Homemade Girl Scout Cookies: Thin Mints October 10
Thin Mints are the Girl Scouts’ best selling cookies - although Samoas, Do-si-dos and Tagalongs have their fans, too - when they have their annual cookie sale. Even though they’re a wonderfully tasty combination of mint, chocolate and crispiness, there are a couple of good reasons not to buy them no matter how tempting they seem. First, only a small portion of the cookie sales go to the troops, and as the prices rise, the cookies themselves shrink. I’d rather donate to my local chapter and know where the money is going. Second, the cookies are still made with partially hydrogenated oils, which means that they contain trans fats despite the fact that the boxes proudly proclaim “zero trans fats per serving!” Eat two servings, and those trans fats will start to add up.
I’d much rather make my own. These crispy cookies are easy to make at home and taste even better than the “real” thing. The dough is made in advance, rolled into a log and chilled. This allows the cookies to be sliced off easily into rounds so there is no need to fiddle with a cookie cutter.
Once baked, they are dipped into a dark chocolate coating. I used Guittard chocolate for this batch and would definitely recommend getting a good quality dark chocolate to work with, starting with a bar and chopping it up. Semisweet chocolate - by which I mean chocolate chips - will work pretty well, too, although you might need to add an extra tablespoon of butter if your chocolate doesn’t get thin enough to ensure a thin cookie coating.
The cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for several days, but like “real” Girl Scout cookies, they taste great when frozen and will last for weeks - if not longer - in the freezer.
Homemade Thin Mints
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup milk (any kind)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. With the mixer on low speed, add in the milk and the extracts. Mixture will look curdled. Gradually, add in the flour mixture until fully incorporated.
Shape dough into two logs, about 1 1/2 inches (or about 4 cm) in diameter, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1-2 hours, until dough is very firm.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Slice dough into rounds not more than 1/4 inch thick - if they are too thick, they will not be as crisp - and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cookies will not spread very much, so you can put them quite close together.
Bake for 13-15 minutes, until cookies are firm at the edges. Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before dipping in chocolate.
Dark Chocolate Coating
10-oz dark or semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Melt on high power in the microwave, stirring every 45-60 seconds, until chocolate is smooth. Chocolate should have a consistency somewhere between chocolate syrup and fudge for a thin coating.
Dip each cookie in melted chocolate, turn with a fork to coat, then transfer to a piece of parchment paper or wax paper to set up for at least 30 minutes, or until chocolate is cool and firm.
Reheat chocolate as needed to keep it smooth and easy to dip into.
Makes 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.
Anne Oct 10
Oh, excellent. I need a slice-and-bake recipe for this weekend, and this sounds really nice. Now, if I can only find a REALLY good cut-out-cookie recipe, too…
Cathy Oct 10
Ha! Guess today’s theme is chocolate and mint!
Well, I know I’d like these and I love the idea of having cookie dough ready and waiting in the freezer.
Stephanie Oct 10
Ooooohhooooo….Matt is going to love this! Thanks so much! I may give them a try soon. You know, in my copious free time…
J Oct 10
hi nic, sounds delectable…also, lovely picture - i really like the choice of primary green as your background colour!
Nic Oct 10
Anne - I think I know where you can find one…
Cathy - I didn’t even know that the mint brownies would be up today! If you want to have some really minty cookies, add a bit of extract to the chocolate drizzle, too.
Stephanie - The beauty of the slice and bake cookie is that they’ll be ready any time - even o nbusy days.
J - Thanks! The Girl Scout cookies traditionally come in green boxes, so I was inspired by that.
Mika Oct 10
Love your mint-chocolate slice and bake cookie. Great photo as usual! It will also probably make a great sandwich cookie with ganache.
Nic Oct 12
Mika - Great idea. These would make a terrific sandwich cookie.
Bad Hippie Mar 7
Do you have an alternative for the 1/4 cup of cornstarch in this recipe? Weird as it may sound, I am allergic to corn, corn startch, corn syrup, etc… I’d love to make thin minties, but don’t want to be sick after eating a few!
jenadele Jun 23
Bad Hippie- I am also allergic to all corn products, and soy and dairy. You can use arrowroot or potato starch instead of corn starch. I also used hemp milk instead of cow. And evaporated cane juice instead of white sugar. Yum! Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Sam Greene Feb 12
I think these work reallywell, and great to keep handy in the freezer, i think next time i will add some more peppermint.
