Girl Scout cookie season is upon us!
You may see Girl Scout troops outside supermarkets or in other locations selling from a booth. So far, we’ve seen troops set up outside grocery stores, outside drug stores, and in one brilliant move, outside a movie theatre. My local chapter likes to hangout in the subway station to catch you after a long day at the office. And…I think they accept credit cards now.
If you’re not aware of any local Girl Scouts, you can find your local chapter and contact them to buy some. Some chapters sell online, while others do not. I was lucky enough to order online this year, so I wasn’t limited to how many boxes I could fit into my purse. And, as a former Girl Scout, I was fine with paying the extra shipping cost.
In the past, I wrote up a recommendation guide in 2015 over at BookRiot at what romances to best pair with your cookie choices. In 2017, we suggested even more books! To keep the cookies and books train going, we’re doing it again this year.
The catch this time is that we wanted to limit ourselves to upcoming books or ones that we enjoyed in 2017!
If you’re unfamiliar with the cookie offerings, you can Meet the Cookies. There may be some drooling.
Now are you ready to say goodbye to your book budget? And, if you have a cookie budget, say sayonara to that too.
Thin Mints®
Loved by many, devoured too easily, they’re chocolate covered peppermint wafers! I’m not a big Thin Mint fan personally, but I know many Thin Mint purists.
It’s easy to eat 25 cookies without meaning to – and let’s be real, “a sleeve of Thin Mints” is a completely legitimate “serving size.”
We recommend pairing Thin Mints with romances that are easy to keep reading. Bad Decisions Book Club reads pair very well with Bad Decisions I Ate an Entire Sleeve cookies. So we wanted books that are sweet, with depth and satisfying deliciousness, and may involve some nostalgia. Bonus points if you stay up all night finishing these books while polishing off a box of cookies.
Here are a few selections:
Elyse really loved The Duchess Deal and I want to say that some Bad Decisions were made during its reading. Many of you were also looking forward to the release of Year One by Nora Roberts and, despite it being light on romance, finished the book in one sitting. Also, I’ve lost count of the number of squees I’ve seen for It Takes Two to Tumble.
Caramel deLites® AKA Samoas®
Oh, Samoas.
So delicious, so few in a box. They are my absolute favorite cookie and is it just me, or are they getting smaller and smaller with each year?
If you’re ever craving these flavors after cookie season is over, there are some decent grocery store dupes. But of course, nothing beats the real thing.
To pair a book with Samoas requires a mix of specific ingredients. It should be unique, and worth savoring – or at least trying to – with complexity and depth. But then you read the whole series in two days because they’re that good and you can’t help yourself.
You know the types of series we’re talking about. Here are some suggestions:
I know that these series aren’t incredibly recent, save for the most recent installments. That just means you’ll have to binge them! I’m not much of a historical romance reader, but Elyse’s review of Wicked Intentions even convinced me to pick it up. Plus the Hidden Legacy and Veronica Speedwell series have been big hits at the Bitchery!
Girl Scout S’mores
There appear to be two variations, one with chocolate covered graham crackers and creme icing (pictured), and a sandwich cookie with “marshmallowy” filling and chocolate inside.
Last year, neither of the S’mores flavors were available locally. I’m happy to report though that ordering online has fixed that problem!
A good book to pair with either variety (and I maintain that a bad s’more is very hard to find) might be a remix or reinvention, or maybe a new combination of familiar elements. Our suggestions:
A lesbian romance with Little Mermaid elements, a sports romance with an athlete heroine, and a smokin’ hot, off-limits brother-in-law are details that make these reads positively addicting. Now if only there was a way to combine all three?
Shortbread/Trefoils®
In the previous post, Sarah and I debated on the pronunciation of this cookie. I pronounce it “TREE-foils” while Sarah’s scout leaders said “treffles,” like one vowel away from “truffles.” To me, a “treffle” sounds too much like a Dr. Seuss character.
This cookie is a very classic, simple, and tasty recipe, and pairs well with all sorts of beverages and books. The shortbread makes it easy on the palate, if you don’t like a ton of different flavors all up in your cookie.
And, well, I’m almost sorry to share this link, but the Girl Scouts of the USA have a page of recipes you can make using their cookies (like eating them by the box is not the best option?) and the ones for Trefoils are delicious-levels of tempting.
