Homemade Thin Mints
Easy to make, these Homemade Thin Mint Cookies are just as you remembered them – chocolatey, minty, and coated in chocolate for the perfect midday snack.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Whole Earth Sweetener Co.. All opinions are 100% mine.
As many of you know, March is my absolute favorite month of the year.
- Spring is less than a week away
- I am (hopefully) a year wiser as I celebrate another trip around the sun
- Baseball seasons is mere weeks away with Spring Training well underway
- And, of course, the world celebrates my people everywhere, the Irish!
Today on the blog we are beginning the St. Patrick’s Day celebration with one of my favorite cookies of all time: Homemade Thin Mints – simple, delicious, and filled with the perfect flavor combination of chocolate and mint, these simple cookies are a reason alone to celebrate. Better yet, these little gems are made with just half the sugar by using Whole Earth Sweetener‘s incredible Baking Blend.
You may remember I featured Whole Earth Sweetener a few months back with this gingerbread cookie recipe. Well, I was so impressed with their products, that I have been eagerly experimenting with them ever since. And in all that experimenting I found another perfect recipe for their signature Baking Blend.
What is Whole Earth Sweetener?
Whole Earth Sweetener is a company that is focused on great tasting, non-GMO sweeteners that are zero or lower calories. By combining naturally found extracts and fruit such as agave, stevia, monk fruit, and cane sugar and blending them into their signature sweeteners, they have done just what they have sought out to do: create sweetener blends that do not compromise on taste and can be part of a healthier lifestyle.
Whole Earth Sweetener has a variety of products including:
- Monk Fruit Juice Concentrate – a zero calories, non-GMO Project Verified concentrate for sweetening beverages such as tea and coffee.
- Baking Blend – a non-GMO Project Verified sugar and stevia blend that can be used in place of sugar for 50% fewer calories per serving than traditional sugar
- Whole Earth Sweetener Agave 50 – an organic, non-GMO Project Verified agave blend that has 50% fewer calories per serving than traditional agave
You can read about their complete inventory here.
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE THIN MINT COOKIES:
These vegan chocolate cookies just like you remember them. Thin and crisp chocolate wafers covered in rich chocolate and filled with minty flavor.
And the great news is they are no harder to make than any of my other cookies.
STEP ONE – MIX TOGETHER THE DRY INGREDIENTS.
That’s the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside
STEP TWO – Make the BATTER
Beat the vegan butter until it is soft and creamy. Add Whole Earth Sweetener Baking Blend and beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. With the mixer running, slowly add 1 flax egg, vanilla, and peppermint extracts.
Add the dry ingredients until they are just combined. Be careful not to overmix or the dough will become gummy and dense.
STEP THREE – ROLL AND BAKE
Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper. Lay another piece of parchment on top and roll out the dough to about ¼” thick. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Once the dough is firm enough to handle, cut out 2″ round cookies and place on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Step Four – Dip in Chocolate
While the cookies are cooling, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave or a double boiler. Chocolate should be smooth and silky. (See photo above) Using a fork, dip cookies one at a time in chocolate and return to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for the chocolate to harden, about 5 minutes.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MAKING THE PERFECT THIN MINT COOKIES
These vegan chocolate cookies are fairly straight forward. In fact, they are nearly fool-proof. Here are a few things to keep in mind when making these cookies.
- Do not overmix the dough. Overmixing encourages the gluten to develop making your cookies gummy and dense.
- Pull cookies out when they are slightly underdone. I found 8-10 minutes to be the perfect baking time. They will continue to harden as they cool.
- Don’t over-mix the chocolate at any point. Chocolate does not want to be messed with much. When mixing the ganache and chocolate, mix it only as much as necessary. Gentle heat will do most of the work itself.
- Make sure your cookies are completely cooled before dipping them in chocolate. If they are not, they will start to fall apart in the chocolate making your chocolate cold and clumpy.
- Store your cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
MORE VEGAN COOKIE RECIPES
If you know anything about me, then you know I love my cookies. Here are a few of my favorite vegan cookie recipes:
There you have it! Beautiful, homemade vegan thin mint cookies. Let’s take a look at the recipe card below.
Homemade Thin Mints
Ingredients
- ¾ cup vegan butter
- ½ cup Whole Earth Sweetener Baking Blend
- 1 flax egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 18 ounces vegan chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
Instructions
- In a stand-up mixer or in a bowl with a hand mixer, beat the vegan butter until soft and creamy. Add Whole Earth Sweetener Baking Blend and beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. With the mixer running, slowly add 1 flax egg, vanilla, and peppermint extracts.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter/baking blend mixture and mix on low until a uniform dough forms.
- Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper. Lay another piece of parchment on top and roll out the dough to about ¼" thick. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Using a cookie cutter or edge of a glass, cut out 2" round cookies and place on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While cookies are cooling, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave or a double boiler. Chocolate should be smooth and silky. (See photo above)
- Using a fork, dip cookies one at a time in chocolate and return to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for the chocolate to harden, about 5 minutes.
- Once the chocolate has hardened, remove from refrigerator and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
Catherine Gimer says
I wanted to let you know that I used a GF flour blend and these turned out great. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe that we all enjoyed.
Tina says
I made these following the recipe exactly. They’re decent, but not spectacular. There’s only the faintest hint of mint flavor; if I make them again I’ll try doubling the peppermint extract. They are also not very crunchy. I baked the cookies for 8 minutes but should have gone for 10. They took me longer than an hour and a half because of rolling, chilling, dipping, chilling again. Maybe more like two hours. For how long these took, I’m not that impressed, honestly. But I suppose I had fun making them, so that’s a benefit. Thanks for the recipe.
Arielle S says
Question – I have several loved ones who are vegan and I’m trying to make them some christmas cookies and I’d love to make this, but am wondering what the measurement would be if I used regular sugar instead of the whole earth sweetener baking blend? Thanks!
Sarah says
1/2 cup should be fine with regular sugar. Let us know how it goes!
Dr Martin Huang says
Your pictures are on spot! I love how you add a touch of the chocolate drippings to give that nice decorative effect.
And of course, I bet it must have tasted delicious!
Thanks for sharing!
Sarah says
Thanks so much!
Joan Butler says
Please Sarah can you tell me why you haven’t brought out a book on clean eating vegan because it would be a sell out. I love your recipes and try to follow them on e-mail but the adverts are a pain, swamping the newsletter.
Sarah says
Writing books take a lot of time which is why it’s hasn’t happened yet bu it’s something I’m looking forward to doing in the future!
Kristin says
Your photos are gorgeous, Sarah! Made these this week, and as my daughter says, they are “da bomb”! So good! Thanks for the recipe!
Sarah says
Thank you, Kristin!
Lisa says
These are beautiful, Sarah!