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Homemade Girl Scout Cookies: Thin Mints

Homemade Thin Mints

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

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.

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238 Comments
  • Createlive
    March 2, 2012

    Also, for those of you who end up making Thin Mints using ANY of these great recipes… Here’s a recipe for Thin Mint Truffles!

    This recipe is actually really a great find because they’ll let anybody make thin mints or thin mint truffles year round… meaning you don’t have to wait for Girl Scout Season!!!

    Thanks! -Carly @ Createlive

  • Colleen Boehm
    March 5, 2012

    Hi everyone! I can’t wait to make these homemade GS cookies! I am wrapping up being cookie mom and have since decided we will not be selling, consuming, or endorsing GS cookies again until our baker’s make a change in ingredients. I would encourage everyone who reads this website and these recipes to contact your local GS Council where you live AND the baker that makes your Council’s cookies, and EMAIL THEM REGARDING WHY YOU WON’T BUY THEM! I did, and I got a response from one of the baker’s VP’s. But if EVERYONE who won’t purchase them writes in and tells them WHY (because they contain nasty ingredients!) then maybe they will make a change. After all, pure cane sugar, non-hydrogenated oil, and no food colorings in chocolate cookies really is not asking for the world! It is time to stand up for our food supply! Here is a great video I recently found on the problems with the food supply in the US (specifically as it relates to GMO foods and allergies) http://www.robynobrien.com/Default.htm. Enjoy! And thanks for coming up with these recipes!

  • Chelsea
    March 5, 2012

    I made these over the weekend, even though I was a little skeptical from some of the reviews. I had one out of the oven and was a little disappointed, but I decided to dip them in chocolate and see what happened. I popped them in the freezer, and WOW! They are amazing! Not quite as minty as the GS version, but still pretty darn close, if not better. I didn’t run out of chocolate for dipping (there were about 5 cookies left over, but at that point I was sick of dipping anyway!), but I think some people may have run out because it’s easy to leave too much chocolate on the cookies. Make these, you will not be disappointed!

  • Sheri
    March 12, 2012

    Has anyone tried putting peppermint in the chocolate?

  • Jill
    April 23, 2012

    I don’t know if it was me but this did not turn out at all and isn’t very good and tastes nothing like the gc cookies. Bummer

  • Mary
    May 6, 2012

    I think some of the comments about girl scouts on here are nuts! But I do have to agree. Selling cookies can get ridiculously competitive. I was in girl scouts for about 7 years. This girl I know who put her daughter in girl scouts this year bought 300$ worth of cookies just so her daughter would get a badge. I couldn’t believe her behavior for a stupid badge. I used to try and sell cookies because it was part of being a Girl Scout not to get a freakin badge. And parents who act like that infuriate me. Way to set an example for your child. SMH.
    That being said, I dont think theres anything wrong with making your own knock off cookies. It’s near impossible to get cookies year round. Thin mints are my absolute favorite, and I only bought 2 boxes this year. I was saving the last of my last box for awhile. Hoping this recipe will work out, or that I will find one that does.

  • donna
    September 18, 2012

    keebler makes grasshoppers which highly resemble thin mints

  • Jasmine
    October 30, 2012

    Love the idea of this. I will be trying with my own twist (like making them gluten free).

    I would not buy any cookies from the Girl Scouts. I would not jeopardize my health with genetically modified foods. There are other ways these girls could raise money for their troops that would be beneficial to others as well. I, too, would rather make a donation than to buy this toxic food.

    Look at the ingredients in the GS Thin Mints cookies:

    Enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin,
    reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [vitamin B1],
    riboflavin [vitamin B2], folic acid), sugar, vegetable
    oil (palm, partially hydrogenated palm kernel,
    soybean and cottonseed with TBHQ for freshness),
    cocoa, caramel color, contains two percent or less
    of cocoa processed with alkali, invert sugar, whey,
    leavening (baking soda, monocalcium phosphate),
    cornstarch, salt, soy lecithin, natural and artificial
    flavor, oil of peppermint.

    There are so many things wrong with that list. A few things that stick out to me are SOY (probably GMO soy). Sugar?? Probably processed, I’d rather use RAW sugar. Vegetable oil? Yuck.. GMO! I’ll stick with coconut oil. Artificial flavor.. why?? Hydrogenated oils.. HUH!?!? I could go on and on.

  • Nicole
    October 30, 2012

    Jasmine – I have a Gluten Free Thin Mint recipe available, too, if you want to give it a try! http://bakingbites.com/2011/06/homemade-girl-scout-cookies-gluten-free-thin-mints/

  • Jasmine
    October 31, 2012

    Wow! Thanks so much Nicole. 🙂

  • Nicole
    November 22, 2012

    OMG, I can’t wait to try out this recipe for myself, I LOVE Thin Mints!

  • Pamelamama
    March 5, 2013

    Hmmm. Mine came out like delicious
    minty chocolate covered rocks. I am thinking it needed a whole other stick of butter, 1/2 pound instead of 1/2 cup? My dough was like sand. The experiment continues…

  • Kayla Ward
    March 6, 2013

    Making these right now! Dough is in the freezer. I’m going to use a little Mickey Mouse cookie cutter that I have though. The dough tasted good so I have high hopes!

  • Gwen Gibson
    March 7, 2013

    Would love to see the nutritional values…

  • sas
    March 9, 2013

    Great flavor but rock hard, will try cooking for less time and more butter maybe?

  • Shelly
    March 17, 2013

    Mine came out super dry. I had a hard time gathering it all together to form it into a log. Has anyone tried adding more butter or milk?

  • Sarah
    May 14, 2013

    I ended up using unsweetened almond milk in mine and it turned out fine. The cookies were a bit hard from what I assume from over cooking and I felt that they were not minty enough after I added extra. Hopefully the next batch will turn out better.

  • Rachel
    January 20, 2014

    I just made these. I added extra milk to bring the dough together and some extra mint. I got over five dozen, so not enough chocolate to cover them all, but I’m ok with that. I’m so glad they turned out, as I won’t let my little Daisy scout eat the “real” thing. We are buying some for operation sweet treat to support her troop, and selling to folks who would be buying anyway. Thanks for sharing.

  • megan
    February 8, 2014

    Mine came out like sand I added tablespoon after tablespoon until it was dough consistency. They are in the freezer now.

  • Evalen
    February 11, 2014

    Would like to try, but I don’t usually make or eat treats
    Unless I know the nutrition value. can you post the nutritional value on these.

  • Debbie
    February 11, 2014

    Love Thin Mints and plan to make some for my TOPS Chapter.

  • Maryann
    March 23, 2014

    I am making these now. The dough was like sand probably needed more butter… Can’t form a log… Added some water … Put in freezer and the one I added water to came out so I could cut it, tho it’s not round… And the sand ones came out and I tried to cut them and they fell apart into crumbs.. They are tasty but I added a little bit of water and returned to the freezer yet again for two hours :(…. The batch that I could slice into half circles is now in the oven.. I hope they turn out ok.. If not I will just bake the crumble then poor chocolate on top. Voila chocolate mint crumble… Then it won’t be a waste.. 🙂

  • Corr Chilled
    March 27, 2014

    Now I can get these ALL YEAR ROUND! YES

  • Nicole
    October 6, 2014

    Hi everyone! I just wanted to jump in and say that there are no typos in this recipe (although I get a lot of questions about it). The dough is meant to be dry to produce a very crisp cookie that is as similar as possible to the actual Thin Mint. It is perfectly fine to add in a bit of water if you need the dough to come together more when forming it into a log, but just add enough so that you can press the dough into shape. It’ll firm up in the freezer. Enjoy!!

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