To pair with cookies or cookie-based recipes, we suggest books that work well one their own, but also work spectacularly as part of the series:
Each of these books is a great “starter” if you want to try a new author out. They’re also all part of a series, so there’s no reason to stop at just one. Reader tested, SBTB mom approved!
Lemonades
Lemon icing on shortbread?! How is it that I’ve never had this cookie available to me? As someone who sees themselves as a cookie connoisseur, I don’t think I’ve ever had these. Sarah hasn’t either. But my roommate swears by them and I know they’re her absolutely favorites.
It’s lemon icing on shortbread! And they’re vegan? Why should people with dietary restrictions miss out on the cookie fun?
So for books, of course we need a mix of sweet and angst, tart and smooth, so here are our ideas:
These books pack a bite, whether it’s through adventure, sharp wit, or heart-wrenching emotional turmoil. However, that doesn’t stop them from balancing things out with sweet, tender moments.
Savannah Smiles®
I cannot, for the life of me, get these locally in New England. Ever since I complained to Sarah about it, she mails me a box every year. I mean, getting books in the mail is great. But, cookies?! Now that’s a whole new ball game.
I think they’re terrific – very light, very refreshing, and sweet, though the powdered sugar is dangerous. I’m saying this as someone who has a lot of dark clothing in her closet.
I think an ideal book match would be something that leaves you smiling with a little bit of tartness, don’t you think? Here are our wide-ranging suggestions:
The cookies paired with these adorable books would make the perfect palate cleanser!
Tagalongs® / Peanut Butter Patties®
These are my second favorite cookie. They’re so rich, and very indulgent – a few go a long way. Also, I totally recommend putting them in the freezer.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many in a box. Each cookie in the box packaging gets the equivalent of a 3000 square foot condo to itself. There’s probably a whirlpool bath, too.
For book matching, we want to pick books with timeless themes or retellings, books that have tropes and stories we love, no matter how many iterations there are out in the world. Because come on, peanut butter and chocolate deserve a classic plot for a classic combination.
Do-Si-Dos® / Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
Obviously these and the Tagalongs® are off-limits if you’ve got nut allergy dangers, but if you’re not allergic, these are pretty good. These are more of a sandwich cookie, which I kind of love. Simply because, twisting them apart to get to the goodness in the middle is half the fun.
An oatmeal cookie with peanut butter filling is a pretty unique pairing, using some tried and true flavors. So to match books for these cookies, we went with unique combinations of elements. I also have to admit that I’m not big on peanut butter in “desserts,” but I tend to make an exception for cookies.
Here are our suggestions:
These books have something many readers want more of, including myself: headstrong heroines, sexy dances, nerdy women in STEM fields, and bisexual historical hotness.
Thanks-A-Lot®
Sarah isn’t too sold on the name of these cookies, as she reads it sarcastically.
“Thanks-A-Lot, Girl Scouts. I haven’t left the house in four days and have subsisted entirely on cookies.”
However, there is nothing to be sarcastic about when a cookie is shortbread with a chocolate base.
Chocolate and shortbread! The chocolate adds some great depth to the shortbread, in my opinion.
So for books, here are our suggestions – books that expanded our language and definition of what romance is and can be, with an added bonus of tapping into several authors we thanked on this year’s Thanksgiving podcast:
Toffee-Tastic™
This is a gluten free butter cookie with toffee chips. I have never had one of these, either, but I’m betting the flavor and the enjoyment sticks with you (and with your molars). I’m a sucker for toffee anything, and I’m over-the-moon excited about being able to order these this year!
Now Charlotte McCourt, a Girl Scout from New Jersey who wrote a brutally honest review of each cookie (and went on to sell close to 17,000 boxes so never let anyone tell you reviews don’t work) said that the Toffee-Tastic is “a bleak, flavorless, gluten free wasteland” that is, alas, “flavorless as dirt.”
On the other hand, a website by the name “Shitty Gluten Free” (I LOVE THIS NAME) says they’re not too bad.
Don’t care. Still going to eat them anyway.
There are books that are deeply flavorful, as in they have wonderful, rich world building, and they stick with you long after you’ve finished them. (And if you’re not on board with Toffee-Tastic, by all means, substitute your favorite cookie!)
Wintersong is so beautifully written and it might be what I like most about the book. Which is saying something given the heaving Labyrinth themes. Club Deception has an unforgettable setting of a close knit circle of magicians. Also…Vale’s world building in The Last Wolf is *chef’s kiss* – MWAH!
