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).
Okay so I actually JUST posted about how I don’t like minty foods….but then I come across this. I’ve gotta say, your Thin Mint Brownies look seriously good 🙂 And I can just nix the peppermint extract, right?!
Girl, you are just *too good* when it comes to make mouth-watering vegan treats. One of the many reasons I love you so! 🙂
I made thin mints this week too, not vegan, but definitely tasty:)
Yesterday a girl in my class was nibbling away throughout the whole class some ginger snaps and samoas i think?! I wasn’t hungry, but she ate it so yummily that I wanted to ask her for one haha 😛
Is it bad that I hope that Girl Scouts ring our doorbell?? I want those cookies!!! hahaha
Your raw thin mints AND that raw mint milkshake look delicious! Perfect color for St. Patty’s Day. 🙂 Shamrock shake has nothing on you! heh
lol!
This is so great!! My mom just brought the cookies my 9 year old sister sold to my house here at college up today. Unfortunately I don’t eat them (they’re never as good/healthy as we remember) but now I can make my own healthy version of the classic favorite!! by the way, that mint smoothie looks DIVINE!!
still counting the days until I can go home on spring break and cook up all your recipes : )
I made your banana butter though in the blender that I may or may not have taken from our kitchenette. What is the consistency supposed to be? mine is a bit watery…
You keep reminding me that I need to use my peppermint extract I bought a few months ago for my hot cocoa. These look fantastic!
I used to gear up for St. Pat’s day with green beer, but now that I don’t drink anymore I am much more inclined to gear up with your fabulous green and minty recipes! 😀
These look insane – I need to go get mint extract. Where did you get yours from?
I actually like peppermint extract. I tried mint, but it tasted weird to me. I buy McCormick pure peppermint extract (make sure it says “pure” not “imitation”). You can find it in the baking aisle (with the vanilla extract) of most regular grocery stores. 🙂
Hooray!
Any version of a Fudge Baby is worth doing 🙂
I’ve never heard of samoas OR tagalongs – but I think I want them!
You’re reading my mind! (Or my stomach.)
I’ve actually been looking for a vegan thin mint recipe.
These will undoubtedly be delicious!