The Brit and the Girl Scout Cookies

As far as I’ve been able to tell, the fierce debate in America about which Girl Scout Cookie is really the best is akin to the debate between British people about the correct way to refer to a bread roll/cob/bap/stottie/barm cake etc. (For the record, I’m team ‘Bread Roll’ or just ‘Roll’) As it’s Girl Scout cookie (GSC) season here in North-Central Texas I decided, as a neutral party, to taste-test all of the Girl Scout cookies and finally put the great debate to an end.

So I’ve made a cup of tea to test the dunk ability of the non-chocolate cookies (I’m not a savage) and now I’ll get to work tasting to cookies. [Cookies tasted over three weeks, tea freshly made each time (duh)]

Thin Mints

The classic, the legend, and from what I can tell most of my friends favourite GSC. I’ve also heard that they’re good frozen/chilled so in the interest of fairness I’ll try them both ways.

Out of the Box/Room Temperature – Minty enough to be nice but not overpowering, a chocolate cookie covered in minty chocolate. A solid effort – 8/10.

Frozen – Crunchier, more minty and there’s absolutely nothing I’d change about them. 10/10

Peanut Butter Patties

I’ve also heard these chocolate covered cookies are good chilled.

Out of the Box/Room Temperature –  I like the textural difference between the peanut butter and cookie, and I love the combo of chocolate and peanut butter anyway so I think these deserve a 9/10.

Frozen –  The chocolate stands up to the peanut butter a lot better this way. 10/10

Peanut Butter Sandwiches – Too much peanut butter and the texture of the actual biscuit is odd, very crumbly. 4/10.

Lemonades – A bigger cookie than the others, a shortbread covered in lemon frosting. These are also great at room temperature and chilled/frozen. The frosting has a zingy taste but it’s not too much, these are really unlike any biscuit I’ve ever tasted. 10/10.

Shortbread – These are just small, circular shortbread biscuits. Not as buttery as the shortbread I’m used to, so they tasted a little ‘dry’ to me. 5/10. Dunkability 4/10 – two dunks and you risk disaster.

Caramel Delights – Circular cookies covered in coconut shavings and caramel with chocolate on top. The taste is nice, but I’d prefer it if there was no cookie and instead it was all coconut. 7/10.

Thanks-a-lot – These are larger cookies a la lemonades, and instead of being covered in lemon frosting they’re covered in chocolate that tastes like the chocolate on Baker Bros cupcakes. These cookies are called ‘Thanks-a-lot’ because they’re imprinted with ‘Thank You’ in different languages. 6/10.

Cranberry Citrus Crisps – Exactly as the name suggests; thin, crispy, citrusy cookies with cranberries in. Perhaps the most dunkable of the two I ‘dunked’ and more interesting than a plain shortbread. Not my favourite though. 7/10. Dunkability 6/10 – a few quick dunks and you’re ok.

So it looks like we have a three way tie, and I have to say that I think the Lemonades overall come out on top because they’re unlike anything I’ve ever tried before. Overall though all these cookies were great, so if you’re reading this and have access to GSC then please go ahead and support your local Girl Scouts as they teach young girls vital skills.

I’m about to head off on Spring Break, so you’ll hear all about that in my next blog!

A/N – I’ve realized since I started working on this that there is a Gluten Free GSC I neglected to try. If I can find it I’ll update my blog!