Thanks for this one
Natalie Oct 14
This is amazing, I’ve found myself eating the dough while doing it! Loved it.
Jeryyms Oct 22
Nice site you have
Jenn’s Baking Chamber Jan 4
I LOVE those girl scout cookies, I never thought of making them myself instead of buying them! wow, yum, thanks for the recipe
miriam Jan 5
these are my favorite of all the girl scout cookies. a few years back i found a recipe which turned out to produce very disappointing cookies. i’ll have to try these and see if they pass muster.
Sunshine Jan 5
Oh no you didn’t! I am so going home to bake these tonight! Thanks!
Kristen Jan 20
Uh oh - this could be serious trouble for me! I love Thin Mints and like the thought of fewer trans fats.
Sarah Jan 26
An easier recipe that tastes exactly like Thin Mints is to use Ritz Crackers and dip them in a pound of melted Bakers Chocolate (double boiled) with 1 tsp. of peppermint extract mixed in the chocolate. set on wax paper and let dry and they are AMAZING.
Laurie Jan 28
Bad Hippie, yes you can use Potato Flour sometimes called Potato starch, as a substitute for cornflour/cornstarch.
It’s almost identical in its thickening; i’ts every bit as sticky and it’s pure white so makes a very good alternative.
jenn Jan 31
Made these cookies tonight. They were horrible. Way too dry.
Nicole Jan 31
Laurie - I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t like the cookies, but I’m confused by your comment. The cookies are supposed to be dry and fairly crispy/crumbly, like the cookies that GS uses. Were you hoping that they would be soft/moist? If they were burnt or tasted overdone, perhaps you baked them a bit too long.
Hannah Feb 6
I was really disapointed with the Samoas I made last night. I have these ready to bake in the morning and I’m hoping they will turn out better than the other, they were horrible!-and VERY time consuming!
Gridlock Feb 8
One baking tip to prevent burning.
Use two oven racks. Place your cooking tray (as set up in the recipe) on the topmost rack and an identical-sized (or slightly larger) empty cooking tray on the rack beneath the tray you are making cookies with. This will shield the cooking tray from the direct rising heat and prevent the bottoms of your cookies from burning so easily.
It’s an old baking trick from long ago.
Deib Feb 10
I made these last night and I am enjoying them (from the fridge because the chocolate is a little melty when they get too warm). I read quite a few recipes on the internet before choosing this one. It isn’t a perfect replica, but it is definitely good enough for me. The only change I made was using 1/2 tsp peppermint oil instead of the extract because it has a stronger flavor and I read on other sites that the flavor would be closer to the real thing.
kawai Feb 10
wow this is fantastic. i’ll try this later..look so yummy, my nieces would love this…thanks
Rachel Feb 12
I’ve read a similar recipe calling for a box of Fudge Cake mix..But this essentially seems to be the same recipe! I LOVE Thin Mints. I hope they don’t increase the prices due to the economy!
Courtney Feb 13
I made these last night and they’re delicious! Gridlock, thanks for the tip to keep cookies from burning on the bottom, some of mine were a bit thin and would probably have been stuck if it weren’t for you!
Rebecca Feb 19
I tried to make these last weekend. I made the dough as directed - it was very dry and did not hold together well as I was shaping into logs, but I thought the dryness would work itself out during chilling & baking and be just fine. The logs stayed in the freezer for maybe 3-4 hours (a but longer than directed, but I did not think that would make a difference), but when I tried to cut the slices, the dough would just shatter into pieces. I was not able to get a single slice, it just crumbled. My husband is allergic to some of the ingrediants in the Girl Scout brand cookies, but he *loves* the cookies and misses them dearly, so I am going to try again and hope they work out better. Do you think it was the longer freezer time that caused them to shatter, or should I have used more milk to make the dough come together better pre-freezing?
Anonymous Feb 22
These were awesome. But the chocolate was hard to coat the entire cookie well, without burning your hands off!
