Cookies sales for the Girl Scout are dictated by thin mints and Samoas, but are they the best?
The Girls Scouts have sold a lot of cookies in the past 105 years. Today, the number of cookies flavors is down to 12, with Samoas and Thin Mints topping the list.
Is Thin Mints and Samoas the best? I decided to experiment all of the different cookies and rank them top to bottom. Despite the fact that I have a go-to Girl Scout cookie, I kept an open mind since I hadn't yet tried all of the flavors.
Before you read my rankings, you should know that I prefer extra crunchy or hard cookies. When I was young, I grabbed a bite out of a hard cookie and it broke my permanent retainer loose. Now, I don't trust them and it may have (definitely) affected some of my decision making.
Thank you for providing me with all of the cookies for this very exciting project. I also learned during my journey.
Note that this taste test is nonscientific and based only on my opinion. I like trying new cookies and riling up family and colleagues who don't have the same opinions as me about which cookie is better. Here's how I ranked all 12 cookies and why.
...but first...
Here's how my coworkers voted.
Before I started my tasting experiment, I wanted to see which Girl Scout cookie was the most popular among my CNET colleagues. Nearly 55% of people approved Samoas, with Thin Mints coming in second place with just over 27 percent.
Voici the results from the survey based on 55 responses:
- Samoas/Caramel deLites: 54.5% (30 votes)
- Thin Mints: 27.3% (15 votes)
- Tagalongs/Peanut Butter Patties: 10.9% (6 votes)
- Do-si-dos/Peanut Butter Sandwich: 1.8% (1 vote)
- Trefoils/Shortbread: 3.6% (2 votes)
- Lemonades: 1.8% (1 vote)
What I ranked all 12 Girl Scout cookie flavors
Due to the fact that certain portions of the cookies are different names in different regions.
12.Toffee-astic
This is the only cookie that I couldn't swallow. After biting into the hard, gluten-free cookie and permitting it to dissolve, it felt like I had just eaten a spoonful of sand. But it didn't get any better from there: the toffee bits tasted more like a mediocre caramel, and the cookie smelled like actual dirt.
Toffee-Tastic is a very hard cookie that matches biscotti, and it might be better if blended into tea or coffee to soften it. The cookie was so hard that I conducted a "drop test" over a concrete sidewalk to see what it would take to break it. After four attempts and a toss, the cookie finally broke clean in half.
It's evident that I don't recommend this cookie.
11.Adventurefuls
When I first saw the Adventurefuls cookies, I thought they might become a new favorite. While a brownie with caramel filling seemed like it would be fantastic, this cookie was anything short of what I expected. For starters, I prefer the center of freshly baked brownies and I won't eat the edge pieces. This cookie also enthuses me.
I first tried to divide it in half, but the caramel was awfully soft as I thought it would be, so I bit into the center using my molars. The flavor of the brownie part was meh, and the caramel-flavored center was distinctly.
10.Caramel Chocolate Chip
This is one other gluten-free option that Girl Scouts offer, but it's still bland. The texture is pleasant, soft, and has large chocolate chunks. It's also quite impressive since it has caramel flavouring, but it's also quite salty.
9.Lemonades
Lemonades are similar to the custard of lemon meringue pie, but it's the icing that's doing all the work. It's one of the larger cookies the Girl Scouts sell, but it's thin enough to eat in a few bites. I suggest using the Lemon-Ups instead.
8.Patties in Tagalongs/Peanut Butter
For this taste test, I received Peanut Butter Patties. It's been years since I've actually tried Tagalongs, but the flavor between them is somewhat different (they're made by different manufacturers).
The upper layer is a soft peanut butter while the lower layer is a crunchy crust, and the entire cookie is covered in a soft chocolate coating. Peanut Butter Patties are a bit too rich in flavor for me, but they also have an overall good taste.
7.Lemon-Ups
I thought Lemon-Ups and Lemonades would be similar, but they don't at all. Lemon-Ups are sweeter than the Lemonades, but they're also flavorful in fresh lemons. There's a lemon glaze on the cookie's bottom that really drives the flavor home, and also a sense of tanginess that you don't usually get with the average cookie.
With a glass of unsweetened iced tea, I might definitely enjoy these cookies in the spring.
6.S'mores for a Girl Scout
As a kid, the S'mores Pop-Tarts heated in a toaster were always my favorite. The Girl Scout S'mores cookies taste quite similar. They're very soft with a creamy graham cracker sandwich that is moist and moist.
Since s'mores aren't intended to be cold, I decided to heat these cookies up in my microwave. It was a great decision. The chocolate melted as it should, and the marshmallow filling became much softer. I recommend you heating them up (I used increments of seven seconds to be on the safe side).
Yes, they still don't taste like campfire s'mores, but they're pretty good.
5.Trefoils/Shortbread
Trefoils may look like plain cookies, but their flavor isn't quite plain. They have a buttery taste, but a sweetness that isn't excessive. These cookies are perfect with coffee if you're a cookie-maker.
This simple shortbread cookie is carefully wrapped in the shape of the Girl Scouts logo and has a soft texture that melts in your mouth like cotton candy. In the beginning, I understand why these cookies came in fifth place in our survey above.
4.Do-si-dos
Do-si-dos are gentle and easy to make peanut butter sandwiches easy to cut. Not only do peanut butter have a center layer, but the cracker also tastes like peanut butter. The entire cracker melts in your mouth and has a nice, subtle flavor -- I could eat these as without the peanut butter.
Because it's not very sweet, the peanut butter tastes similar to that used in the Do-si-dos. I'm not sure why the peanut butter tastes similar to those found in the Tagalongs. It's also more similar to authentic peanut butter without artificial flavors and has the same texture.
Thin Mints
Thin Mints are a popular choice for a reason. They melt in your mouth with the first bite and have a minty-chocolate flavor similar to an Andes chocolate mint. They're thin and have just the right amount of crunch.
Pro tip: Eat one right after a garlicky meal to dehydrate your palate. It's a close second to brushing your teeth, right?
If you ever go for a Girl Scout cookie taste test, make sure the Thin Mints stay fresh because the minty flavor remains there for a while after eating, which may impair the flavor of the next cookie.
2.Toast-Yay
The cookies popped Thin Mints into my personal third place, and I'm not sorry about it. Have you ever tried the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal? It's good to know that the cookies have a gingerbread and cinnamon graham cracker taste with a delicious layer of icing. The crust melts in your mouth almost immediately.
Large bread-shaped cookies are nearly the size of my palm. They're only available in certain areas, but they may be difficult to come by. However, I highly recommend them if you can get your hands on them.
1.Samoas/Caramel deLites
The Samoas cookies are the best, as long as there was a perfect cookie, and it deftly balances coconut, chocolate, and caramel together. Although the Samoas are relatively chewy, they are also a bit sticky if you break them in half. The texture reminds me of a no-bake cookie.
The Samoas Girl Scout cookie is fairly divisive, as one of the main ingredients is coconut, a constantly fluctuating food. It seems that most people who don't like coconut the donut shaped chocolate and caramel flavors of this cookie are usually unaware. Go figure.
There are certainly no need to agree on how I ranked each Girl Scout cookie flavor. After all, they are just cookies. What you can do is do some things with it as I did. and have a tasting party with friends and let us know which one is your favorite.
With our engaging and ingenious how-tos, you can learn smart gadget and internet techniques.
