This Season's Girl Scout Cookies

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Recently, I was excited to hear that the Girl Scouts will be selling their famous cookies soon! I have heard that the company is eliminating some of their cookies, and only keeping six, many of which are the original cookies. The Girl Scouts trim their cookie lineup and keep the Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos, Trefoils shortbread cookies, Samoas and Tagalongs, Lemon Chalet Cremes. Cookies such as U-Berry-Munch, All Abouts (shortbread + fudge) and sugar-free chocolate chip cookies were eliminated. I was disappointed because, I especially love the All Abouts. 


I always try to buy at least two boxes when a girl scout comes around or I see them selling at booths at the local supermarket. I appreciate the time and effort the girls take to sell them, so I always like to support my local troop(s). I was once a girl scout and understand the hard work it takes to sell the cookies. I definitely understand that the cookies are overpriced ($4 a box is outrageous) and the cookies are considered to be on the small side, but it isn't that often I have the cookies.

I definitely love all the cookies, they are such a great treat! Throughout the years, my favorite cookies have been the Lemon Drop cookies (blue box), the All Abouts (pink box) and the Tagalongs (red box). My mom's favorite cookie is the Thin Mint. My fiance's favorite cookie is the Samoa. My brother loves the Tagalongs and Do-Si-Dos and my dad loves every cookie! :-)

For more information on retired cookies, click here.

Did you know?

1. Girl Scout cookie sales began in 1917 in Muskogee, Okla., when the Mistletoe troop began baking and selling cookies in its high school cafeteria as a service project. 
2. In 1942, Girl Scouts sold calendars in lieu of cookies due to sugar, flour and butter shortages during World War II.
3. Cookie variety was limited to the Sandwich, Shortbread and Chocolate Mints in 1951 (now renamed the Peanut Butter Sandwich/Do-si-dos, Shortbread/Trefoils and Thin Mints, respectively). 
4. Thin Mints are the biggest seller, making up 25 percent of all sales, followed by Samoas/Caramel deLites at 19 percent.
5. As of 2005, 71.5 percent of women in the U.S. Senate and 67.1 percent of women in the House of Representatives are Girl Scouts alumnae. 
6. Jennifer Sharpe, age 15, of Dearborn, Mich., holds the record for most cookies ever sold, with 17,328 boxes in 2008. Of the $21,000 her troop raised to go on a 10-day tour of Europe, $14,000 was due to Sharpe.
7. Different types of cookies are sold in different regions at varying prices set by individual Girl Scout councils. And sometimes even the same cookies have different names.
8. For example, Do-Si-Dos, formerly called Gauchos, are also called Peanut Butter Sandwiches in other areas. Confusing, right? This is because there are two licensed bakers, ABC and Little Brownie, that get to propose and name the cookies that they bake. 
9. About 200 million boxes are sold every cookie season; the Girl Scout cookie program has generated about $700 million per year since 1999.
10. New cookies pop up every once in awhile and are continued based on their success. 

Want to try the original Girl Scout cookie?

The following sugar cookie recipe was published in The American Girl magazine in July 1922 by a Chicago director named Florence E. Neil. The recipe was given to 2,000 Girl Scouts, and girls across America began to sell their homemade cookie packages from door to door for about a quarter a dozen. 

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar plus additional amount for topping (optional)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

Cream butter and the cup of sugar; add well-beaten eggs, then milk, vanilla, flour, salt and baking powder. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Roll dough, cut into trefoil shapes, and sprinkle sugar on top, if desired. Bake in a quick oven (375 degrees) for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Makes six- to seven-dozen cookies.

Which Girl Scout Cookie is your favorite?
For more information on Girl Scout Cookies, please visit their website. http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/