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.
valorie f bedford says
Should I use Lilly’s chocolate baking bar chopped into bits or the baking chips?
Carolyn says
If you have both, use the bar… it melts a bit better.
J says
I just made these for my diabetic husband, and he LOVED them! Thank you for sharing this recipe and for your inspiration and knowledge on everything low carb!
Karen says
I was wondering when you say coconut oil is it the solid or one that stays liquid?
Carolyn says
Solid. Always assume solid if it doesn’t specify, since liquid is a newcomer on the scene.
Cheryl says
Can Coconut butter (manna) be used in place of cocoa butter? I want to make these and I don’t have cocoa butter! These are my favorite Girl Scout cookie!
Carolyn says
No it doesn’t work the same way at all.
Judy Filoso says
My daughter made the thin mints for my 80th birthday .they were wonderful.everyone loved them.
Carolyn says
Happy 80th! To your health. 🙂
CAROL MOORE says
These turned ouT GREAT, although mine were just chocolate covered wafers as I forgot the peppermint in the coating (sniff!). As others above wondered, I DID treat mine like an ‘icebox” cookie: rolled into a log (about the size of a proper Thin Mint), refrigerated for 2-3 hours, then sliced…I got 32 cookies. After baking, I left them overnight on a grate to dry properly, as I wanted a good, crisp cookie to coat—I followed the recipe for the coating; used Lily’s choc. Chips + cocoa butter as specificed, but thinned it a little further with more coconut oil—-totally successful *minus the mint that is….will DEFINITELY BE MAKING THESE AGAIN!! THANKS FOR A WONDERFUL RECIPE!!
Carolyn says
Oh no! Oh well, tasty anyway!
Jeannie says
That’s how I plan to make them (chilled log, and dry baked cookies in an oven with pilot light).
I think in your case I would have made a new batch of chocolate coating, with peppermint, and double-dipped ????????????!
Samantha says
Easy to make, less guilt, so yummy, and now I don’t even have to wait for Girl Scout Cookie season anymore! The perfect cookie!
April says
OH my gosh, these were amazing. Talk about a dangerous dessert – I’m going to have to hide the rest of them!
katerina @ diethood.com says
I am so excited to try these! They sound amazing!!
Kristi says
Hi Carolyn, thanks so much for your fabulous recipes! Is this recipe supposed to use cocoa powder, or cacao powder? The recipe says “cocao” so I feel like it could go either way. Thanks again!!
Carolyn says
Typo! cocoa powder… cacao tends to be harder to work with in keto baked goods, although you certainly can. It doesn’t produce as dark a cookie, though, and it’s harder to mix in.
Christal says
These are some of my favorite cookies to make. I have made them several times. They are more work, so I don’t make them often, but they are a treat when I do. I usually end up making more of the chocolate coating than is called for. Maybe I put it on extra thick. I also use the guide on my rolling pin to make them evenly 1/4 thick. Thank you for this great recipe!
Sue says
instead of flattening them out, could you just roll it into a log and cut into 1/4″ slices?
Chan says
Looks delicious, I can not wait to try this recipe. Thanks!
Cathy says
Hi Carolyn, first off thank you for all the amazing recipes! I was wondering if I could use Lily’s chocolate mint chips to dip cookies in, in place of chocolate and peppermint extract? Do you think this would work?
Carolyn says
As long as they melt well, I can’t see why not.
Peggy Smith says
I didn’t let them set up long enough . Oh my goodness these are so good! Carolyn thank you for this recipe. If anyone hasn’t made these you are missing out
Carolyn says
Thanks, Peggy. I saw and deleted your other comment since you figured it out! 🙂
Carrie Logan says
Made these this weekend. My chocolate coating was enough for half the cookies. I also could have made the chocolate thicker than it needed to be :). That’s good news, though, because it limited my intake to 20 cookies. Yesterday. Seriously. So delicious. I had peppermint oil instead of extract and used 1/4 teaspoon. These are SO much better than the ultra-processed boxed cookies!
Deanna says
I tried these today with little heart-shaped cookie cutters for Valentine’s Day. They turned out really cute! Pay attention to the note about the type of chocolate you use. Mine was too bitter and was hoping for something more sweet. I sprinkled Lakanto powdered sugar on top and it helped. Other than that, these melt in your mouth! Now if I ever feel like I’m missing out on the Girl Scout cookies, I have something more healthy to turn to. Thank you for this recipe!
Raquel says
These look wonderful! Thank you for the recipe!
Lisa says
Just wondering – has anyone tried these cookies as a “crust” for a low carb grasshopper (Mint) pie?
Carolyn says
It will be far too much for a single pie. Do this crust instead: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/keto-chocolate-mousse-pie/
Jill says
These are amazing! Dangerously good! A bit of effort, with the rolling, cutting, and dipping-but totally worth it!
Sue says
I posted something that kind of relates to this…what if you rolled it into a log and then cut slices a quarter of an inch thick?