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Coconut Thin Mint Cookies

So, I know it’s almost Christmas and I failed to acknowledge this fact for the entire month of December. Sorry. Can one glorious holiday-inspired chocolate mint cookie redeem my lack of Christmas spirit up until this point? Most definitely.

What we have today are like the classic thin mint Girl Scout Cookies, except veganized and (mostly) unprocessed. Sure, they use dark chocolate chips and coconut oil, but it IS the holidays, after all. This recipe was adapted from one I saw on VegNews, but with a slightly more unprocessed ingredient list and the addition of coconut. They are phenomenal. My plan is to leave them out for Santa on Christmas Eve in hopes that he loves them enough to drop a fancy new Sony a7 mirrorless camera under my tree. Hey, a guy can dream, right?

Have a very merry Christmas, everyone! Enjoy the time with family, eat a bunch of thin mints, and I’ll see you later this week with an exciting announcement! 🙂

Thin Mint Plate

Makes ~16 cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup white or whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup brown rice flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup applesauce
  • 1/3 cup almond milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 1 cup vegan dark chocolate chips
  • Shredded unsweetened coconut, to garnish

Thin Mint Dough

Preheat the oven to 350º F

Step One

Combine all the dry ingredients (flours, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda) in a large mixing bowl and stir together. In another bowl, melt the wet ingredients (coconut oil, applesauce, almond milk, vanilla, and peppermint extract) and whisk together until fully incorporated. Note: if you prefer less “healthy tasting” cookies, feel free to add more coconut oil and less apple sauce.

Step Two

Carefully add the wet ingredients into the dry and gently fold together. At this point, roll up your sleeves and use the best kitchen tools you have (your hands) to squeeze this dough together and form it into one large ball.

Step Three

Add the dough to a lightly-floured surface and roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. Then, use a cookie cutter (or the rim of a cup) to cut out rounds about 1 1/2 – 2 inches in diameter. Bake on parchment paper at 350º F for 12-16 minutes until the cookies are firm and cooked all the way through.

Step Four

Place the cookies on a wire rack to cool and prepare the chocolate coating by melting dark chocolate chips/chunks in the microwave and adding a few drops of peppermint extract. You can either brush the chocolate over the cookies or go all-in and simply dip them into the bowl of melted chocolate. Finally, top with a dusting of finely-shredded coconut (and optionally, crushed candy cane pieces).

Allow to cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour so that the chocolate can set… if you can wait that long. 🙂

Thin Mint Brush

Thin Mint Cooling

11 Comments

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  1. These look wonderful! Just one q, is there no sweetener in the cookies themselves? Just the applesauce?
    Thank you and Merry Christmas 🙂

    • Hi Emma! That is interesting, isn’t it? I noticed that on the VegNews recipe and was surprised, but gave it a shot anyways. The cookies themselves are (obviously) not sweet but they do have a wonderful chocolate/mint taste and when combined with a sweet chocolate coating, I think they’re perfect… but then, I do like mildly-sweet desserts. I’m sure if you added a little sweetener to the dough, no one would complain 🙂

  2. Hi Andrew, I just tasted it, your cookies are amazing, a perfect mix of flavors! Thank you 🙂
    I used peppermint essential oil (5 drop on biscuits and 1 drop on frosting), and it works very well 😉
    I just discovered your blog a few days ago, and I love it! It’s so great to find people who cooks like me on the other side of Earth 🙂

    • Very cool, Claire! I’m glad you like the cookies and it’s great to hear that you’re following a similar cooking style (on the other side of the Earth!) 🙂

  3. How important is the rice flour in these? Do you think I could just use more whole wheat flour? I want to make girl scout type cookies, but I don’t stock rice flour in my pantry.

    • Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve made then and I couldn’t say for sure… Feel free to give it a shot though, whole wheat flour might work quite well!

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