The first record of cookie sales by an individual Scout unit was by the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in December 1917. In 1922, the Girl Scout magazine The American Girl suggested cookie sales as a fund-raiser and provided recipes. In 1933, Girl Scouts in Philadelphia organized the first official sale, selling homemade cookies at the windows of local utility companies.
The first Girl Scout cookie recipe was a sugar cookie.
In 1936 the national organization began licensing commercial bakers to produce cookies. During World War II the Girl Scouts sold calendars rather than cookies, due to shortages of flour, sugar, and butter. Starting in 2009, several of the cookie varieties were either made smaller or had fewer cookies per box, without a corresponding drop in price. In particular, there are now fewer cookies in a box of Thin Mints, Do-si-dos, and Tagalongs, and the Lemon Chalet Creme cookies are now smaller. The Girl Scouts have suggested that this change was necessary to compensate for rising cost of ingredients.
Varieties:
There have been several types of cookies over the year. These are the current cookies as for 2009.
- Thin Mints: Thin, mint-flavored chocolate wafers dipped in a chocolate coating. Scientifically proven to make you thin.
- Do-si-dos: (Peanut Butter Sandwiches): Peanut butter filling sandwiched between crunchy oatmeal cookies.
- Tagalongs: (Peanut Butter Patties): Crispy vanilla cookies layered with peanut butter and covered with a chocolate coating.
- Trefoils: (Shortbread): A traditional shortbread cookie made in the shape of the Girl Scout trefoil logo.
- Samoas: Also called Caramel deLites. Samoas (Caramel deLites): Vanilla cookies coated in caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut and laced with chocolate stripes.
- All Abouts: (Animal Treasures, Thanks-A-Lot): Shortbread cookies dipped in fudge and topped with an embossed thank-you message in one of five languages, including English, Spanish, French, Chinese, and Swahili.
- Lemon Chalet Cremes: Cinnamon sandwich cookies with lemon creme filling.
- Cinna-spins: Introduced in 2008 by ABC Bakers, Cinna-spins are cinnamon-flavored cookies that come in 100-calorie packs. Cinna-spins are shaped like miniature cinnamon rolls. Retired and replaced by Daisy Go Rounds.
- Daisy Go Rounds: Very similar to Cinna-spins, this cookie replaced them for the 2009 sale. They are advertised as low fat and also come in 100 calorie packs. They are cinnamon flavored and shaped like daisies. These cookies are only available from ABC Bakers.
- Sugar Free Chocolate Chips: Introduced in 2008, they are small sugar free cookies.
- Dulce De Leche: Introduced in 2009, these are Latin caramel cookies.
- Lemonades: Round shortbread cookie with lemon icing.
Some now defunct cookies include:
- All Abouts: Shortbread cookie dipped in chocolate with a message proclaiming values that Girl Scouts are "all about," such as Respect, Friendship, etc.
- Aloha Chips: Included white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Retired early 2000s.
- Animal Treasures and All Abouts: Shortbread cookies with bottom dipped in chocolate.
- Apple Cinnamons: Apple shaped sugar cookies with cinnamon sprinkles.
- Cabana Cremes: Vanilla cream sandwich cookies.
- Cafe Cookies: Shortbread with a crunchy cinnamon topping.
- Cartwheels: Reduced fat oatmeal and cinnamon cookies.
- Chalet Creme: Shortbread cookie with embossed chalet picture with lemon or vanilla filling.
- Chocolate Chip Shortbread: Chocolate chips in a bite-size, gluten free shortbread cookie.
- Cinna-spins: Cinnamon-flavored cookies shaped to look like miniature cinnamon rolls; came in 100-calorie packs. Retired in 2009.
- Daisy Go Rounds: Cinnamon-flavored cookies shaped like daisies; replaced Cinna-spins for the 2009 sale; replaced with Shout Outs! in 2011.
- Double Dutch: Chocolate cookies with chocolate chips.
- Dulce de Leche: Cookies with milk caramel chips.
- Forget-Me-Nots: Old-fashioned granola cookies.
- Friendship Circles: "friend" embossed on vanilla cookie sandwich with chocolate filling, in 18 languages.
- Golden Yangles: Triangular cheddar crackers; sold in the 1980s.
- Iced Berry Pinatas: Sugar cookies with a berry jam center and icing.
- Juliettes/Golden Nut Clusters: Milk chocolate, caramel, and pecans. Retired in mid-1990s.
- Kookaburras: Layers of wafers and caramel coated in milk chocolate (similar to Kit Kats).
- Lemon Chalet Cremes: Rectangular cinnamon sandwich cookies with lemon creme filling; changed to round cookies in 2010; retired in 2012.
- Lemon Coolers: Vanilla wafers with lemon zest, dusted with powdered sugar.
- Lemon Drops: Sugar cookie with lemon-flavored chips.
- Lemon Pastry Cremes: light pastry cookie sandwich with lemon creme filling.
- Mango Cremes with NutriFusion: Vanilla and coconut cookies filled with a tangy mango-flavored creme enhanced with nutrients derived from fruits.
- Medallions: Two flavors: shortbread with cocoa coating on the bottom ("Colonial Shortbread Supremes"), pecan shortbread with brown sugar coating ("Southern Pecan Praline").
- Olé Olés: Powdered sugar cookies with pecans and coconut.
- Oxfords: Chocolate cookies with vanilla cream filling (think Oreos).
- Pinatas: Oatmeal cookie with fruit filling and topped with cinnamon and sugar glaze.
- Praline Royale: Soft vanilla cookie with a praline filling and striped with chocolate.
- Savannahs: Peanut butter sandwich cookie.
- Scot-Teas: Shortbread cookies with sprinkled sugar.
- Shout Outs!: Belgian-style caramelized cookies.
- Snaps: Iced oatmeal raisin cookies.
- Strawberries & Creme: Sandwich cookie with a vanilla creme and a strawberry jam.
- Striped Chocolate Chips: Chocolate chip cookies with fudge stripes.
- Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips: Small sugar-free cookies; retired in 2011.
- Sugar Free Chalet Cremes: Lemon pastry creams sweetened with aspartame.
- Thank You Berry Munch: Cookies with cranberries, rice crispies, and white fudge chips.
- Thanks A Lots: Chocolate filling between two vanilla cookies with "thank you" in different languages.
- Upside Down Frosted Oatmeal: Oatmeal cookies with frosting on the bottom.
- Van'chos: Vanilla and chocolate cremes.
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