Trios®
This is another gluten free cookie, but it’s chocolate chip, peanut butter, and oatmeal, and hello! I enjoy those things separately, but putting them together just might blow my mind.
I haven’t been able to try these, but I want to! Have you had them? I also think it’s interesting that these cookies come in a bag rather than the traditional box. Does that mean we get more cookies in this type of packaging? Please say yes!
Because of the yummy sounding combination of flavors, we want to recommend books and authors that we know you love or are really hoping to read this year!
Are you excited for cookie season? Which Girl Scout Cookies are your favorite? You’re allowed more than one! And what book would you recommend we pair with your favorite cookie?
Thin Mints for the win! They are the only Girl Scout cookies I eat and are best when kept in the freezer. I agree about the portion size. All boxes of Thin Mints should state “Serving size – one sleeve. Servings per box – 2” I’m old enough that when I was a Girl Scout, cookies were $.60 a box and there were more cookies in a box. And we went door-to-door in our “greenies” to sell them. Oh, and at least on Long Island, they were TREE-foils.
I’ll add my voice to Sheila’s and vote for Thin Mints; they are my favorite by far. I could certainly be persuaded to eat others though.
Trefoils (like southern Tea Cakes) can go great with a nice cup or glass of tea. Everyone has discovered this but I found that the light flavour and crispy texture are great to serve with sherry or a nice fullbodied fruity red wine.
When I discovered this I thought–hey a decadent use of Girl Scout cookies! Little did I know that those sneaky Girl Scouts had recipes for taking a lovely guilty pleasure and turning them richer. Blast them. I’m sure they made a deal with Oprah to make sure we NEED Weightwatchers after we blow our New Years resolutions.
The Lemonades are the truth that are so addictive! If you see some grab some. I think they are only in some regions and they are so popular they sell out quick. I remember finding some at a stand and buying 4 boxes.
Another vote for Lemonades. I used to be a die-hard Thin Mints fan, but give me a good cup of tea and a few Lemonades, and I’m a happy person. Thanks-a-lot are good, too. I’ve never seen Trefoils before, despite living in several different areas of the country.
I bury a box or two of Thin Mints in the freezer every Spring. Nothing like frozen Thin Mints and iced tea on a hot summer day while reading on the beach or the porch. I plan to lay in a supply of Thin Mints, S’mores, and Lemonades the first chance I get. Last year, some of the local troops ran out of Lemonades early in the selling season. My husband and I were stopping at every Girl Scout stand like the Lemonade cookie-heads we were. Hope production is up this year!
@ Sheila – I also sold cookies door-to-door at 60 cents a box back in the day. The Trefoil cookies are TREE-foil cookies around here, too. One of my friends made a banana pudding using Trefoil cookies instead of ‘Nilla wafers. Banana pudding is a potluck staple around here and hers disappeared particularly fast that evening.
Amanda, I award you a special G.S. badge for your book-and-cookie pairings!
I love the toffee-tastic – especially with tea – and if anyone needs the link to my kids’ online cookie store just let me know!
Thin Mints crumbled up over chocolate ice cream, ghashddhfblargle. SO. GOOD.
One of my coworkers bought a box of the Toffee-tastics last year and shared them around, and I was quite surprised at how good they were. They’re kind of the gluten-free version of Trefoils. (TREFF-oils is the Medievalist pronunciation.)
I love my Thin Mints and my sons love Tag-Alongs and Do-Si-Dos so I always end up getting at least five boxes. I don’t think I’ve ever had the Lemonades but they would be a big hit in our house too. My coworker whose daughter sells Girl Scout Cookies might as well just take my whole paycheck this week.
Caramel deLites and Samoas are NOT the same. Real Samoas are so much better. There are several bakers for Girl Scout cookies, and the baker per region varies. There is a difference in taste for those cookies, and for the Thin Mints variations, Do Si Dos/Peanut Butter Sandwich, Shortbread/Trefoils, etc… The recipes are different and the taste is most definitely different. I live in an area where I can get cookies from Maryland Girl Scouts and Pennsylvania Girl Scouts. They sell in different times of the year, and the cookies they sell are different. I also buy different cookies from each because the cookies are NOT interchangeable for the most part. The Thin Mints are only slightly different, but the Samoas are far superior to Caramel deLites.
http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/food/girl-scout-cookies-taste-different-depending-where-you-buy-them
I couldn’t find the article which has a better description of the differences.
