Girl Scout Cookies

[jhlurie]

I got talked into 3 boxes. They raised the prices again this year I think.

[KateW]

I walked out of the grocery store, already having bought two kinds of cookies, and got suckered into buying girl scout cookies. Thin mints for me, peanut butter sandwiches for the fiance and a new kind that has like strawberry jelly and frosting on them. Haven't tried any yet.

[Wendy DeBord]

No fair Hannnah- we've never gotten white choc. with macadmia offered in my area. I'm jealous! seriously, I love that cookie combo....What part of the country do you live in?

In Canada (similar group but they have a different name) the girls are already standing in front of the grocery stores. We just about got tackled by 4 of the cutiest young ladies going out of the store.........we didn't have any Canadian money in hand, only a couple hundred dollar bills (vacation)...I looked at my hubby and could see he was thinking the same thing as I: Just how many boxes would that equal given the exchange rate?....

[KateW]

These new ones with the strawberry jelly and frosting are called pinatas. They aren't so good.. They're sort of oatmealy cookies with two lines of jelly on top, and all drizzled with frosting, but then the bottoms are coated with a whole layer of frosting so it drowns out any jelly taste. Too sweet and too dry. Not bad for tiding me over until lunch though

[TrishCT]

The Lemon Coolers are quite good! Just ate a few. For those that care, they have 130 calories for 5 cookies and no cholesterol. Mild lemon flavor, nice crunchy little things. I still think Samoas rule...but I have to behave...

[hannnah]

No fair Hannnah- we've never gotten white choc. with macadmia offered in my area. I'm jealous! seriously, I love that cookie combo....What part of the country do you live in?

I'm in Virginia, where at least one of the cookie bakeries is located. I've noticed that some troops have the Aloha Chips and some don't, which probably means that only one of the bakeries does them. Fortunately the troop that takes over the grocery store entrance has them.

It's a little early here for the cookies - I generally see the forms floating around at work in mid-February, and the troops show up at the grocery stores a couple of weeks later. I seem to remember them not allowing sales like that when I was a Girl Scout, but it's certainly more convenient than having to go door-to-door or hit up relatives and parents' co-workers.

[pattimw]

Ok, I didn't realize there were people out there who didn't like Girl Scout cookies. I thought they were universal.

As I munch on Thin Mints, Caramel delites. UMMMMM. I love this time of year.

[FoodMan]

I love the Peanut butter patties, they are so damn addictive. Caramel DeLites come a very close second.

Elie

[jhlurie]

Recently I had the new "cookie" products from Reese's and York, and they seem to tread VERY close to G.S. Tagalongs and Thin Mints. The major difference is that the Reese's and York cookies seem a bit "heavier", which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But the flavors are fairly close.

Target has them in big value-sized packages, but my local drug store was selling them in little 4 packs.

[cakewench]

I don't think you're actually supposed to eat these. They're a token for a donation, like a plastic poppy or a plastic yellow ribbon. They're all made from the same plastic, just dyed different colours.

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mm love that vintage Jinmyo.

I'll eat any of the peanut butter-based cookies, and I confess that I really like the um... caramel and coconut ones. Those are really more like tiny candy bars or something, though.

(it's been a few years, btw... are we still allowed to call them Samoas? Last I knew, the name was changing.)

(and yes, I realize that's a regional name. If you haven't heard of the name, then, well, it's not from your region. )

[pattimw]

I don't think you're actually supposed to eat these. They're a token for a donation, like a plastic poppy or a plastic yellow ribbon. They're all made from the same plastic, just dyed different colours.

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mm love that vintage Jinmyo.

I'll eat any of the peanut butter-based cookies, and I confess that I really like the um... caramel and coconut ones. Those are really more like tiny candy bars or something, though.

(it's been a few years, btw... are we still allowed to call them Samoas? Last I knew, the name was changing.)

(and yes, I realize that's a regional name. If you haven't heard of the name, then, well, it's not from your region. )

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I knew them as Samoas as a kid. I always forget the Carmel delites name.

[tejon]

Glad to know I'm not the only one who can't stand Girl Scout Cookies. Especially since they aren't even made with real Girl Scouts.

[purplewiz]

Thin Mints. Always been my favorite, no matter who makes them.

Even though the cookies aren't really in the eating plan anymore, I will ALWAYS buy at least one box from any girl scout who comes to the door. Since I was forced to sell these stupid things back when I had to be a girl scout (it's a long story), I know what it feels like to be on the outside of that door. So I help them out, and there's always somewhere I can bring a box along as my contribution.

Marcia.

[Bernaise]

OMG! what's it like to have several flavours to choose from?? Here we have the thin mints and the original row of chocolate and row of vanilla cream sandwich. Those vanilla creams have crack in them I'm sure because even non cookie people are seen shoving them in two at a go!

Is there a list of flavours?

sniffling and wandering about in despair...

[jhlurie]

Is there a list of flavours?

