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.
Paleo Thin Mints
Ingredients
- 1 cup blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- 1 teaspoon coconut flour
- 2 tablespoons cacao powder
- ⅛ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons palm shortening
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 6 ounces chocolate chips
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine almond flour, coconut flour, cacao, baking soda, and salt
- Pulse in shortening, honey, and peppermint extract until dough forms
- Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to ⅛-inch thick
- Freeze dough for 15 minutes
- Using a 2 inch cookie cutter, cut out dough
- Transfer circles to parchment paper lined baking sheet
- Bake at 350°F for 4-5 minutes
- Cool completely on baking sheets, then freeze 1 hour
- Melt chocolate and peppermint in a small saucepan over very low heat
- Use a dipping tool to lower cookies into chocolate, then place on parchment lined plate
- Freeze 1 hour
- 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.
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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.
Angelique says
Thank you for sharing this recipe :) I would like to make these, but don’t know where to buy palm shortening in the Netherlands (not willing to pay over 40 euros for the sites that do offer them). Do you know which alternative I could use? I see someone used ghee, but personally I am not that fond of its taste… Would be great if you could recommend an alternative that works just as well.. Thanks in advance for thinking along!
Elana says
Angelique, I haven’t tried that so not sure. Feel free to experiment, and if you do I hope you’ll let us know what works :-)
Angelique says
Yes, I will do that! I think I will use coconut oil instead ;) Thanks.
Elana says
You’re welcome Angelique!
Anne says
I’m very allergic to almonds; and even cashews or walnuts I have to eat sparingly. I saw on one of your other recipes that ground sunflower seeds can be used as a 1:1 substitute for almond flour. Would that work with these or change the taste too much? And/or Is there another sub that is also gluten-free? Thank you!
Elana says
Anne, I have experimented with testing sunflower seed flour in a few of my recipes and my family and I found that the resulting taste was not good. Here’s a link to my Nut-Free Recipes page for you:
https://elanaspantry.com/diets/nut-free/
Enjoy!
Elana
Katherine says
I made a test batch of these and loved them! Dangerous! But a few questions – do these really only work directly out of freezer? When I take them out, my cookies were not as crisp and the chocolate started getting melty. Maybe just a really hot day? I want to make these for a friend for holidays but want to make sure transporting them will work! Do I need to bake longer? Thanks so much!
Elana says
Katherine, was it a super hot day? I haven’t had any issue with these staying crunchy and crisp. So glad to hear that you loved this recipe :-)
Lori says
I’ve made these so many times, and Yes, in my experience these taste and work best when eaten frozen, not room temp. This cookie NEVER ever fails to impress. Brought some to a relative the other day at her house, and she ate the whole bag minus one that I ate. It’s the only Christmas cookie I make now, because I know they’ll get eaten! And I take shortcuts….I use ghee in place of shortening, and flatten with my hand, not a rolling pin. So easy and fast to make! You can’t make these cookies flop! Best best recipe ever!!
Elana says
Lori, thanks so much for letting me know that this cookie NEVER fails to impress and that this is the best recipe ever :-)
Jennifer L. says
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!
Elana says
Jennifer, thanks so much for letting me know these cookies were outstanding!
Wendy Guthrie says
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?
Elana says
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 :-)
Tracy says
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.
Elana says
Tracy, here you go!
https://elanaspantry.com/paleo-peanut-butter-patties-tagalongs/
Enjoy!
Elana
Eva S says
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!
Elana says
Eva, I’m so happy to hear that these cookies are a go to treat for you and your husband :-)
Anna Funnell says
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. :-)
Anna Funnell says
Oh, and I used butter not palm oil, because butter gives things such a lovely taste (and my family aren’t keen on coconut oil as an alternative).
Elana says
Agreed!
Elana says
Anna, I’m so happy to hear these are totally yummy!
Ashley Cooper says
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!
Elana says
Ashley, You’re welcome! I’m so happy to hear that this is an easy, tasty recipe :-)
Sue says
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.
Elana says
Sue, I haven’t tried that so not sure :-)