I was a Girl Scout back in the 1960s and 70s, and sold, and ATE, my fair share of cookies. Certain classics that they still sell - the chocolate-covered peanut butter ones, the oatmeal cookie peanut butter ones, and the caramel-chocolate-coconut Samoas - were my favorites.
However, I was deprived of GS cookies during most of my adult life since I lived abroad. I missed them, as I always had fond associations and thought of them as really yummy treats.
So, what a thrill today, now that I am again living in the US, to exit the grocery store, and come across a booth of girls and their moms/troop leaders selling cookies! I bought the favorites mentioned above and tried a new type described as a shortbread with toffee bits.
Well, what a disappointment. The new flavor in particular was bad, just tasting like raw flour with some wrong-textured sweet-but-flavorless “toffee” bits. But the chocolate-covered PB ones were pretty nasty too; the “chocolate” coating is a waxy substance with only a little chocolate taste. The oatmeal PB ones were okay, but nothing I’d crave. Same with the Samoas, which weren’t terrible but weren’t so good they were worth putting highly processed sugary crap in my body.
The question is - have GS cookies gotten worse, or is it just me? I eat little in the way of processed foods these days, and don’t crave sweets at all. But I’m not THAT much of a food snob; a few times a year I’ll eat Cheetos or Bugles with great gusto, and I won’t say no to a delicious brownie or a serving of high-quality cake or ice cream. (And last time I checked, which was probably a couple of years ago, I liked TastyKakes just fine!)
I really only like the thin mints and they’re the same as they ever were to my tastebuds. Where were you? Is it possible the cookies, confections, and breads generally available wherever you’ve been are much better than what we have here?
When I was selling Girl Scout cookies (1970s/1980s), the thin mint had a layer of peppermint cream, similar to that inside a York Peppermint Patty. This disappeared many years ago, and now it may have a similar taste, but it is basically a mint-flavored Nabisco famous wafer covered with waxy chocolate. My parents still live in the same place, so I think they still buy Girl Scout cookies from the same bakery.
The chocolate is definitely waxy tasting. There are some Keebler equivalents which are pretty good, and as they are the parent company of one of the bakeries which makes Girl Scout cookies, it seems they may have some inside information.
Keebler Grasshoppers, so far as I can tell from having eaten them, are identical to Thin Mints, and their Coconut Dreams likewise appear to be identical to Samoas.
My wife still likes them and she always buys. But @CairoCarol’s OP makes me wonder if, indeed, their quality has gone downhill. It wouldn’t surprise me if that was the case.
We don’t have this in the UK, but I always thought that the whole premise of Girl Scout Cookies, was that they (maybe with help) had made them themselves. This would imply hugely variable quality.
Back when the program started in the 1920s, yes. Since 1936, the GSA have licensed commercial bakeries (mainly Keebler) to make and package the cookies and distribute them to troops. The girls do the selling, collecting payment, and delivering the cookies once they’ve been delivered to the troop from the bakery.
My little sister was a Girl Scout in the '90s and I helped her with cookie sales because my parents couldn’t be bothered to escort her around the neighborhood.
It’s like I was telling someone the other day: if you’re gonna cry just because I call you out on your manipulative sales practices and extortionist pricing, maybe you don’t belong in the girl scout cookie game.
When i was selling girl scout cookies in the 60/70s they didn’t. But back then there were two or three companies that provided the cookies, and there were regional variations.
The thin mints have changed slightly, but i think they are very similar to what there were when i was a kid. I never liked the other cookies, except the shortbread cookies were okay. I never buy the shortbread cookies, though, because thin mints are better.
Even as a kid i thought the chocolate was waxy and didn’t taste much of chocolate. But if i had to guess, the cookie base was tastier then, because it was probably made with lard or coconut oil, and now it’s probably made with some domestic gratin oil like corn or soybean.
I once tasted the two thin mint variants side by side. I agree with their list of differences, but i liked them both about the same.
The differences used to be larger. There were cookies that were sold in some regions and completely different cookies sold instead in others. But everyone sells the thin mints and the shortbread cookies, which are the only ones i really like.
They may have declined in quality and increased in price. However, we never bought them for the delicate nuance of taste, but to support the Girl Scouts organization. I know so many young people (and adults) who have benefitted from being involved with the Girl Scouts.
Yeah, I was going to say there are two bakeries that produce them, so not all flavors are even available in this market. I always like the Lemonades, but Chicago doesn’t get them. I would have to look at a map to see what the sitch is now, but you’d have to go to Wisconsin to get them (though I had a Girl Scout daughter of a friend who also procured items that weren’t supposed to be sold in Illinois.)!
I had the toffee ones, and I thought them quite good. I like drier, less sweet cookies, so perfect for my tastes.
