It's Girl Scout Season again....

...And until yesterday, I didn't think anything of it.

Then, one of my co-workers started going door to door in the office, selling cookies for the troop she oversees. For the first time in my life, I had to say no to Thin Mints. My favorite Girl Scout cookie of all time.

Not 5 seconds later, I decided that I would just make my own.

Doing my research on the good ol' Internet, I found out that lots of people have done gluten free versions of thin mints. Having a friend who is Paleo (no grains, including most gf flours), I've tended to experiment more with grain-free recipes. This one is no exception. My goal: to make a gluten free, refined-sugar free, grain-free Thin Mint cookie. (a word from the wise: this is STILL to be considered a dessert, even though it's "refined sugar free"...do not think you can eat half a dozen and not suffer the after-effects! Ok, enough downers.)

My inspiration for these cookies comes from this post at Baking Bites blog. I've tweaked it enough, however, that I think I can now call this version my own. :)

For the chocolate coating, some refined-sugar free bloggers use dark chocolate, but here I tinkered with unsweetened cocoa powder, coconut oil and agave as a base. The coconut oil is put in as a liquid, but then solidifies when frozen, so it helps make a little bit more of a "shell" for the cookies.
 
P.S. Frozen Thin Mints are my favorite :)

Cookies

45g. (3 T.) coconut oil, room temperature (not melted)

50g. (1/3 c.) coconut palm sugar

1 Egg  (mine weighed in at about 40g.)

15g. (1 T.) almond milk

¼ t. vanilla extract

¼ t. peppermint extract

10g. (2 T.) cocoa powder

115g. (¾ c.) almond flour

10g. (2 T.) coconut flour   

Chocolate Coating

45g. (3 T.) coconut oil, melted   

15g. (3 T.) Cocoa powder

120g. (1/3c.) agave nectar

1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 t. peppermint extract

Making the Cookies
Using a fork, in a medium bowl cream together sugar and coconut oil until well combined. Add egg, milk, vanilla, and peppermint extract. Blend well. Add cocoa powder, blending well again. Pour in almond and coconut flours, and mix until flour disappears.

Place dough onto a sheet of wax paper. Form dough into a log, about 2" x 2" thick, and wrap tightly in wax paper. (As one of the other blogs I read noted, "If it looks like something you don't want to think about, then you did it right.")
Freeze until firm (I did about 1-2 hours).

After freezing, take the dough out of the freezer, and slice into 1/4" slices, and place on cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. You can place the cookies close together, because they will not rise or expand.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes. Some of them may be a little brown on the edges. Let the cookies cool completely before adding the chocolate coating.

Making the Chocolate Coating
Mix all ingredients for the coating, stirring until the cocoa is mixed in completely, and the chocolate is smooth. If needed, microwave the mixture some more if the the coconut oil begins to solidify and make the mixture clumpy.

Using two forks, dip the cookies in the chocolate, and rotate to completely cover the cookies. Place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Freeze cookies for a few minutes, until the chocolate has solidified completely. Then place the cookies in an airtight container, and store in the freezer...or have friends over and eat them all :)

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

P.S. This post was shared as part of Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays on the blog Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.