I started Girl Scouts the second I was eligible to become a Daisy. I loved attending the weekly Girl Scout meetings, going on camping adventures during the summer, learning camp songs and competing with other girls to see who could get the most badges (news flash: I usually won). I made it all the way up to a Junior before my family moved to Venezuela, where, shockingly, they don’t have Girl Scouts.
During those 4 years of being a Girl Scout though, I developed an absolutely incurable addiction to Thin Mints and Samoas (although apparently they’re called Caramel De-lites now which I think is really stupid-why change a classic?). Every year, around this time, when Girl Scout cookies are for sale, I always find a way to track them down and buy a supply of Thin Mints and Samoas to keep me satisfied for a while. These little boxes of delicious aren’t cheap though at $4 a box, so it’s probably about time that I start figuring out how to make them myself. Although, to be honest, the money you spend on Girl Scout cookies really does go to good programs that empower young girls and teach them important leadership skills, so it’s almost justifiable to be spending $20 on 5 boxes of cookies.
When I finally found the Girl Scouts this year, in the Harvard T Station (really really hard to say no to those boxes of cookies when you’re coming home after a rough day), I excitedly asked for one box of Thin Mints and one box of Samoas. When the girl handed them to me, she said “Did you know that Thin Mints are vegan?” I didn’t know they were, so I told her as such, and she went on to explain the whole line of cookies to me. Apparently Girl Scouts, in addition to working to remove most of the hydrogenated oils (although I found them in the Samoas-sad day), is also producing gluten-free cookies and vegan cookies. Good for them!
Since I can’t afford to stock up on a life-time supply of Thin Mints (Samoas are out now that I know about the hydrogenated oils), I’ve pulled together a couple of recipes that you can make at home:
Thin Mints by The Little Epicurean
Homemade Thin Mints by Averie Cooks
Keepin it Kind’s Somer’s Vegan Thin Mints
Do you have a favorite Girl Scout cookie? Any other good recipes out there for homemade Girl Scouts cookies?