Elana's Pantry

New York Times Bestselling author Elana Amsterdam founded Elana’s Pantry, the go-to website for easy, healthy, grain-free, Paleo recipes, in 2006

Paleo Thin Mints

Paleo Thin Mints

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These Paleo Thin Mints are a scrumptiously healthy cookie that make a great holiday gift. We love this treat so much though, that we make it all year round.

Homemade Girl Scout Cookies

Making your own Girl Scout cookies is as simple as 1-2-3 with my quick and easy recipe. These Paleo Thin Mints are a chocolate wafer cookie that is baked, cooled, and then dipped in rich dark chocolate that’s melted. We store our Paleo Thin Mints in the freezer for the best texture and crispy crunch.

Egg-Free Girl Scout Cookies

These copycat Thin Mints are not only gluten and grain-free, they’re an egg-free cookie recipe too! Did you know that 99% of my cookie recipes are egg-free? If you have egg allergies, you’ll want to take a look at both my Cookie Recipes Page and my Egg-Free Diet Recipes page. They’ll broaden your dietary horizons in a big way!

Gluten-Free Girl Scout Cookies

Don’t be sad when Girl Scout Cookie season rolls around. Because I’ve created a gluten-free Girl Scout Cookie season just for you! Finally, you can partake in gluten-free Thin Mints, Tagalongs, and Samoas. I would not have thought of making Paleo Girl Scout Cookies, let alone Paleo Thin Mints if I had not seen Tammy Credicott’s incredible book Paleo Indulgences which is full of fantastic recipes.

Print Recipe
Paleo Thin Mints
Serves:18cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a food processor, combine almond flour, coconut flour, cacao, baking soda, and salt
  2. Pulse in shortening, honey, and peppermint extract until dough forms
  3. Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to ⅛-inch thick
  4. Freeze dough for 15 minutes
  5. Using a 2 inch cookie cutter, cut out dough
  6. Transfer circles to parchment paper lined baking sheet
  7. Bake at 350°F for 4-5 minutes
  8. Cool completely on baking sheets, then freeze 1 hour
  9. Melt chocolate and peppermint in a small saucepan over very low heat
  10. Use a dipping tool to lower cookies into chocolate, then place on parchment lined plate
  11. Freeze 1 hour
  12. Serve

Homemade Holiday Gifts

These healthy, gluten-free cookies are a wonderful DIY holiday gift. They’re perfect for Christmas, Hanukkah, and other celebrations. I love to give these Paleo Thin Mints alongside my homemade Hamantaschen when Purim rolls around.

Reduce Waste and Save Money During the Holidays

I’m very passionate when it comes to conservation and I love to reduce, reuse, and recycle as much as possible. That’s because I used to run this company which I founded in 1993 when I was 26 years old.

Now, decades later, when I give holiday gifts I follow this ethos by keeping it simple, yet special. I place my homemade cookies and candy in reusable tins which I purchase at the thrift store. I carefully scrub and de-glutenize the tins, then run them through the dishwasher. This reduces waste during Christmas, Hanukkah, and other special occasions.

Healthy Holiday Gift Recipes

Here are more healthy cookie and bar recipes that make great holiday gifts!

This post is an oldie but goodie from the archives, I first published this recipe in 2013.

Comments

  1. Wow, I don’t usually feel inclined to comment on most of the cookies I bake, but these were outstandingly good. They are a bit more involved than most of the cookies I’m willing to whip up for my kids, but chocolate mint cookies straight from the freezer are just divine. We were kind of lazy to deal with dipping, so we just frosted the tops and they were awesome! Thanks!

    Reply

  2. I made these tonight. They are so good I can’t stop eating them. Thank you for the recipe. I am curious, what is the best way to store them say they stay crispy? How long can I save them?

    Reply

    • Wendy, I store mine in the freezer, they keep for up to 10 days that way. I’m so happy to hear these are so good you can’t stop eating them :-)

      Reply

  3. Please tell me you are working on a Tag-A-Long recipe?! I really miss these. I always got extra boxes as a Girl Scout so I would have leftovers.