Amber Mar 2
I just made these, and have a few suggestions:
1. Make sure your butter is room temperature before you mix it with the sugar. If the butter is too cold the dough will come out crumbly.
2. Slice the cookies very thin, more like 1/8″ than 1/4″. The cookies are crisp this way, rather than too hard to bite into.
3. Cook them until the edges are just set. They will still be soft in the middle, but they firm up as they cool. Overcook, and they will be rock hard, even if they don’t look burnt on the bottom.
4. Choose a high quality chocolate, and use a double-boiler to melt it. Some of the cheaper varieties become grainy, especially if melted in the microwave.
5. Store in the fridge or freezer so the chocolate doesn’t get melty.
Hope this helps some!
Tammy Mar 4
Your recipe is nice, but I have to comment on your statement “only a small portion goes to the troop”. From a $3.50 box, only 63 cents goes to the bakery. All of the rest of the money goes to the girl scouts with troops receiving 50 cents. The Girl Scout council receives the rest and the funds are used to support awards for girls, and fund programs for girls.
So out of $3.50, only 63 cents goes to the bakery and the rest goes to the Girl Scouts.
Now, I agree homemade is better, but part of the purpose is to support the girls and encourage learning about speaking with the public, working with product, and handling money.
My 3rd grade brownie troop ran a cookie booth this year and the girls ran the whole booth with only oversight by myself.
Nicole Mar 4
Tammy - You’re right about how much money goes to the bakers (about 30%), but only 10-15% of the cost of each box goes to the troop. The Girl Scout Council gets about 50%. The GS council does use the rest of the money for GS programs, but that isn’t necessarily going to directly benefit any individual troop. The individual troops don’t necessarily make that much money from the sales (40ish cents per box, depending on the price in that area).
Sarah Mar 8
Ahh! I have always wanted to make these myself! It seems like forever waiting the year for the girl guides to sell them again! I can’t wait to try them!
Celeste Mar 12
Mine turned out hard as rocks. I used room temperature butter and sliced them less than 1/4 inch, and they’re not burned. Maybe I should use less cornstarch? The flavor is good!
BentSpork Mar 13
Wow. A great cookie and a great clone. And really easy. I can’t imagine getting a better clone than this from a home kitchen. Directions are right on. A couple of notes: I used softened butter and resulting chilled dough was very workable. After 13 minutes, my cookies were dry and firm across the top (not just edges), and had a great texture once cooled. I melted cheap chocolate in the microwave with the butter until just melted; the first several cookies became too thickly coated so I heated it and reheated as necessary to get a thinner coat. Got beautiful results from turning cookie in the chocolate with a fork and carefully setting it on parchment paper. The mint flavor was somehow more pronounced after dipping in chocolate but I could consider adding more peppermint. Last comment, the thinner the better; 1/4 inch is a good maximum but I think the official cookies are a little more delicate. Thanks!!
Anon. Mar 19
Just FYI- Keebler’s makes a cookie that tastes exactly like Thin Mints. They’re called grasshoppers and are usually $2.50 per box. So if you’re looking for the taste without all the work, they are a great alternative and are available all year long.
Risa Mar 22
I made these and they turned out great. I posted them on my blog and linked back here. www.bakedperfection.com
joieizme Mar 25
Would love to make these for my granddaughter who is gluten intolerant. Does anyone have any suggestions for alternate flours to use instead of the wheat that would make a reasonably good chocolate mint girl scout cookie?
midwestmom Mar 27
I made these yesterday. The chocolate did not coat well at all. It was too thick and I only had enough chocolate to dip half of my cookies. But they are delicious. I would like to make them again but need more help with the chocolate.
Mary W. Mar 29
I made these as is and found them too be not quite as minty or chocolate-y as the real thing.
So I tried again, doubling the mint and cocoa in the batter, omitting 1/4 c. of flour.
I also to used little or no butter in the dipping chocolate (It tasted too buttery for me), adding a little bit of mint extract instead, so bump up the mint flavor.
It turned out closer…although I think I need cook them for even less time. I only baked them for 8 min. but they still seemed too dry.
Wendy Apr 3
Thanks for the recipe! I now live in Mexico - no thin mints *sniff*! - and can’t wait to try out this substitute.
