Yay! I think I might have done it. Finally, after a few epic fails in my attempts to make healthy, (gaps approved, or paleo) thin mints. Ok, I know what I am about to post are not thin mints, but my perfectionist self could not find a way to get them to turn out just like thin mints, hence my frustrating week. I spent over 20 minutes shaping, sculpting, molding and muttering quietly to myself just on one sheet of cookies. I will confess they will sit in my freezer for a long time before I finish them. Oh wait they have chocolate on them, I think eventually I will eat them, or the ghost that lives in my house will. You see none of my four amazing talented and beautiful children would ever admit to eating my girl guide thin mints when they were kids, so it must be a ghost.
Ok back to my fail, they are too big, too time consuming, and not very pretty looking. I decided that what I needed was something simple and easy but would have the elements of thin mints. My horse might be ahead of my cart, as it often is, but I think as they cool down and I am waiting for the chocolate to melt that I might have a winner. I am already planning on who I will share them with. Obviously they are way easier than my first attempt. I told Brian that absolutely nobody was eating them but me, I tend to make statements I later I repent of.
I am thinking of ways to package just a few to take to some of my favorite people for valentines day. I could have given this some thought in the last few days but I tend to be spontaneous in my gift giving. My mother and sister had to wait until January for their Christmas gifts this year. It is not because I am not organized at Christmas, but have to find just the right gift and that can't be rushed.
Soooo back to the matter at hand. Thumbprint chocolate mint cookies, aka thin mint mini cookies. I made them small on purpose. Part of what I didn't like about my first failed ones was the size. I actually ate one after it was cooled and it was instant overload. I felt like I had eaten a tub of greasy mint favoured chocolate. Yuck. It took me four days to want to try again.
Ohhh they are good, Brian agrees, so it's not just my lack of eating anything that faintly resembles a cookie, that makes these taste good to me. Here is the recipe,
Ingredients:
1 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup cocoa (I used a raw and organic one from the light cellar)
4 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup maple syrup or raw honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp sea salt
Instructions:
Mix all the wet ingredients with a hand mixer. I stirred the coconut flour and cocoa together as my cocoa is a little clumpy. Add the dry ingredients and blend some more. The coconut flour will absorb the moisture so let it sit for a few minutes. I made my balls really small, about a teaspoon is all. As they don't spread while baking you can easily put 20 on a parchment lined cookie sheet. After you have them rolled out use your thumb to make the indentation in the middle. Bake for 15 min at 375.
Allow to cool on the parchment paper. You will want them cool before you go on to the next step.
Mint filling:
1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup solid coconut oil
1 tsp peppermint oil
Mix all the above in a small bowl, smashing the coconut oil against the side of the bowl to mix. Put it in the fridge to harden for 10 min or until firm. I used a spoon to scoop a very small amount, enough to fill the thumb print in the cookies. Each one is a little different, so you can fill as much as you want. It squishes nicely. After you have them filled you want to put them in the freezer to harden.
Chocolate coating:
I used enjoy life chocolate chips and as they are rather dear to me I am careful how much I melt. I would guess I melted 1/4 cup give or take. I melt my chocolate in a ceramic baking dish in the oven as it is cooling down from making the cookies. If you try to cover the filling and it is not frozen it just melts and makes a mess. You will want the chocolate melted enough that you can stir it but not hot.
I hope that my ramble made sense to you. They were fun to make and will be even more fun to give away.
Ohhh they are good, Brian agrees, so it's not just my lack of eating anything that faintly resembles a cookie, that makes these taste good to me. Here is the recipe,
Ingredients:
1 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup cocoa (I used a raw and organic one from the light cellar)
4 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup maple syrup or raw honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp sea salt
Instructions:
Mix all the wet ingredients with a hand mixer. I stirred the coconut flour and cocoa together as my cocoa is a little clumpy. Add the dry ingredients and blend some more. The coconut flour will absorb the moisture so let it sit for a few minutes. I made my balls really small, about a teaspoon is all. As they don't spread while baking you can easily put 20 on a parchment lined cookie sheet. After you have them rolled out use your thumb to make the indentation in the middle. Bake for 15 min at 375.
Allow to cool on the parchment paper. You will want them cool before you go on to the next step.
Mint filling:
1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup solid coconut oil
1 tsp peppermint oil
Mix all the above in a small bowl, smashing the coconut oil against the side of the bowl to mix. Put it in the fridge to harden for 10 min or until firm. I used a spoon to scoop a very small amount, enough to fill the thumb print in the cookies. Each one is a little different, so you can fill as much as you want. It squishes nicely. After you have them filled you want to put them in the freezer to harden.
Chocolate coating:
I used enjoy life chocolate chips and as they are rather dear to me I am careful how much I melt. I would guess I melted 1/4 cup give or take. I melt my chocolate in a ceramic baking dish in the oven as it is cooling down from making the cookies. If you try to cover the filling and it is not frozen it just melts and makes a mess. You will want the chocolate melted enough that you can stir it but not hot.
I hope that my ramble made sense to you. They were fun to make and will be even more fun to give away.