    Reply

  4. I made these last night as a holiday treat for my husband and I. They are so insanely delicious! I was shocked at how much they tasted like thin mints! We also did a version of just the cookie part with pumpkin pie spice, a little vanilla and a little orange instead of mint. Both versions will be our go to treats from now on! Thank you for always making the most amazing recipes Elana!

    Reply

  5. Totally yummy! I didn’t use the mint as my family isn’t very keen on mint but they were still delicious, and I really don’t think you’d be able to tell they weren’t “normal” biscuits if you didn’t know. Great texture. Oh, I also subbed Sukrin syrup for half the honey to keep the carbs down – worked great. :-)

    Reply

  6. I made these today without the chocolate coating and they are incredible/addictive! I did sub out the palm oil for butter and the cookies turned out just fine. I wasn’t quite ready to bake these when I made the dough yesterday so I rolled it in parchment paper and placed in the freezer. When I was ready to cook them, I just sliced and baked. Thanks for such an easy, tasty recipe!

    Reply

  7. Can coconut oil be substituted for Palm oil? Palm oil is very difficult if not impossible to find where I live? Or can you recommend another substitution.

    Reply

  9. i don’t have coconut flour, can i just increase the almond flour?
    Would like to make them this weekend. They look so good and yummy.
    thanks for sharing.

    Reply

    • Joan, thanks for your comment! I haven’t tried that so not sure. If you experiment I hope you’ll stop back by and let us know how it goes :-)

      Reply

  10. Went a little wild with this recipe and would rave, but I think you know how incredibly good it is… I’m presently knee deep in ‘tweens’ who love it as a sandwich with your ice cream recipes as filling. Your cookies are a wonderful gift idea (I so deeply appreciate your conservation comments) but have to say your cookbooks are a great gift idea as well! Thank you Elana for all you do!!

    Reply

    • Susan, I love every single one of your comments! What a great idea to use these cookies as a sandwich for my ice cream recipes. And thanks for reminding me that my cookbooks are a great gift idea :-)

      Reply

  12. Elizabeth, if you click the green text in the ingredients portion of the recipe that says “chocolate chips” you will be taken to the exact product that I use :-)

    Reply

  13. These are so good!!! My brother couldn’t keep his hands off of them!! This is the first time that I was able to not have to make any changes to a recipe!! No one could tell that they were healthy!!!

    Reply

  14. My little one is allergic to eggs and milk. Thank you much for this recipe love that I don’t have to modify anything! Plus they taste amazing!

    Reply

    • Ella, I’m so sorry to hear about your little one, but glad to be part of your family’s healing journey via this recipe. Also thanks for letting me know these Paleo Thin Mints taste amazing :-)

      Reply

  16. These are great cookies! I used butter for the shortening,and did not coat them so they were just crispy little delicious bisbuits.

    Reply

    • Glad to hear butter works, I’m going to try that. To save calories, I’ve been skipping the best part too, the coating, but they’re so good plain, too. Also, as I’m lazy, I don’t roll the dough out, I just flatten little balls of dough with a very small container, or even my hand. They don’t get as flat and perfect, but for my family it’s fine.

      Reply

  17. You are seriously a blessing sent from GOD. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your time, dedication, and life-giving recipes. I have struggled with eating right without deprivation for many years, and I feel I was led to you site to find a treasure trove of knowledge and wonderful recipes. I have made about four of your recipes so far, and they are all AMAZING- you are such a gift. This was my latest creation, and mint and dark chocolate are my favorite. My whole family is delighted, again sincere thanks and appreciation for the impact of your good work and generous spirit sharing this with the world.

    Reply

  18. Elana, these thin mints are sooooo good I can’t keep my hands off them! They taste fantastic frozen. Thank you for coming up with things so tasty that people wouldn’t know they’re actually good for them!

    Reply

  19. Hi Elana,

    I am wondering if I could substitute the almond flour for another type of flour, do you have any experience with other flours? Thanks

    JoCarole

    Reply

  20. So I went ahead and made a batch of these tonight. I limited my experimentation to baking half the cookies for 4 mins and the other half for 10-12mins. They are all delicious, but I prefer the crisp bite of the cookies baked slightly longer. I was concerned they would be hard hockey pucks, but there was a lot more wiggle room in the baking than I expected with such a short time listed.