Rebekah Apr 4
I make these myself. I actually just use a low sodium ritz cracker, and dip them into melted Andes mint chips. Yummy and fast.
Grace Apr 5
If your dough is too dry and won’t stick together, but you still want a crisp, crunchy cookie, you can add a bit of vodka into the dough to make it easier to work with and it bakes right off so you don’t need to worry about the taste. This is a trick I learned when making pie crusts.
Andrew Apr 18
Just made these and they’re pretty good though a bit…austere. Some suggestions:
- The dough is very dry. You must must must let the butter come fully to room temperature to work with it. Definitely don’t even think of melting it with heat.
- I kneaded the dough by hand for a few seconds which helps smooth it out (because of the warmth of your hands). This totally solves the drying-out issues; it’s like working with clay.
- Still, I wish these were a little less dense and a little crispier. I almost think they need a tiny bit of leavening, maybe pinch of baking powder. The thickness seems to be very sensitive. 1/4″ is pretty horsey, but much thinner and they might burn. Go just shy of 1/4″.
- Like Mary W above says, these are not minty enough as is. I added an additional half teaspoon of peppermint extract to my dipping chocolate, which helped a lot. Chocolate level was ok with me though.
Kim May 1
Hi:
I have no issues with your recipe, it looks yummy, however as a Girl Scout leader I dispute your facts about the value of a box of Girl Scout cookies, purchased from real live Girl Scouts!!! Cookies in my area sell for $3.50 per box, as they have for a few years now, and although the boxes may be getting a little smaller my troop benefits greatly from the 63 cents per box we earn. The girls were able to fund an overnight trip to NASA completely on cookie sales! Additionally, the money raised that does NOT go to our troop still benefits Girl Scouts in our area. All profits greater than our share go to our local Council- LOCAL Council, not our national organization- and thus benefits the girls by supporting things like our three campsites, our two Council buildings, paid support staff, training and background checks for the leaders, and on and on and on. We also take donations from anyone who wants to buy “virtual cookies” and, instead of pocketing the money, it goes towards sending cookies to our military personnel. I would appreciate a retraction of your comments about where the money goes, please and thank you!!!
leemz May 7
I treid out this recipe yesterday and boy they are good, Everybody loved them. Thanks a gazillion girl, thanks a gazillion.Will write about them soon, God be willing.
And i tried your rainbow cupcakes
they’ve already been posted on my website, Your ROck!
Keep up the good work!
Stacey May 8
I tried making these not once, but twice and they were hard as a brick. I changed the basic recipe for my Spritz cookies (butter cookies I make at Christmas)by adding 6 tablespoons of cocoa and decreasing the flour by 1/4 cup, keeping the mint and vanilla extracts the same and they turned out perfect. Don’t bother with the original recipe. I also only coated only about 3/4 of the cookie (chocolate is better on the cookies than on my fingers).
Carrie May 13
thanks for the recipe. i’ll definitely need to try these out as $5 a box is just too much for me.
Dana May 21
Wow… so pretty
Michelle Jun 1
Mine didn’t turn out well either. They are the texture and density of chocolate-covered dog biscuits. Was hoping for a more delicate, crispy cookie. Not a great flavor either. Followed the directions to the letter, so I’m not sure what went wrong.
Vanessa Jun 7
Mine turned out rock hard, not sure why. Would they possibly turn out a bit better with less flour or corn starch, or maybe ditch the corn starch all together? I also thought that the cookie itself wasn’t minty enough, I added a little peppermint extract to the coating which made it a little better.
Keith Cheltenham Jun 12
How have I not seen these cookies before on here, they look awesome! Green and Blacks dark chocolate would be a good alternative to coat them in.
BFalls Jul 2
Our council sells the cookies for $3.50/box. They were $3.00 last year. Council gets 50% of the price, troop gets 55 cents and the rest goes to the baker. I know the money is intended for Girl Scout programs and the more money council makes, the lower the cost for the individual girls. I think our council is still charging way too much! The normal price to go skating at our local rink is $4.00. The council charges $4.00 for early registration, and $5.00 at the door! Just had to add my two cents worth…
Jingle Jul 7
This is one of my favorites, I must try to learn this and make them myself.
