Ding Dong!
During a certain time of the year, a knock at the door might mean one of two things: Jehovah’s witnesses or girl scouts. If it’s the latter, chances are they haven’t come empty-handed.
Samoas, Tagalongs, Thin Mints.
A few weeks ago, I decided it’d be fun to try and re-create said girl scout cookies, only in a healthier (and raw) form. Currently, I’m brainstorming ideas for how to do the Samoas. But for today, you’re stuck with raw thin mints. In brownie form.
Hope you don’t mind!
Prettier than a picture!
If you saw my thoughts on twitter, please don’t let yesterday’s tweets deter you from trying these raw brownies.
I swear, they taste amazing, despite some opinions on how they look (or what they resemble). You might even notice it’s this the same photo three times in the post; that’s because the other photos looked even worse. The brownies look yummy in real life, but I just could not manage to get a good picture. So when I went to review the photos, my choices were: go back and take another photoshoot or say, “What’s important is the taste” and just post what I had. Lacking the time and desire for more picture-taking, I went with option two. Besides, it gives me an excuse to make these brownies again in the near future so I can provide y’all with some shots that’ll actually do justice to the stellar taste!
As for the floating brownie photo above? I love how—in some professional photographs—everything is blurred except for one part of the photo. Obviously I am not a professional, ‘cause this just looks weird. Oh well, I tried!
Raw Thin-Mint Brownies
- 1 cup walnuts (120g)
- 1 and 1/3 cups pitted dates (230 grams) (I highly recommend Sunmaid, because they’re softer.)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
- A few drops pure peppermint extract (depending on how minty you want them… Start with less; you can always add more.)
- Optional: for even more chocolate flavor, add chocolate chips. Or add cacao nibs.
- Optional: tiny dash of salt (I always add this and recommend it.)
Directions: Combine all ingredients, using a food processor. (No need to blend the dates first; I just blend everything all at once. But if you use a Magic Bullet, you might want to do it in batches. I’ve not tried this in a regular blender and therefore can’t vouch for it.)Form into brownies or balls or bars… or even cookie-cuttered shapes!
(I don’t have specific nutritional info for this recipe, but the nutrition stats are probably pretty similar to a Larabar.)
You know what would go well with raw thin-mint brownies?
One of my favorite healthy recipes: Mint-Chocolate-Chip Milkshake.
I’m gearing up for St. Patrick’s Day, can ya tell?
Question of the Day:
Have you ever eaten a Girl Scout Cookie?
And were you ever a girl scout? When I was in girl scouts, you could always tell my cookie order form from all the others: It was the one with an overwhelming number of orders for Samoas (the only ones I liked) and Thin Mints (the only ones my mom liked).
These sound great, Katie!
Mint and chocolate go together like peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and chocolate or…well, peanut butter and anything 🙂 Recipe looks great – can’t wait to try!
or chocolate and coconut! 🙂 🙂
These look just like my “Raw Chocolate Crinkles!” And they are my favorite!!!! Sooooo good….I’ve had the, every week since december because seriously, I am a HUGE thin mint fan. Back in my sugar days, I would buy a whole case of thin mints for myself, and cherish them slowly….I had like one a day for weeks…..I liked to hoard them 🙂
for the raw samoas, you should just do coconut, dates, and almonds…and then drizzle them with chocolate! Or top with cacao nibs!
I’m just a-tryin to get the caramel drizzle down. But otherwise, I think I’ll just use the raw mounds bar base and add that drizzle. Mmmmmm samoas…
Dates, a bit of vanilla, a bit of caramel extract and a tiny bit of salt. Add water until it’s the right consistency. That’s how I make raw caramel to dip my apples in. 😀
I’m so impressed. I used to be lucky if they lasted two days! They don’t sell them where I live now but I remember carrying cases of them around as a kid. And then there were the years when my kid was a scout….
Chocolate and mint my all time fav’s!
Haha I saw your tweets 😉
lol, so did I cross the line?
Silly girl! They look beautiful, as always 🙂
Mmmm, mint and chocolate, you can’t go wrong!
I’ve had girl scout cookies but never really liked them.
I used to love Samoas! Those were my go-to girl scout cookie… I only settled for the other ones if they were the only ones to offer… Hahahaha. Somoas were my favorite, and thin mints were my mommy’s favorite too! Funny!! 😀
Yay for a raw makeover. They suit these cookies well! I can’t wait for St. Patty’s day. I think I might make it fun and eat all green foods all day long! 😉 Minus, the chocolate… I might have to make a raw mint brownie milkshake, it’s called for!
🙂
Aly
Word of advice: steer clear of green mashed potatoes! One year, my mom tried to make all our food green, and she put food coloring in mashed potatoes. I dunno if it was too much food coloring or if it was just a subconscious thing, but they were awful!!
Katie, I added a comment to the Homemade Cacao Bliss post. I probably should have left it here. I can’t follow instructions! :/
haha no worries! sometimes I feel like my instructions are confusing and long-winded!
Uhm yum, will try these!
I’ve never tried scout cookies because scouts are extremely rare breed here in Baconland 😀 could be fun though.
Baconland? lol sounds like you live close to me, in Cattle Country. (That’s what the next town over is nicknamed)