drop the cookie in the melted chocolate, flip with a fork so that the entire cookie is coated, then scoop up the cookie with the fork. Scrape the bottom of the fork along the side of the pan, allowing excess chocolate to drip back into the pan. Then place the cookie on parchment paper to dry.

More Mint Chocolate Paleo Recipes

For more easy, mint chocolate Paleo recipes check these out:

• Homemade Andes Mint Chocolates
• No bake Mint Chocolate Tart
• Mint Chocolate Energy Bites
• 5 Minute Peppermint Fudge

Enjoy!

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