You can put all of Cat Sebastian’s books in the Thin Mints category. Delicious, addictive, and you can’t stop telling people how good they are.
https://lifehacker.com/the-differences-among-girl-scout-cookies-based-on-where-1758741504
ABC Bakers vs. Little Brownie Bakers (LBB is a subsidiary of Kellogg’s, so here in Michigan we mostly get them)
and here is a cookie booth locator and a link to buying cookies online: http://www.girlscouts.org/en/cookies/all-about-cookies/How-to-Buy.html
Shipping & handling is $$$, so I’d advise finding a booth. Don’t forget, if you don’t want cookies, just hand them some $$. Most troops will tell you what they’re saving for…my high school aged daughter is saving for a hiking trip to Yosemite. 🙂
“…and let’s be real, “a sleeve of Thin Mints” is a completely legitimate “serving size.””
Were truer words about Thin Mints ever spoken?
Thin Mints, and both kinds of peanut butter cookies are my faves, hands down, although the trios and Savannah Smiles sound very good too and the book pairings for all of these sound great!!
Thin Mints!!!
I like Little Brownie Bakers, the cookies are so much better than the cookies from ABC Bakers.
Lemonades are so fricken amazing. And now I’m craving them.
Also I grew up saying “treh-FOILS” so there’s that. They definitely taste better than shortbreads.
FYI – Thanks-a-Lot cookies are excellent for homemade s’mores. Smash a melted marshmallow between the chocolate sided shortbread…MMMMMMM….::wipes drool off keyboard…again::
I spend a small fortune every year mailing Girl Scout cookies to AUSTRALIA. My dad demands his annual offering of Samoas. My mother requests the Tagalongs. And my sister? At least she’s in the US, but it’s damn expensive to mail a case (that’s 12 boxes) of Thin Mints.
She highly recommends blending a sleeve of frozen Thin Mints to some vanilla ice cream and blending to smooth minty perfection.
There’s a shot called a “Dirty Girl Scout”: 1 part creme de menthe, 2 parts creme de cocoa. Yup, tastes like a thin mint. Dangerous. Proceed with caution and only create in small quantities.
I always try to stash a few boxes in the back of my freezer (behind the pile of overripe bananas) and try to forget about them so I have a few boxes appear as a “surprise! I was hiding!” moment 5 months down the road. 🙂
I sold them for 12 years and now my daughter has been selling them for 7 years. I’ve actually sold using one baker and my daughter sells using the other. They all have their good points, though, I haven’t tried the GF ones. Our council sells the Trios. My favorites are the Samoas (caramel delites) with the Tagalongs (peanut butter patties) as a close second. Thin Mints are always good. And, Dos-i-dos (peanut butter sandwiches) are always yummy. I’m an addicted dealer. 😉 My dad always preferred Trefoils (shortbread) with vanilla ice cream.
I highly recommend buying extra and stashing them in the freezer to find in the middle of summer. Nothing beats finding frozen Thin Mints in August. I did that one year. I hid them in the freezer from the kids and promptly forgot them. There was much excitement when I found them.
I’m working as a guest librarian in an elementary school-I’m super excited that one of the older girls asked me to buy Girl Scout cookies! I love the Samoas-and the Lemonades and Savannah Smiles sound so good. I hope we have those in our area.
I spent 10 years as a Girl Scout, and selling cookies door-to-door in the 1970s was something I dreaded! My favorites then were the peanut butter patties. Runner up was Thin Mints, but in the same style as the PB patties–a thin layer of mint on top of a chocolate cookie enrobed in dark chocolate. I miss that kind.
These days, the current Thin Mint is my fave. We don’t do PB anything at my house (allergies), but Samoas are always welcome.
Tagalongs for me! Plus it’s generally best to stay out of the competition between my husband and teenaged son for the Thin Mints.
Tagalongs, Thin Mints, and Samoas rule our house! I did try the Savannah Smiles last year and really liked them – I was able to order online from a member of a troop in NYC who was raising money for the first statue of a historical woman in Central Park. Of course, this year I haven’t found any other troops selling online, and the closest in-person sales are in NJ or out on Long Island 🙁 I’ll keep searching their website and looking for a closer venue to get my fix.
I always mean to stash a box of Thin Mints in the freezer to “forget” about them, but they rarely survive more than a month :/
[…] smaller at 13″ by 13″, but that’s still plenty of space for essentials, like a few boxes of Girl Scout cookies and some books, […]