The Original Girl Scout Cookies

When the Girl Scouts started selling cookies, this was the recipe they used. Each girl baked the cookies at home and sold them to family and friends to earn money for their troop. So, for our meeting today (and since it's cookie season), I made these for our troop. I did melt some semi-sweet chocolate to pipe a question-mark on each cookie since they were earning their Detective badge today. The girls proclaimed them "absolutely delicious," and they're right!

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

2 Tbs. milk

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

Cream butter and sugar, then add well beaten eggs, milk, vanilla. Next add flour and baking powder, and combine. Then roll out and cut into shapes, or scoop into balls and bake on parchment. Sprinkle sugar on top if desired, and bake in a quick oven (375-degrees F) for about 8 minutes per pan. 

This amount can make six to seven dozen. 

The original and best... 

Samoas Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Contest: Dessert Antipasti

It's that time again... the Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Contest! And, this year because the Samoas cookie is turning 40

Samoas Dessert Antipasti - Kid-friendly, easy and scout-approved!

, the contest was all about Samoas. So, our troop decided to do some recipe science and kitchen magic!

First, I looked through the recipes that have won or placed for Samoas in the past (a critical omission on my part last year). Then, I picked up our free boxes of Samoas cookies and a coupon for a free pound of Darigold butter from the Girl Scout office so that we could start creating!

Finally, I considered a brilliantly fun and easy no-bake recipe that honors my Nonna's Italian roots... her grand-kid approved Chocolate "Salami," which is basically a salami-shaped roll of delicious chocolate confection, studded with yummy cookies and usually with dried fruit, nuts and other flavorings such as citrus zest, vanilla, coffee, or alcohol. The recipe that we created is a riff on this old, classic recipe (that sometimes even uses raw egg yolks). To keep it kid-friendly, we skipped any alcohol or raw egg, and since the Samoas cookie is so flavorful already (caramel, toasted coconut, and chocolate plus delicious buttery cookie), we let it shine along with some scout-favorite mini marshmallows to enhance the "salami" look.

And, to go with the Samoa'd chocolate salami, we also tried out a Samoas Marshmallow Crispy Treat which, after all 14 Juniors in our troop taste-tested two different varieties of each recipe, the girls decided that the marshmallow-cereal treats tasted most amazing as the "bread" for the chocolate salami, so we submit for the Samoas Only Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Contest...  our very own Samoas Dessert Antipasti! 

Samoas Dessert Antipasti 
(Junior-Scout Approved!)

Nonna’s Samoa'd Chocolate Salami

• 10 crushed or chopped Samoas cookies 
• 1/3 cup sugar
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa
• 5 Tbs. softened, salted Darigold butter
• ½ cup dark chocolate chunks or chips, melted
• 1/3 cup mini marshmallows

Samoas Marshmallow Cereal Treat “Focaccia”

• 4 Tbsp.  (1/2 stick) salted Darigold butter
• One 10.5 oz bag mini marshmallows (equals 6 cups) 
• 6 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 box of crushed or chopped Samoas cookies 

For the Samoa'd chocolate salami
Put 10 Samoas cookies into a zip-top bag, close it, and bash up the cookies with a rolling pin until they are about pea-sized chunks (or chop them up with a chef's knife), then dump into a mixing bowl. Next add the sugar, unsweetened cocoa and the softened (melty) butter. Stir all ingredients together, by hand, until combined.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Pour over the cookie mixture and stir a little, then add marshmallows and stir well.

Spoon the mixture onto (powdered-sugar covered) plastic wrap and shape into a salami log (with cooking-spray covered hands. Dust with more powdered sugar, and roll up in plastic wrap. Pop into the freezer for about 30 minutes (or refrigerate for 1-2 hours), and then cut it in slices to serve with marshmallow "focaccia."

For the marshmallow-cereal treat "focaccia" 
Spray a 9x9 pan with cooking spray. Put all 15 of the Samoas into a zip-top bag, close it, and bash up the cookies with a rolling pin until they are about pea- and marble-sized chunks. Separate out about ¼ cup of crumbs for the top of the “bread” and set it aside.

Next, in a large soup pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Once the butter is melted, add the bag of mini marshmallows, stirring to combine.  When the marshmallows are melted, remove from the heat and stir in the 6 cups of cereal.

Sprinkle the bottom of the prepared pan with some of the crushed Samoas. Mix the remaining Samoas (from the bag) into the marshmallow treat mixture (this takes a strong arm, or four Junior scouts and one leader). Next, scoop the marshmallow mixture onto the crushed cookies in the 9x9 pan, press gently to even out, and then top with the remaining ¼ cup of Samoas crumbs. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes until firm, then slice into thin “bread-like” chunks and serve topped with, or alongside, chocolate salami.

Melting the Darigold butter and marshmallows in copper pots (Samoas caramel is made in copper pots! That's a fact!)

