Scouting for Sweets: Staffer tries homemade Girl Scout Cookie recipes

As an ex-Girl Scout myself, the infamous Girl Scout Cookies have always had a special place in my heart. But having to wait for the January-April window when the Girl Scouts stand outside Ace Hardware is saddening, not to mention binging a whole box at once probably isn’t great for my health.

So, I tried to recreate my own at home — Peanut Butter Patties, Thin Mints and Caramel Delights — so I could satisfy my cookie cravings all year long and not have to hide the boxes from my siblings. 

While Peanut Butter Patties, also known as Tagalongs, aren’t my personal favorite, I was surprised at how much I liked this recipe. Unfortunately, my peanut-butter-rolling and chocolate-dipping skills were subpar. 

Making the actual cookie was simple — I only needed to throw in butter, sugar, flour and vanilla extract into my mixer and give it a good whirl. It was near impossible to then coat the tops of the cookies with peanut butter. The kitchen was filled with me and my mom’s giggles as our hands were completely covered with Jif.

However, after we covered them in chocolate and cooled them, they tasted as if I’d just opened up a box of the actual Peanut Butter Patties. My mom and I went a little heavy on the peanut butter, but that’s an easy fix. My eyes were definitely drawn away from the cookies’ messy appearance of chocolate blobs, but that was due to my nonexistent background as a pastry pro — and the taste made up for it.

You can never go wrong with a solid peanut butter and chocolate combo. Yeah, they weren’t the prettiest, but I totally recommend trying out this copycat recipe. 

Thin Mints always seem to be a crowd favorite. (Sidenote: if you’ve never put them in the freezer, you’ve never lived.)

Anyways, these copycat Thin Mints were pretty close to the real deal. However, the two hours I spent in my kitchen took more time than just picking up the $4 box of cookies waiting for me outside the grocery store, but it saved money overall and this recipe is available whether it’s November or June.

Overall, the recipe was straightforward. First, you have to make the dough for the middle of the cookie with butter, sugar, an egg, vanilla, peppermint extract and a few more small ingredients. The next steps involve cooling, rolling and slicing the cookies.

Once the dough is ready, you cover them in chocolate and some peppermint extract to really capture the flavor rush to the tastebuds. 

Somehow ours were thicker and bigger than the original cookies, but they tasted like I’d just bought them from the scouts on the corner — I’d call this a win in my recipe book. I’m definitely not the best of bakers, but with some help from my mom and the motivation of being successful with the peanut butter patties, the process went smoothly.

My mom always says “your eyes eat first,” and my eyes definitely led me the opposite way, the perfect combination of cold chocolate and peppermint contradicted what looked like a thicker Thin Mint. 

Caramel Delights are hands down my favorite girl scout cookie — I’ve been obsessed ever since my mom and I cleared a whole box in the airport.

When I was looking for recipes to create, I knew I had to make my number one seasonal cookie. Once again, mine weren’t as pretty as what you get out of the purple cardboard box, but they tasted exactly like the actual Caramel Delights.

The process started with making the simple cookie with butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, milk and vanilla extract, then covering it in a caramel-sugar mixture and sprinkling toasted coconut on top.

While the Caramel Delights definitely weren’t the easiest, they also weren’t the hardest. These were the third cookies I made and by far the most fun, covering them in caramel and then drizzling chocolate like rain.

If you enjoy any form of caramel or are looking for a new treat, I highly recommend this recipe and finding even more copycat recipes for your own favorites.