    I should note these were baked on a silpat lined baking sheet, which probably played a part in the difference in cook times.

    With the leftover minty chocolate coating, I went ahead and made some peppermint patties, using some coconut butter, shredded coconut, honey and coconut oil.

    This recipe is so much like the “real” thing, it seems almost too good to be true!

    Reply

  21. Oh my word! These were soooo delicious! My daughters and I started eating the dough, then decided after baking them for the 5 minutes they didn’t need the chocolate coating! Perfect cookie! I give them 5+ stars!

    Reply

  23. Not sure what I did wrong, but the chocolate sauce, in spite of it being 6 full ounces of chocolate, only covered front and back of half of the cookies. For the other half, I had to spoon and spread the sauce on top.

    That all being said, the batter for the dough was out of this world. And I still can’t wait to try the fully finished product. My 9.5 year old and I have been on GAPS and now a blend of GAPS and Paleo for over 2.5 years. Even prior to that, we only ate organic sugar (such as evaporated cane) and only organic flour. So she has never had a thin mint cookie before. I started this project just before dinner and with all of the wait time in between cooling and freezing, didn’t get done until after she went to bed. So she is greatly looking forward to trying a cookie tomorrow. Which is the last thing she said to me as I was shutting off her bedroom light and closing the door.

    I didn’t have a cookie cutter, so I used the rim of a drinking glass placed upside down (the skinny, 6 ounce “juice glass” size), which happens to be 2″ in diameter. Works great! Although actual thin mints are only 1.5 inches in diameter. I have seen other home versions of girl scout cookies (non Paleo) that call for putting the dough into parchment paper and shaping it into a log that is 1.5″ diameter, freezing, and then cutting (approximately” 1/4″ slices. I am guessing that with the very soft almond flour dough, in order to even shape the log, the dough would have to be chilled first, shaped, then frozen before cutting, if it would even work. I may give that a try some time in order to go for the smaller size.

    Good luck everybody!!! And happy eating!

    Reply

    • Nancy, thanks for your comment! If you use a very small pan and tilt it when you dip the cookies in it will cover them in entirety. Thanks for letting me know the batter for the dough was out of this world. I hope your daughter loves these as much as my boys do, it’s one of our favorites :-)

      Reply

  24. Need sugar free for these cookies. What can I use as coating instead of chunks. Would like to make all your candies but need sugar free chocolate. Thank you

    Reply

  25. Thank you Elana! These are a wonderful treat!

    I didn’t have coconut flour, so I left it out and it turned out fine.

    Reply

  26. Amazing. Made these tonight and they are perfect. Just SO good. When left in the freezer, they are better than the original thin mints. I did have to bake the cookies for 8 minutes (not 4) but mine were probably a little thicker than 1/8″.

    Reply

  27. Hi Elana, I love your recipes and have followed you for years…and I’m a Boulder County resident as well!! So quick question: Could I use coconut oil instead of palm shortening in the Paleo Thin Mint recipe (and others)? I hesitate to support the palm oil industry because of the effect it has had on climate (see Years of Living Dangerously series), but who knows maybe the coconut industry similarly impacts the environment… Thanks!

    Reply

    • My first thought was that I would like to try these but can’t use palm oil for the same reasons, specifically because of the environmental devastation which is caused by harvesting palm oil. Can you please come up with a replacement?

      Reply

      • Hi Fiona, thanks for your comment and for sharing your concerns. I haven’t experimented with other oils in this recipe, so not sure what a good replacement would be. If you do experiment I hope you’ll stop back by and let us know what works!

        Reply

  28. They are test marketing a chocolate chip gluten free cookie in certain parts of the United States this year. If sales go well, it should be released nation wide next year.

    Reply

  29. These were very easy to work with and tasted great. THe only thing I had to do differently was that I had to bake the cookies for 14 minutes, not 4. Also, I only had mint extract (a combo of spearmint and peppermint) on hand, so the peppermint flavor was not as intense as I would’ve liked. Will try these again using peppermint extract.

