WeekNight Bite: Healthy, Easy, and Delicious Recipes

Girl Scout cookie season is upon us and I have to say it's one of the hardest indulgences to resist. Maybe it's the deliciousness of the cookies, the nostalgia of eating frozen Thin Mints by the sleeve as a kid, or just the fact that I don't want to disappoint the adorable Girl Scouts by skipping out on their cookies, but saying no for the sake of being healthy is pretty tough... until now! Good news, my Thin Mint lovers, I have a perfect paleo-friendly recipe to satisfy that craving in a much healthier way, and I promise, they're so much easier to make than you'd think! Shoutout to my friend Lauren who inspired this recipe with the keto Thin Mints that she brought me right after I had Noah... let's just say they didn't last 24 hours in our house!

Here's the step-by-step deets...

You start by baking the cookies. They're full of healthier ingredients like coconut oil, almond flour, cacao powder, and just a bit of coconut sugar to make them totally paleo friendly. You'll want to use a small cookie scoop for these so they all end up being the same shape and size. I love this one. As soon as the cookies are out of the oven, press them flat with the back of a spatula so they're thin like Thin Mints (obvi) and then let them cool before dipping. I pop them in the fridge to speed up the process.

Once the are cookies cool, we'll get the melted chocolate ready. I used Lily's Semi Sweet Baking Chips for this recipe because they're sweetened with stevia so it keeps the sugar down and the recipe much lighter (promise they don't have that typical stevia aftertaste - they really taste like regular chocolate!) .

You can melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, but just be careful to stir frequently (about every 30 seconds) otherwise the chocolate can burn pretty easily. I prefer to do it in a make-shift double boiler - you can see what I mean in the photos below! To do this method:

Fill a small pot with two inches of water and bring it to a low boil. Reduce to a simmer.
Place a large heat-proof glass bowl on top of the pot. You don't want the water in the pot to touch the bowl, so pour some out if necessary.
Add the chocolate chips to the glass bowl with 1 tbsp coconut oil and stir every minute or so until melty and smooth. Remove from heat, stir in peppermint oil, and get dipping right away!

Then it's time to dip the cooled cookies in the melted chocolate! Just place the cookie in the chocolate and use a fork to flip it and coat it on all sides. Let the excess chocolate drip off and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Then the cookies will go in the fridge or freezer to set and then they're ready to be devoured! I like to keep them in the freezer and enjoy them straight from there, but you can also keep them in the fridge if you like them slightly softer. Really no wrong way to eat them! :)

Ingredients
1/3 cup coconut oil, softened but not totally melted
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups blanched almond flour
2 tbsp raw cacao powder

Chocolate layer:
1 cup Lily's Semi Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp peppermint extract

Makes 18-20 cookies.

In a large bowl, mix together the softened coconut oil and coconut sugar until smooth. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract and mix until smooth.
Add the rest of the ingredients - the baking soda, salt, almond flour, and cacao powder and mix well until incorporated.
Optional but recommended: refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using a small cookie scoop (I love this one!), scoop the chilled dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Once the cookies come out, use the back of a spatula to flatten them. Let cool - pop in the fridge to speed up the process!
When the cookies have cooled, melt the chocolate for dipping. You can melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave, just make sure to stir every 30 seconds so it doesn't burn. I prefer to do it on the stove - bring water to a boil in a small pot. Reduce to a simmer and place a heat-proof glass bowl on top of the pot. Add the chocolate chips and coconut oil into the bowl and stir until melted. Once melted, remove from heat and stir in peppermint extract. Time to get dipping!
Place the cookie in the chocolate and use a fork to flip it and coat it on all sides. Let the excess chocolate drip off and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pop the cookies in the fridge or freezer to set and then they're ready to eat!