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 1/4 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 3/4 cups (180 g) almond flour
- 1/3 cup (78.86 g) cocao powder
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
- 1 large egg, slightly beaten
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
Coating:
- 1/2 ounce (1 tbsp) cocoa butter, or 1 tbsp coconut oil**
- 7 oz (198.45 g) Lily’s dark chocolate, chopped
- 1 tsp 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 1/4 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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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WOW…these are so good. Pricey due to having to use 2 lily’s dark choc bars (which are $6 each in Canada) but honestly they are worth it. I just have to figure out how to get the kids to understand that a little goes a long way and they don’t need to gobble them. I think they are going to be an occasional treat though due to price and how much work goes into making them. Thanks so much Carolyn for all these great recipes you keep sharing with us.
Glad you liked them. Lily’s chocolate is about $4 a bar here, so that’s close, actually. I wait for a sale and buy a bunch. They had a big sale before Christmas and I have a bit of a stockpile…
Sorry about your prices there. Have you tried looking at the Lily’s dark chocolate baking chips? The chips were about 27% cheaper per ounce than the bars at our local grocery store and worked beautifully for this recipe! (73 cents per ounce vs $1 per ounce for the bars! Also, I didn’t use a double boiler. I used my microwave on 50% power and stirred every 20 seconds or so. It did not overheat and was done in about 40-60 seconds!
If Lindt 90%, 95% or 99% (depending on your taste) is available for less in your area or online, I always just use those for making treats. I don’t like artificially sweetened chocolate and an entire bar of 90% is just ~15 carbs or so. A darker chocolate would probably slow down the munching speed of people who are used to sweeter chocolate, too!
Hi Carolyn,
Thank you this recipe definitely looks great to try!! Just a note Lindt chocolate is not gluten free for anyone that does not already know that. Have a great day!
Thanx
Tammy
These cookies are delicious, and I truly like them much more than the Girl Scout Thin Mints! I keep mine refrigerated which makes the cooling effect of the Swerve make sense. These are better the day after you make them and beyond. Really. You should make these. You will be happy you did!
I made these the other week- so perfect, thank you! My only issue was when I added the peppermint extract to the chocolate/coconut oil, it seized up. I made it work but the chocolate wasn’t smooth and hard to work with. Any idea why, or how to prevent it next time?
Did you have it over a double boiler? If so, be sure the heat is very gentle and possibly even turn it off before adding the extract. Two other issues could be the quality of the chocolate, and you may want to try an oil-based peppermint extract.
I did use a double boiler, I’ll definitely try those changes though. Double batch next time! : )
You mention several times in the article that an instructional video is available. How do I access the video? I don’t see a link.
It’s not in a link, it’s right in the blog post. But if you have an ad blocker on your browser, you can’t see it. Someone just told me that recently. She switched browsers and was able to see it just fine.
Yes! I love thin mints. Now I won’t feel as guilty eating them!
YUM! I love thin mints and this recipe!
These are amazing! Thanks so much!
This is my favorite cookie of all time! Can’t wait to try it.
can’t believe how easy these are. These are going to disappear way too fast!
These are my FAVORITE flavor of Girl Scout Cookies!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! 🙂
I set the oven at 30 minutes, looked at 20 minutes when I started smelling something, and they were burning 🙁
I’m actually wondering if the cookie before you dip them in chocolate are like the chocolate wafers you would buy to make that ice box cake? I believe they were by Nabisco, and it came in a sleeve. You then make your whip cream and put it all together. If you made it over night the cookies got soft from the whip cream. I’m just wondering if it would work with the cookie dipped, to make a Christmas mint icebox cake, keto style.
Yes, that’s exactly what they are like. Please see this recipe: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/chocolate-strawberry-icebox-cake-low-carb-and-gluten-free/
Is 30 minutes in the oven a misprint? I put mine in for eight mins but I think mine were thinner. I made 32.
No, not a misprint at all. Sounds like your oven runs hot.
We made these today but 30 minutes turned the cookies black kitchen to smoke. Second batch was amazing! Thanks for the great recipe!
Yikes…sounds like your oven may run a little hot!
Thin mints are my love of Girl Scout Cookies .Another fav.