Full-Fat, Full-Sugar, Full-AWESOME Girl Scout Copycat Recipes

Little girls have been used as scare tactics in Hollywood for a while (think The Shining or The Exorcist), but the only time you’ll ever see a little girl that scary in real life is when she’s armed with the one thing scarier than all of Hollywood’s horror tricks — boxes upon boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

The allure can’t be denied and the appeal of cheerful little voices on the sidewalk singing out the siren’s song of chocolate and coconut Samoas is hard to resist. It’s become almost a joke. Walk into the office and tell your girlfriends that it’s Girl Scout season and just listen for the groans to roll in. Everyone’s anticipating gaining five to 10 pounds by the end of the month.

It makes sense, though — those delicious little cookies tick all the right boxes for being a totally crave-able snack. The caloric density tells your biological lizard brain that this is a good choice. After all, to the caveman/woman deep inside you, this is a great little burst of energy to get you through the day, and while you may not need the calories to run from a wooly mammoth, you may want the calories to run from your boss or after your kids.

Beyond that, the Girl Scouts have easily figured out that when you limit purchases to once a year, demand increases. It’s like Shamrock Shakes or the McRib. If you could have it all the time, you probably wouldn’t want it as much.

What if, though, with a little effort, you could have your favorite Girl Scout cookies every day…or at least every time you’re willing to roll up your sleeves in the kitchen?

Thanks to the multitude of food bloggers out there with seemingly endless time and bottomless stomachs, we’ve compiled a few of our absolute favorite Girl Scout cookie copycat recipes.

First up — Samoas. Now, you’ll find some easier and quicker Samoa recipes out there, sure. But these are the closest to the real deal. They’re worth the effort, because you’re getting the best. The recipe makes a whopping 24 cookies, and you don’t even have to share. After all, if no one knows you made (and ate) the cookies, the cookies don’t exist (right??).

The Tagalongs (shortbread, peanut butter, chocolate, oh my!) are a bit easier and blogger Sandra at Dash of Sanity even claims they’re better than the originals. We’ll be the judge of that, or rather, we’ll let you be the judge of that when you’re licking molten milk chocolate off a spoon while making these in your pjs this weekend. We don’t judge, girl, because we’re doing the same thing.

Then there are the Thin Mints. Heated arguments occur whenever you try to tell a Thin Mint-lover that Thin Mints are not, in fact, the best Girl Scout cookies, but rather, the best is (insert your fav here). Really, though, Thin Mints are freaking fantastic and even better when you shove them in the freezer for a few hours. This recipe is nearly as legit as it gets and has been known to trick never-the-wiser snackers into thinking they’re eating the real thing. Our advice? Whip this recipe out at a girl’s night in, when it’s far from Girl Scout season and you’re suddenly THE favorite friend.

Lastly, the Do-Si-Do’s. If you can make peanut butter cookies, you can make these. It’s literally that simple. And, since you’re making them at home, you’re the ruler of your own experience. Want your cookie a little crunchier? Cook it longer. Love ‘em soft and chewy? Bake ‘em less. Whatever you want, you do you.

There are undoubtedly those people who are looking for a “healthy” Girl Scout cookie recipe. Are those the same people who also hate sunshine, rainbows and puppies? Quite possibly. If you insist on not giving your biological lizard brain the indulgent culinary experience it craves, then by all means, help yourself to some paleo Thin Mints or a vegan S’mores cookie.

In the meantime, we’ll be over here enjoying our full-fat, full-sugar, full-AWESOME Girl Scout copycat recipes all year long.