Dairy-Free Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies (Vegan Option)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
I tested this recipe egg-free, too, and it was a great success. In fact, the photos shown here are of the vegan cookies!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Serves: 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients
  • 1 egg or flax egg (2 teaspoons flaxseeds + 2 tablespoons water)
  • ½ cup dairy-free buttery sticks, softened or room temperature (I used earth balance soy-free)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ to ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract, to taste
  • 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon baking powder (if using “flax egg,” can omit if using an egg)
  • 2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil or non-hydrogenated shortening
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
  2. If using a flax egg, grind the flaxseeds in your spice grinder until you get a powder (this will be about 1 tablespoon of lightly packed flax meal). Combine the flax meal and water in a dish, and let sit for 5 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, place the buttery sticks and sugar in a mixing bowl, and beat until creamy.
  4. Beat in the egg or “flax egg” (the one you just made) and the peppermint extract.
  5. Mix in the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder (if using). The mixture will become very, very thick. Bring it together into a ball. If it is too dry, add a little water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until it comes together. It shouldn’t be sticky though. If it is, wrap the dough and place it in the refrigerator for about an hour to firm up.
  6. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about ¼-inch thickness. Cut with a cookie cutter (I used a 1¼-inch round mini biscuit cutter). Place the cut cookie dough on your prepared cookie sheet. Roll out the scraps and cut again. Continue doing this until no dough remains.
  7. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, no more.
  8. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes, then carefully move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
  9. For the chocolate coating, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil or shortening together.
  10. Drop the cookies in the chocolate to coat. I remove them with two forks, letting the excess drip off. Place them on that wire rack with a mat underneath to catch dripping chocolate, or simply place them on parchment. (You will get a ring of excess chocolate around the cookies if you do the latter, but is that such a bad thing?).
  11. Place in a cool spot to let the chocolate firm up. You can refrigerate the cookies for 20 minutes to hasten the process if you just can't wait.
Notes
Variations: If you feel like experimenting, I think there is a lot of room to make this recipe healthier. Some steps I might take, would be to replace the margarine with olive or coconut oil, reducing the amount in half. I would use milk alternative to make up the moisture difference. I think whole wheat pastry flour would work in place of the all-purpose flour, and if you’re feeling adventurous, coconut / palm sugar or evaporated cane juice could sub for the ordinary sugar.

This recipe is Vegan, Vegetarian, Dairy free, Egg free, Nut free, Peanut free, and Soy free.
Recipe by Go Dairy Free at https://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/dairy-free-girl-scout-thin-mint-cookies