Keto Thin Mints are crispy keto cookies with a sugar-free mint chocolate coating. They’re the perfect way to indulge in Girl Scout cookies without all the sugar and carbs.
Fact: Nothing derails a keto diet faster than a box of Girl Scout Cookies. But never fear, Keto Thin Mints are here!
These are the low carb cookie recipe of your dreams. Or maybe my dreams. Perhaps we’ve been dreaming about this together. This thin mint cookie recipe was first posted in 2011.
Those Girl Scouts will be knocking on your door soon, and I so thought it was time I gave these beloved sugar free cookies a little update. Because you need all the help you can get to ward off the sugary temptation.
Sugar-free Girl Scout cookies
If you have trouble resisting the sweet and tasty treats sold by Girl Scouts, you are not alone.
The only possible solution? Making your own healthier versions at home. Whatever your favorite flavor is, I have a keto-friendly version. Such as keto tagalong bars, keto Samoa bars, and even keto Do-si-do cookies.
And of course, these delicious Keto Thin Mints.
All of these recipes really satisfy that craving for cookies. And best of all, they’re easy enough to make any time you need them.
Ingredients
This Keto Thin Mints recipe uses standard low carb ingredients that are readily available at most grocery stores. You will need:
- Almond flour
- Cocoa powder
- Erythritol sweetener (such as Swerve)
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Egg
- Butter
- Vanilla extract
- Peppermint extract
- Cocoa butter (or coconut oil)
- Sugar-free dark chocolate
How to make keto thin mints
It’s easy to make these crispy keto chocolate cookies. Be sure to check out the video in the recipe card for step-by-step instructions.
The cookies
Thin mints start with a good crisp chocolate wafer. I use these same wafers in my keto oreos too!
- Use finely ground almond flour: As always, a good fine almond flour produces the best results in keto baking. Your cookies will be more cohesive and crisp up better. Read more about baking with almond flour.
- The sweetener matters: I know everyone has their preferences but only erythritol-based sweeteners, such as Swerve, produce crisp cookies.
- Roll the dough evenly: I like to roll mine less than ¼ inch thick, so that I get a lot of cookies. But what matters most is that they are all of an even thickness, so that they bake evenly.
- Cut out circles: Grab a 2-inch round cookie cutter and get cutting!
- Bake at a low temperature: I keep my oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for these keto thin mints, so that they crisp up without burning. How long they take depends on how thinly you rolled out the dough.
The coating
Now for the fun part… dipping the wafers in a minty chocolate coating.
- Don’t use unsweetened chocolate! Several readers have made the mistake of using unsweetened chocolate, which has absolutely no sweetener whatsoever. And of course the keto thin mints turned out quite bitter! Make sure you are using a good no-sugar-added chocolate like Lily’s, which is sweetened with erythritol and stevia.
- Set up a double boiler: A double boiler allows you to melt the chocolate more gently, without overheating it.
- Add a little oil to thin the chocolate coating, making it easier to dip the wafers.
- Mint extract to taste: I recommend using an oil-based extract, to make the chocolate less likely to seize. I use a teaspoon of Frontier peppermint flavor but you can always use more if you prefer a stronger flavor.
- Dip the wafers: Drop them into the melted chocolate, toss them to coat, and lift out with a fork. Then tap the fork on the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. Place the keto thin mints on a waxed paper lined baking sheet until set.
Pro tip: Freeze the wafers before you start dipping them, so that the chocolate sets faster. It’s much less messy that way!
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure thing! Try using sunflower seed flour in place of the almond flour. You may need a little bit more to firm up the dough properly.
That works too! Try using coconut oil in place of the butter for the cookies and make sure to use dark chocolate for the coating.
If you want crisp cookies, you must use an erythritol based sweetener such as Swerve or Lakanto. Any amount of allulose will make these cookies very soft and spongey.
You could do that, but if you want nice even circles, I recommend rolling the dough out and cutting with a cookie cutter. The slice-and-bake method would be just as much work, in my opinion.
There are a couple of possibilities. You may have let the heat get too high when melting it. And you may have gotten some liquid in there, as any amount of water will cause seizing.
Yes! They are a great make-ahead cookie. You can either just make the wafers, and dip them when ready, or you can make the finished cookies and freeze those.
Storage Instructions
Store the cookies at room temperature in a covered container for up to a week, or in the fridge for 10 days. They can also be frozen for several months.
Keto Thin Mint Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 ¾ cups almond flour
- ⅓ cup cocao powder
- ⅓ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg slightly beaten
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Coating:
- ½ ounce cocoa butter or 1 tablespoon coconut oil**
- 7 oz Lily’s dark chocolate chopped
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 300F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine almond flour, cocao powder, sweetener, baking powder and salt. Add in egg, butter and vanilla extract and stir well until dough comes together.
- Roll out dough between two pieces of parchment paper to desired thickness, but no more than ¼ inch thick. Lift off top piece of parchment and set aside.
- Using a 2-inch diameter cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and lift gently. Place cookies on prepared baking sheet. Gather up scraps of dough and reroll until too little is left to roll out.
- Bake cookies until firm to the touch,20 to 30 minutes (this will vary depending on how thinly you rolled your dough). Remove and let cool. They will continue to crisp up as they cool.
- Pro tip: Once cool, place the wafers in the freezer so the chocolate sets faster.