    Reply

  30. OMG… these are so great my non paleo family and friends love ’em too… now… if I could just stop eating them….;) Thanks for the recipe;)

    Reply

  31. Tried these today. FREAKIN YUM!!!! I would have a hard time telling them apart from the real deal. After they came out of the oven I wanted them a little bit crunchier than they seemed to be so I threw them in the dehydrator for 12 hours. Now they have that perfect thin-mint crunch. Definitely going to be a favorite!

    Reply

    • Nancy, if you click the green text that says “dip” in the instructions portion of the recipe you will see the tool that I use :-)

      Reply

  33. Elena,

    These sure bring back memories from my Girl Scout Days! What would the Carb count be on these cookies, please?

    Thank you,

    Anne

    Reply

  36. This recipe is awesome!! I made these for a friend who recently discovered many food allergies, and she really loved them. I substituted coconut oil for shortening, and agave for the honey, just because it was what I had on hand. I ended up with 50 cookies, however, so I had to use about 10 oz of dark chocolate. My husband loved them, too, and this will be a go-to recipe from now on. Thanks so much!

    Reply

    • Brooke, I’m so happy to hear you and your husband loved these and that this will be a go-to recipe from now on!

      Reply

  37. Hi Elana,

    I am gluten free and grain free and pre diabetic. I really appreciate all your wonderful recipes. I am hoping you will post more recipes with coconut sugar and nectar rather than agave. I am an inexperienced baker and wonder if you can provide info in your FAQ’s about the equivalents using coconut sugar. I found a frosting recipe online that uses coconut sugar and arrowroot blended to make it into a powdered sugar consistency for frosting.

    Reply

  38. These were amazing! Just one question. My melted chocolate was so thick I couldn’t dip the cookies. I smeared it on them with a spoon. Anybody else have that problem or a solution? How do you make the chocolate runnier??

    Reply

    • Terry, chocolate gets like this when it is over-heated which causes it to seize and become very thick. Next time heat your chocolate over lower heat. I’m so glad to hear these were amazing :-)

      Reply

  39. Wow, these were fantastic, so similar to the real thing! I substituted coconut butter for the shortening and they were really great.

    Reply

  40. What an amazing recipe – the coconut flour works great.. I of course substituted coconut oil.. Perfection! Thank you!!

    Reply

  41. you are my chef hero elana! thank you for this recipe. now i can feel even more guilty for turning down girls scouts and there fundraising efforts! ;-)

    Reply

  43. Elana,
    Just finished making up the dough and it’s in the freezer as we “speak”. I wondered why the recipe was for such a small batch before I made it, and now I know why…the dough is soooo delicious that if I didn’t have a small batch I’d eat half of it raw!!!! (I don’t want to face my kids with only 10 cookies left, the shame of it) Thanks a million for all your wonderful recipe’s. My daughters and I are currently baking our way through your cupcake book and absolutely loving it too. Favorite so far is the Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache. They were much too good for words!

    Reply

    • Kristin, I’m so glad that you are enjoying these cookies! Thanks for reminding me about the Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcake with Chocolate Ganache in my second book! I love that you and your daughter are baking your way through that book and enjoying all of my cupcake recipes :-)

      Reply

  45. Great recipe share. Girl Scout cookies are so delicious but full of calories. Plus now with this recipe, I can have these any time I get the urge for these cookies rather than just during the “girl scout cookie season”.

    Reply

  46. Oh, yum! This looks fabulous, and I love the whole ingredients that are used. Wonderful!

    Reply

  48. I just pre-ordered her latest cookbook, and have just gotten the first two, although I am overwhelmed, it is a GOOD overwhelmed, I am thrilled! Am I understanding correctly that you can substitute honey for any agave in Elana’s recipes? Is this one of the major differences in the Paleo recipes?

    Side Note:
    I buy local honey from the Co Op, one teaspoon a day of your local honey is suppose to help with allergies over a period of time.

    Reply

  50. Hi Elana, I am new to GF and GF allergies : (

    What can I substitute for the coconut flour and the shortening and how much of each substitute? I cannot have coconut or potato flour!

