“Just one more box,” is a phrase widely used for those purchasing girl scout cookies. Maybe another Thin mints, or just one more Peanut Butter Patties box for the kids. The options for cookies feels endless; they all sound so delicious. However, they do not all taste as great as they sound. Although Thin Mints and Caramel Delites are the most popular cookies bought, I believe that Shortbread and Peanut Butter Sandwiches are clearly the best kinds. 

Shortbread cookies are one of the superior cookies - and the most underrated - that the Girl Scouts sell. It may appear as a plain cookie with nothing to like, but it is perfect for every occasion! These cookies are crispy, but not too dry, and have a wonderful buttery flavor. Not only do they taste well on their own, but you can add them to a variety of recipes. You can crumble them up and make them into crusts for pies or different dessert bars. They are also fabulous for eating with Cheese Ball dips or just dipping into ice cream. My personal favorite recipe is putting a scoop of ice cream between two cookies and making an ice cream sandwich. Another amazing thing about shortbread cookies is that they do not melt, and make no mess!

Another terribly underrated Girl Scout Cookie is the Peanut Butter Sandwich. Along with being a clean, no-melt cookie, they are delicious! Creamy peanut butter filling between two oatmeal cookies, while simple, is pure genius. The cookies are crunchy due to the oatmeal outside, yet flavorful due to a scrumptious peanut butter filling. Aside from Peanut Butter Sandwiches being a tasty cookie, they are on the healthier side as well. They have three grams of protein, which is the most out of all the girl scout cookies, and only nine grams of total sugars which is second least behind Shortbread cookies. 

On the flip side of that, Caramel Delites are ludicrously overrated. The coconut flavor sits on the tongue the longest, leaving a bitter aftertaste for all those who indulge in this cookie. Along with that, coconut flakes loiter in your teeth with their disgusting hair-like textures. It also does not help that this cookie is chewy due to the excessive amount of caramel in it. The squishy, tough outside of the cookie makes eating it a workout for your jaw. I cannot fathom why this cookie is so ridiculously popular; the only appealing part of it is the light drizzle of chocolate on top, but the flavor is lost in the gross tartness of coconut and caramel. This cookie is simply an abomination of ingredients. 

Moving on, Thin Mints are also a bit overrated. I can understand some of the popularity following them due to the addictiveness of a plain chocolate cookie, but that is all it is - a plain minty tasting cookie. I believe that cookies are a dessert, meant to taste sweet and be delicious. Mint does not belong in desserts. If I wanted to get a minty taste in my mouth, I would brush my teeth. Many people are accustomed to freezing their Thin Mints and eating them on a hot summer day, but a frozen mint cookie is a nightmare to those with sensitive teeth. The frozen mint taste both freezes the teeth and burns them at the same time, causing an uncomfortable feeling in your mouth, not to mention that halfway through the sleeve, the cookies begin melting into a disgustingly sticky mess.

Although Thin Mints and Caramel Delites are the most sold Girl Scout cookies, I believe they are among some of the grossest cookies Girl Scouts sell. Next time when you are faced with the eight amazing options of Girl Scout cookie flavors, go right to the Shortbread and Peanut Butter Sandwiches. You will not regret it!

Image Citation:

Breslouer, L. (n.d.). Girl Scout Cookies. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Economics and Society. doi:10.4135/9781452206905.n314