Homemade Girl Scout Cookies – Thin Mints!
I couldn’t help myself. Maybe it was because my homemade Samoa experience was so fulfilling or maybe it was just for the satisfaction of crossing these off of my list. But I no longer have to wait for March to get my hands on these every year.<
YOU DON’T OWN ME, GIRL SCOUTS!!!
There is no shortage of versions of this recipe all over the Internet. I found about 5 or 6 during my initial search. Want to try a low carb and gluten free version? Love Thin Mints and do you want them all year round? You can really make these at home and the results are outstanding. I hope you try!
I hadn’t planned on taking pictures throughout the baking process with these but I didn’t think you would believe me that this recipe really will turn out if you give it a try. Just look at how crumbly this dough was at first! I was starting to have my doubts. But press on and you will be happy you did!
Chill, roll out the dough, cut out the cookies, bake, then dip! The rolling out can be tricky as it is crumbly. I used wet hands at times and even microwaved the dough for a few seconds before working with it. Next time I may not even chill the dough at all. I found these dark chocolate mint candy melts at Pat Catan’s. You could use chocolate chips and peppermint extract too.

Homemade Thin Mint Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- Chocolate Wafers:
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour, all-purpose would work just fine
- Chocolate Peppermint Coating:
- 1 package mint dark chocolate candy melts
- -or-
- 1 pound good quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
- peppermint extract to taste, about 1 teaspoon
Instructions
- Cookie dough: In a mixer cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and continue to cream, scraping the sides of the bowl a couple times if necessary. Stir in the vanilla extract, salt, and cocoa powder. Mix until the cocoa powder is integrated and the batter is smooth and creamy, resembling a thick frosting. Add the flour and mix just until the batter is no longer dusty looking but still a bit crumbly. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter, gather it into a ball, and knead it together into a nice, smooth mass. Divide the dough in 2, flatten into disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 15 minutes.
- Rollout and bake: Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough out really thin, about 1/8-inch. These are called thin mints after all. You can either roll it out between two sheets of plastic, or dust your counter and rolling pin with a bit of flour and do it that way. If the dough is too firm to roll you can microwave it for 5 seconds. Cut out cookies and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Make the peppermint coating: Meanwhile, prepare your chocolate coating. Using a double boiler, slowly melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally until it is glossy and smooth. You can add 1 tablespoon of shortening if your chocolate is too thick. Alternatively, use a microwave in short 15-20 second bursts to melt the chocolate. Stir in the peppermint extract if you don’t have the mint candy melts.
- Finishing the cookies: Using a fork gently drop the cookies one at a time into the chocolate coating. Flip to coat all sides. Lift the cookie out of the chocolate with the fork and bang the fork on the side of the pan to drain any extra chocolate off the cookie. You are after a thin, even coating of chocolate. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, and repeat for the rest of the cookies. Place the cookies in the refrigerator or freezer to set.






109 Comments on “Homemade Girl Scout Cookies – Thin Mints!”
I was eating the real thing last night and was thinking to myself that I would love to be able to make these, thanks for this lovely recipe!
what a deliciously clever idea! thanks so much for sharing.
Congrats on top 9!!
I haven’t seen a GS either! The price for cookies this year is $4 for a box that lasts 20 minutes. Thanks for posting a picture of the dough – it’s great to know in advance when something might be scary! : )
congrats on top 9!!
Not only top nine, but number ONE!!!! Yay Katrina, I’m so excited for you! 🙂
Congrats on Top 9. I’ve been looking for a Thin Mint recipe and I trust you, so yours will probably win!
Delicious! Congrats!
Congrats on the Top 9 today!
Congratulations Katrina, your post is in Foodbuzz top #1. WOW! so lucky I’ve found you :))
Yum! Those look better than the actual Girl Scout cookies!!
Wow, these look so pretty and so tasty…chocolate and mint are a great combination :-)Love the flower shape!
Mint and chocolate is by far my most favorite flavor combination. I could eat anything with mint and chocolate all day, every day!
p.s. I don’t even LIKE thin mints, and my mouth is watering. 😛 Seriously.