    Reply

    • I sub coconut oil for palm shortening in just about all recipes. Not sure about coconut flour though….maybe more almond? or arrowroot powder?

      Reply

  51. I find it endlessly fascinating with so many sites, be it paleo, vegan, grain-free or gluten free, the endless amount of sweet recipes there are. Sweet seems to trump savory hands down. Yet, as I eliminated wheat from my diet, my tolerance for things sweet diminished substantially.

    And yet, over everything else, it is really the sweets that I think are causing the bulk of our diabetes epidemic. It’s quite a thing to witness really. Thanks for all your work, sweet and savory!

    Reply

    • Tana, I totally agree! I think it’s really easy to find good savory recipe when giving up gluten and grains, but a bit more complex to find sweet ones, ie, baked goods and desserts. I’m so happy to help people live grain-free :-)

      Reply

  52. Yes!!!!!! You’re the best!!! I can’t wait to try making these!! Man, it’s a good thing I ate the girl scout thin mints the other day. My mom been telling me to watch my sugar; )Now I can make this and she well love it too!! Thanks again!

    Reply

  53. I made this recipe as soon as I saw it the other day. It should have had a warning that you will not be able to control yourself and will keep going back to the freezer for more :) Completely love, this has rocketed to be one of my favorite recipes and I will completely post on my blog about making them and photos of how mine turned out. I didn’t have a small circle cookie cutter so I just cut into diamond-ish shapes. It worked really well!

    Reply

  55. These look absolutely delicious! The kids will love these & so excited to try this recipe, not to mention, all the ingredients are healthy & organic:) Thank you!

    Reply

  56. My daughter is a Girl Scout and also has a severe gluten allergy. She is out selling her cookies but can’t have even one. She remembers thin mints from her ore allergy days a d misses them. I made these as a surprise for her. She LOVED them! Thank you so much for making a little girl feel like a Girl Scout.

    Reply

    • Ellen, thanks for sharing your daughter’s story here! I am so touched that my recipe made her feel like a Girl Scout :-)

      Reply

  57. These look amazing! Can you substitute butter or Earth’s Balance instead of shortening? Also, instead of almond flour can you use a GF blend?

    Thank you!

    Reply

  59. OH Geez! Now I’m in trouble! These are one of my favorite indulgences. Now I can make them whenever I get an emergency Thin Mint craving! ;)

    Reply

  60. Elana, these were fabulous. I used hazelnut flour in place of almond, and coconut oil instead of shortening. So good! Thank you!

    Reply

  61. Elana, I’m going to try your two desserts – paleo thin mints and the cc scones. My wife is trying hard to be Gluten Free; plus 2 of her kids have health reasons to avoid gluten. I think having an awesome baked desert will be a lot of fun. I like to bake and if I can show up with a thoughtful and tasty dessert, I’ll be back in the running for cool food guy.

    Reply

  62. These were absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing. A top-notch substitute, for sure. I had a hard time transferring them to the cookie sheets, but I probably waited too long after taking them out of the freezer. I also just spread the frosting over the tops of the cookies rather than dipping them in. So tasty!

    Reply

  63. These are so good! I substituted coconut oil for shortening and also xylitol plus 1/4 cup water for the honey to make them even lower sugar. I did need to freeze the dough about 30 minutes before rolling out and they were still pretty fragile but I got them up with a thin spatula… They seriously take just like I remember thin mint cookies (which I’ve dreamed about for years) tasting! Thanks Elana!

    Reply

  64. Elana,

    I just made them; they smell delicious!! We’ll taste once they come out of the freezer! Can’t wait!

    What suggestions do you have for dipping the cookies in the peppermint chocolate? I dipped them in the pan (on low heat) on a fork; some cookies broke in the process and many bent (but then straightened out back on the pan.)

    Thanks for educating us,
    Shari in NC

    Reply

    • Shari, thanks for another great comment! If you click the green text that says “dip” in the instructions portion of the recipe you will see the tool that I use :-)

      Reply

  65. YUM! Making these today! BUT, substituting Creme de Menthe flavoring instead of peppermint to get the real girl scout cookie flavor..bought it last year to make healthier whole wheat thin mints before celiac came to the house and now paleo…….mmmm!