Chocolate Coating
- Set a heatproof bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Add the chocolate and cocoa butter, stirring frequently until smooth and melted. Remove from heat and stir in the peppermint extract.
- Dip the cookies into the chocolate, using two forks to turn over and fully coat cookie.
- Lift out the cookie and gently tap the fork on the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate, then place on a waxed paper lined baking sheet.
- Refrigerate until fully set.
lgpars says
So Carolyn how much sugar are you replacing in your recipe with the 10 drops of Stevia extract and maybe I can go from there to figure out how much of my sweetener I need to use? Since there are so many different sweeteners, everyone needs to put the sugar equivalent out to the side of their sweeteners.
lgpars says
So how much sugar is one drop of your Stevia extract equal to? That way maybe I can figure out how much sugar you are replacing in the recipe with your 10 drops of Stevia extract and then I can go from there with my sweetener.
Carolyn says
Oh, wow, I am not sure of this one. But I think the sweetness of Swwetzfree is significantly less than that of stevia extract. So I would start with 10 drops, then taste and adjust as you go.
lgpars says
Carolyn, can you tell the sugar equivalent of the 10 drops of Stevia? I have Sweetzfree (liquid Sucralose) where 1 drop equals 1 tsp. sugar. How much of the Sweetzfree should I use to replace the 10 drops of Stevia? Thanks.
Mo 'Betta says
I made these for my diabetic husband over Thanksgiving (Thin Mints were always his favorite!) and he loved them! Thanks for the great recipe! Posted abt them today and have a giveaway starting today for NuNaturals Stevia if you are interested!
Elizabeth says
There is a happy girl in Japan tonight thanks to this recipe…AMAZING!
Anonymous says
I'm sure you checked the ingredients for the Lindt but as far as I can find Lindt isn't considered gluten free. They use barley malt in many of their chocolates so I never eat it. Maybe this has changed but I looked it up online and could only find info that says they can't say GF because of cross contamination. Do you have more info about Lindt? There are other GF chocolates so people should be able to find them and make these yummy looking cookies.
Carolyn says
Wow, 120, that's impressive! I considered putting mint in the actual cookie base but I decided to just go with it in the coating. I love a lot of mint but some people don't so I didn't want to go overboard at first. Have fun with it and tailor it to suit your fancy, that's what recipes are for!
Anonymous says
I made these, but rolled it out to make 120! yikes! Still came out delicious, but I think I may add the peppermint to the cookie 'dough' next time! give it more mint oomph! Thanks for this fabulous creative recipe..I love your blog!
Carolyn says
Anonymous – yes, you could make these with sugar. I'd probably replace my sweetener (erythritol and stevia) with about 1/2 cup of sugar, or more to taste.
Anonymous says
Can you make these with regular sugar?
The Mom Chef says
Good grief, I had to scroll forever just to find the comment link! These are definitely a bestseller. I'll be giving them a try because Dudette and Hubby love them and I like the fact that they're home made. Many thanks for creating the recipe!
Linda says
Oh my… I just made this and they are sinfully sinful…❤ The only thing I did different is I only had 3/4 of a cup of almond flour so I substituted the other 1 cup with 1/4 cup of coconut flour (which means I also had to add one egg) . Then once I made the dough, rather than having to keep rolling it out o rolled it into a cylinder and wrapped it in plastic wrap. I then froze it for 30 minutes, took it out and simply sliced 1/4″ slices … they only needed to bake about 14 minutes so keep a good eye on them and be sure to let them cool completely before dipping them in your chocolate coating! Hope they turn out as great for you! Thanks so much for the recipe! We
Carolyn says
Glad it worked out!
kimmers says
If you REALLY want to cheat and not make these beautiful cookies …….. dip a ritz cracker in melted choc. chips after you melt stir in a few drops of mint extract. EASY and quick!
Ann says
Ritz crackers aren’t gluten-free, though. And have more carbs.
Magic of Spice says
Interesting background on these cookies. They have always been a favorite of mine, and I must say I am sure to prefer yours 🙂
A little bit of everything says
since I've tried in the past some of your goodies I take your word for granted with this thin mints.
i'd like to ask you, if possible, to write also the amount of sugar needed for people like me.
thanks Carolyn.
Spicie Foodie says
I never knew the difference in the Girl Scout cookies between Canada & the US. I was one of those who couldn't wait for them to show up at the house. My husband & I love thin mints, but they are not to be found here in Europe. Thanks for the recipe I can't wait to try it. They sound delicious and no junk in them:)
Kelly says
LOW CARB THIN MINTS??? You have created the greatest food ever. And with super dark chocolate. I'm dying to make these, they sound fabulous!
sweetpeaskitchen.com says
OH I love thin mints!! I can't wait to give this a try! 🙂
FamilySpice says
I have a box of GS thin mints in my freezer right now. I knew there was a GF version coming out somewhere! You saved me from trying to figure it out myself!
Carolyn says
Anonymous: you can definitely make the coating with unsweetened baking chocolate, but you will probably want to sweeten it somehow. That unsweetened can be mighty bitter! And if you can get ahold of the Lindt bars, I recommend them because they actually have less carbs than unsweetened. I know that sounds crazy, but according to the package, there are 8g of carbs per serving, and 2.5 servings. It's a 3.5oz bar so that works out to 5.7g of carbs per oz, whereas most baking chocolate has 7-8g of carbs.