Connie Jul 7
thanks for the recipe, looks good and yummy!
beverly hills homes Jul 8
Thin mints are so addictive to eat. you cannot just eat one. These are the best girl scout cookies.
jamesly Jul 21
I made these yesterday.
I am definitely need to try these out as $5 a box is just too much for me.
rargemini Aug 5
O, it’s looks not so good, sir. hehe..
kalendare Aug 6
Haha, yeah, they don’t look as good as they taste. Nonetheless I love ‘em
$4 Aug 18
Interesting story.
tight snatch Aug 18
I need you.
big natural breast Aug 18
We can do it.
Mary Sep 7
I would like to make a sugestion on the chocolate for all those out there. I have found with melting chocolate in the microwave it is always to thick. A way to make it thinner is to add a few drops if vegatable oil, it will thin it out. I love baking and loves those cookies and will have to try them out tonight. Thanks for the recipe.
Jessica Sep 7
This recipe was great. I omitted the cocoa powder, as the cookies I sold in the 80’s were white on the inside. Dough sliced easily. I added more extract to the dough, and added extract to the melted chocolate. Served at a party last night and they disappeared within minutes.
Coafuri mirese Sep 15
I just gave this a shot last night, and they turned out great! I also had a difficult time getting a thin chocolate coating, but it’s probably lack of skill on my part. I used semi-sweet chocolate as you recommended, so (thankfully) there is no overwhelming chocolate taste.
silk flowers Sep 27
adding cinnamon makes it even better
Sharpe Books Sep 28
I love the recipe and even better no trans fat !
Phones & Headsets Sep 28
Better than the brownies version !
Beauty products Oct 12
I’m trying to cut down on the old trans fats at the moment so these are perfect, thanks.
Pizza Oct 12
Try slim fast Brownies! They are great!
Girl Scout Cookie Mom Oct 19
While I love baking and these recipes do sound delicious, please don’t shut the girl scouts out. The cookie sale is the biggest and only one out of the two fund raisers they do. Cookies have remained $3.50 per box, and yes the portions are getting smaller, but so is everything at the grocery store. A 5 lb bag of sugar is only 4 lbs now for the same price. If you still don’t want to purchase cookies from the girls, please consider making a donation to a local troop whether money, materials for projects,or your time. Girl Scouts is a wonderful outlet for girls learn about leadership and learn things about themselves. Please don’t “stick it to the Girl Scouts”. What if it were your daughter?
Jason Oct 19
Oh, this is really excellent!
I always need a slice-and-bake recipe. This sounds really good.
Faye Lara Makeup Oct 20
Going to try and make some of these - cookies my biggest weakness!
Rachele Jean Beck Oct 23
I just made these and they turned out wonderful. I had no trouble with crumbling or burning or hardness in the finished cookies. However, I did run out of the coating about halfway through coating the cookies, so I reccomend doubling the coating recipe.
I personally agree with your choice not to buy from the Girl Scouts but for reasons other than those that you mentioned. Boxes of cookies here in Colorado cost $5.25 each and the cookies are considerably smaller and fewer than they were when I was a girl scout (10 years ago). Plus it seems that the mentality of the girls selling the cookies has changed. When I was a scout we said please and thank you to each and every person that we spoke to whether they actually purchased cookies or not and now the little stinkers that come around to my door, and hang out in front of my king soopers, seem to think that they are entitled to every person they encounter buying huge amounts of cookies. They wear their ipods while selling cookies and if you decline to make a purchase they simply turn away from you to accost the next person instead of sweetly saying “thank you anyway”. Dealing with all of that attitude is simply not worth it for a box of small, stale cookies!
PS: This could just be the girls in my area, maybe other girl scouts are still taught to be polite to people who are making a donation to their cause.
iPod to Computer Transfer Oct 29
So delicious, thank you told me how to do it, but I am just worried about my weight.
florist Nov 14
nice article
–thanks–
bergamot Nov 15
I made them yesterday and it turned out pretty good. The only problem I faced was that the chocolate would keep thickening. Maybe if I microwaved it, it would have been better.
bergamot Nov 16
I put a post on this on my blog today do check it out sometime.