    Reply

  66. Thank You Elana!!! I made these today and they are as good as I remember the originals being. I did use coconut oil instead of the palm shortening and I used peppermint oil instead of extract. They are fantastic! My daughter is gluten and dairy free and has been for the past 5 years. This is her first experience with Thin Mints and I’m sad to report that she LOVES them and I’m going to have to share them with her. :)

    Reply

  67. Thank you so much for the recipe! My whole family loved these. I am lazy and didn’t freeze the dough or roll them out. I just made little balls and flattened them out on my baking sheet, they came out imperfectly shaped, but tasty just the same.

    Reply

  69. I made these and found the honey flavor to be distracting….. has anyone tried anything else in it’s place? I can’t do agave syrup though…. maple syrup??? Not sure if that would go with peppermint either.

    Reply

  70. I wish I saw this sooner :- ) Oh, well .. I already purchased a box of thin mints to support a colleague’s daughter. Next year I’ll know better.

    Monica

    Reply

    • Thank you again Elana!!!

      I love these cookies. I make a double batch every time and keep them in the freezer. Everyone I’ve shared them with loves them too.

      For dipping I use 99% TCHO baking drops (one bag for a double batch). They are very easy to melt. I add powdered birch Xylitol, to my preferred sweetness, to the melted chocolate along with the peppermint extract.

      Blessings,

      Mia

      Reply

  74. Oh, you’ve done it again! Cannot wait to try these. My favorite cookie. I wonder if you have any idea how much you have enhanced the quality of my life with your recipes…….. Thank you!

    Reply

  76. Thin Mints are my fave GS cookies! It just happened, I began my Whole30 on the month of GS cookie sales :( Thanks to you, I will be able to get my fix, of course, after this month. Love your recipes!!!

    Reply

  78. Elana, I absolutely love your sense of humor, in addition to your recipes, of course!

    (That you’re Jewish makes your blog the best! Shabbat Shalom.

    Reply

  79. Yay! Up next…the peanut butter (sun butter) tagalongs? I think I may use your cookie as ground work and spend some time this weekend trying to get those fatty patties in my belly. Thanks for rockin’ it, Elana!

    Reply

      • Ha! Glad I could make you smile, Tonya. In case you are interested, I think I did a decent job creating those fatty patties…
        Use Elana’s cookie recipe, minus the cocoa.
        1/2 cup Sun Butter
        1/4 cup Honey
        1/4 cup Coconut Flour
        2 tsp. Vanilla
        Chocolate chunks
        Bake the cookies after cutting the shapes. Melt chocolate. Let cool. Generously apply butter. Paint chocolate over cookie. The first batch I did had too much chocolate (I dipped them) and not enough filling.
        I haven’t had the tagalongs for years, but this did my belly wonders. :)

        Reply

        • Is the sunbutter layer the combo of the honey/coconut flour/vanilla or just the sunbutter? And using the rest of the ingredients for the cookie? Just to clarify… I can’t wait to make them :)

          Reply

  82. Oh DARN, I can’t make this recipe because i don’t have any CELTIC sea salt, I only have the NORMAL kind! Shucks!

    Reply

    • I have used coconut oil in place of vegan shortening with much success. I used this substitution in the Choc Chip Scones and worked beautifully. Happy baking!

      Reply

    • I used coconut oil too – it seemed to make the dough more oily so I ended up adding more almond flour – but it worked really wonderfully!

      Reply

    • I made them with butter, worked out great! Sounds like either substitution works. I’m so very happy with this recipe. My husband has the real GS thin mints, and I’m having to chase him away from mine.

      Reply

  87. Elana – I love your site and your recipes & have been following you since I first went gluten free four years ago. With this recipe though, you have made my life complete! I am GF, DF & egg-free, so many Paleo recipes don’t work for me. I am so excited about this one! Thin Mints were always my absolute favorite Girl Scout cookie, and now I can finally have them again (and feel good about what I’m eating)! Thank you SO much!

    Reply

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