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This might do the trick: http://www.girlscoutcookiesabc.com/atc/

[Mooshmouse]

OMG!  what's it like to have several flavours to choose from??  Here we have the thin mints and the original row of chocolate and row of vanilla cream sandwich.  Those vanilla creams have crack in them I'm sure because even non cookie people are seen shoving them in two at a go!

Is there a list of flavours?

sniffling and wandering about in despair...

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I feel so cheated! Only three flavours to choose from here in Canada... well, Vancouver anyway. What's up with that?!

Does this mean I have to mug a Girl Guide on my next cross-border trip?

[MarketStEl]

Glad to know I'm not the only one who can't stand Girl Scout Cookies. Especially since they aren't even made with real Girl Scouts. 

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Your last name isn't Addams, is it?

[MarketStEl]

It looks to me like the cookie variety you get from your friendly neighborhood Girl Scout depends on which of the two licensed U.S. Girl Scout Cookie bakers your local council uses.

The URL given upthread is for ABC/Interbake Foods' Girl Scout Cookie site. In Philadelphia--where the first Girl Scout cookie sale took place in the 1930s--the Scouts peddle cookies from Little Brownie Bakers, which offers a wider selection. (Edited to add: You can also see the changing lineup of their cookie offerings from 1975 forward on their site.)

And they still call their coconut-caramel-and-chocolate-fudge-stripe cookies Samoas. Those are one of my favorites, but as for the top of the heap--well, as I'm wont to say, "You can never be too rich or have too many Thin Mints."

Those "Double Dutch" cookies sure look tempting, though. Guess I'll have to wander over to SEPTA headquarters and see if the cookie table's up in the lobby yet. Or maybe they will have one at the Super Cruise soon.

Edited February 10, 2005 by MarketStEl (log)

[deltadoc]

What are my favorite Girl Scout Cookies?

Answer: The ones they sold back in the 1950's.

But your observation about which baker makes today's GSC's is right on.

In the Twin Cities, St. Paul belongs to the Greater St. Croix GS "region" which uses the Little Brownie Bakers in Kansas. In Minneapolis, they come from the "other" baker. BIG difference. But all in all, they're still pretty much of a gut bomb.

doc

[heiskellch]

Thin Mints, no question! Girl Scout cookies need to be taken for what they are, and loved. No one tries to pass them off as anything else but cheap and delicious. I can eat a whole sleeve of the thin mints in one sitting and they are delicious crushed, and put into homemade ice cream.

When I was a kid my mom kept them in the freezer and I'd heat them up on a wall heater and melt the chocolate and eat them.

[jgarner53]

Thin Mints, no question. We keep them in the freezer and usually buy enough boxes to last throughout the year. I love the idea of putting them into homemade ice cream. I know what's for dessert next week! (assuming we still have some of last year's stash still in the freezer. I haven't looked lately)

My husband likes the Tagalongs and Samoas, but they're not high on my list (the Samoas not at all because I don't like the coconut).

[Jason Perlow]

Is there a list of flavours?

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This might do the trick: http://www.girlscoutcookiesabc.com/atc/

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When did they phase out the Samoa?

[Verjuice]

I remember a fundraiser in Santa Fe a couple of years back; local pastry chefs competing to see who could create the most delicious dessert featuring the Girl Scout Cookie of their choice. I didn't go, though.

Edited February 10, 2005 by Verjuice (log)

[Allura]

When did they phase out the Samoa?

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Ok, I talked to a friend who's fairly involved in girl scouts. There's several bakers. ABC (linked above) is one of them, and Little Brownie Bakers is another. Apparently the decision is region by region & council by council. When I was selling cookies, way back when, in Clifton, NJ (Lenni Lenape council), I'm pretty sure they used Little Brownie Bakers, which still calls them Samoas. ABC calls them "Carmel DeLites," and I'm not sure if the recipe was changed, they bought it but don't make it the same, or what. The name sounds like it was a reaction to the first wave of low-fat foods, though. They used to be my favorites, but the last batch I got had waaay too much caramel, like they had poured it into the container after or the cookies hadn't been cold when packed or something. I don't think I even like the "Peanut butter patties" which were another fav. Again, I think it's a difference in bakers.

When my friend's troop starts selling, I may buy some from her and see how they compare to the ones I just had a few months ago.

I'm mildly hooked on the newish "Animal Treasures", sold by ABC. They're the shortbread ones, but dunked in chocolate on the back. Ok, they're not gourmet, but they're not bad.

[Edited to change the baker info]

Edited February 10, 2005 by Allura (log)

[viva]

In order of preference (I call them by their real names, which of course are the names I sold them under when I was a Girl Scout):

1 Samoas

2 Do-Si-Do's

3 Thin Mints

4 Tagalongs

Remembering back to my Girl Scout days, I always used to try and find a trend between what cookies people bought and what their personalities would be. There was one guy that always bought an enormous amount of the shortbread cookies and nothing else, and I always figured he was boring because he didn't buy anything with chocolate. Such early prejudices as a child.