Katrina. These photos are beautiful! I’m gonna need some tips, girl! Congratulations on the Food Gawker shout out – totally deserved.
This is amazing! I love that you are making girl scout cookies. My little sister always kills my wallet when it comes time to sell me girl scout cookies lol
Looks gorgeous! loved the mint cookies- they are my all time fav (can’t resist even on a full stomach)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE thin mints. You make it sound so simple (i like that). Thank you for sharing.
After the Samoas, they are always first, these are my favorite! I simply adoooore the thin mints… and yours look fabulous!
Katrina these look awesome! Nice job!
Can you re-make all of the girl scouts cookies? I’ll be your best friend? 🙂 These look great, i’ve got to find those mint candy melts!
Love the scalloped edge! I’m going to try these and your Samoas.
I’m happy that I happened upon your blog. It’s lovely 🙂
Ooh! I love thin mints. These look wonderful and great post!
These are really good! Mom
Great recipe! I have a box of thin mints on my desk, but I’m thinking of giving them away and making my own 🙂
Those look WAY better than GS cookies! Excellent!!!
oh wowww those look so delicious and my mouth just started watering..thanks!:))
LOL! You don’t own me girl scouts!!!
Oh my – you did it again! These look wonderful!!!
Mary – I added about a tablespoon of Crisco to the chocolate to make it smooth. I think it added a nice sheen. Then I just used two forks and passed the cookie back and forth until enough chocolate dripped off. I kind of can’t believe how easy these were to make!
Hahhahaha…great post. 😉 These look so good.
I wasn’t on the Girl Scout cookie radar, either this year. These look like the real thing:)
Great job. I’m making these soon!
Wow, those turned out beautifully! Do you have any tips on how to dip the cookies so they’ll turn out that well? Gotta love recipes that are pretty, tasty, and easy to boot!
Carolyn – Your version is great!! I have a lot of friends who can’t have gluten so I’m happy to link up to your great blog! 🙂
I couldn’t believe that I FINALLY made it on Foodgawker!!! I was super-excited!!!
Thanks for linking to my gluten free version. Yours look gorgeous! Saw them on Foodgawker this morning!
These are definitely my favorite girl scout cookies! I can’t believe how perfect your cookies look. I’m thoroughly impressed!
Oh no you didn’t! These are my all-time favorite girl scout cookies…and I didn’t order any this year…and now you posted this recipe! Its as if everything happens for a reason!
Your cookies are simply incredible, I can just taste the mint and the chocolate melting in my mouth! Irresistible!
oh wow, katrina – these look SO good… and that’s coming from someone that doesn’t really like anything mint-chocolate! my husband on the other hand… =P beautiful photos!
They look sooo good! Well, perfect is the right word to describe these cookies!!!!!! 🙂
So funny that yesterday my hubby and I were talking about the fact that his favorite girl scout cookies are thin mints. I’m allergic to mint so i can’t have them but now I can make them for him 🙂
These look awesome! Nicely done. 🙂
They look so good, I want them all 🙂
Are you trying to put those cute little girl scouts out of business, with your yummy cookies! LOL These are my second favorite kind.
-Gina-
Deelish! I could eat every single one!
Leanne – was the link working on my blog? Carolyn over at All Day I Dream About Food made them low carb and gluten free too. 🙂
As I was reading your recipe the wheels were turning… I could totally make these gluten free, totally, totally. I haven’t had a girl scout cookie in years, I would do anything for the taste again!
I am really loving all these Girl Scout recipes lately! I definitely need to make some of these. Yum!
Angela – I found them at a store called Pat Catan’s. I imagine you could find them at JoAnnes, Michaels, etc.
Ooooh these look amazing. Thin Mints are my favorite flavor of Girl Scout cookies (anything mint chocolate and I’m there!). Can’t wait to try these!!
I can almost smell the chocolate-mint through the screen. These will be printed and baked because I must have fallen off the Girl Scout radar for good. Didn’t get even one sales pitch this year from a neighborhood girl or co-worker’s daughter. You must share where you found the dark mint melts.