Prepping the four versions for taste testing... 

More sugar? Less sugar? More marshmallows? Fewer? A whole box of Samoas? 

And, the winning recipe... to combine the chocolate salami with the cereal-treat "bread" with less sugar (but more Samoas). Cookie season is their favorite!! 

Girl Scout Cookie Recipes: A Trio of Tasty Treats

Girl Scout Cookie Recipes:  A Trio of Tasty Treats

I've been wanting to participate in the Girl Scout's of Western Washington cookie recipe contest for the last couple years, and this year the timing finally worked out for me! Instead of using the top three sellers:  Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tagalongs, I decided to see if I could come up with something delicious to do with the other three of our Super Six flavors:  Savannah Smiles, Trefoils and Do-si-dos.

After tossing around a few ideas, I decided to go with fairly simple classic recipe ideas that my Brownie troop could make, using the cookie crumbs from each flavor as a major ingredient in each recipe. I also wanted recipes that would be amazing as a trio of Christmas treats this year (I'll just have to freeze a bunch of boxes for December!) The top three recipes I came up with are Chocolate Do-si-dos Truffles, Savannah Smiles Lemon Bars, and Trefoils Campfire Bars.

And the verdict on favorites after taste-testing? Savannah Smiles Lemon Bars are the winner with kids and adult testers! The kid-favorite (likely for the sweetness) are the Trefoil Campfire Bars, and the runner-up for adults was the Do-Si-Do Truffles.

Savannah Smiles Lemon Bars

My first pan of these were pucker-up lemony and almost too lemony for me, which is really saying something! I toned it down a little by reducing the lemon extract - I used one teaspoon in the original... (although you could eliminate it, or replace completely with vanilla). Either way, Savannah Smiles make an amazing crust. I am going to replace my usual graham cracker crust with this version for Key Lime Pie too!


Preheat oven to 375-degrees F, and grease an 8x8-inch baking pan

Crust
1 box of Savannah Smiles cookies, pulsed in food processor to fine crumbs
1 Tbs. sugar
4 Tbs. melted butter

Mix crumbs, sugar and melted butter and press into bottom of pan. Bake at 375-degrees for about 6 minutes or until golden and fragrant. Mix filling while crust bakes, and reduce oven temperature to 350-degrees F when you remove crust.

Lemon Filling
2 large organic lemons (zest and juice of both, you should have between 1/2 and 2/3 cup of juice)
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. lemon extract
2 Tbs. heavy cream
2 Tbs. corn starch

Powdered sugar to serve

First, wash lemons in warm water (they yield more juice), then zest both lemons. Slice lemons in half and juice both, removing any seeds. Pour juice into bowl and whisk in eggs, sugar, lemon zest, and extracts until blended. Next, in a separate mixing cup, combine the cream and corn starch until smooth, then add to the rest of the filling mixture. Pour filling into warm crust and bake in a 350-degree F oven for about 25 minutes or until filling is mostly firm, only slightly jiggly when pan in shaken. Remove from oven, cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar, slice and enjoy!


Trefoils Campfire Bars
I made a pan of S'mores bars years ago for a barbecue that were a big hit, so I wanted to incorporate Trefoils cookies into the dough for these bars instead of graham crackers. Plus, I added whole wheat pastry flour and dark brown sugar for great flavor.

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F and grease an 8x8-inch baking pan

1 sleeve Trefoils cookies, pulsed in food processor to fine crumbs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 7-oz. jar of Jet-Puffed marshmallow creme (I used about 1/2 of a 13 oz. jar...)

Your favorite s'mores chocolate - I used three 1.45 oz of Hershey's Special Dark chocolate, but you could use any variety. I go with dark to balance the sweetness.  

Pour cookie crumbs into mixer bowl, and add all other dough ingredients. Blend until combine into a soft dough. Divide dough in half, pressing one half into the bottom of a greased 8x8-inch baking pan. Next, gently spread 7 oz. of marshmallow cream onto dough. Then cover the marshmallow cream layer with chocolate. Last, flatten pieces of the remaining dough to cover the chocolate layer.

Bake at 350-degrees for about 30 minutes, or until golden (chocolate and/or marshmallow may be bubbling up/out of top - that's fine!) Cool slightly, slice and enjoy warm with your favorite camp songs or stories! Linger over the deliciousness!


Chocolate Do-si-dos Truffles
makes about 30 

These look like those delicious peanut butter balls that your grandma makes, but are quick and really delicious! Easy as 1, 2, 3...

1 box Do-si-dos sandwich cookies, pulsed in a food processor to fine crumbs
2 Tbs. heavy cream
3 Tbs. natural style creamy peanut butter
4 oz. softened cream cheese
1/8 tsp. salt
1 11.5-oz. bag of high-quality milk chocolate chips, melted

Pulse the cookies in a food processor to a fine crumb. I did one sleeve at a time since I have a smaller bowl on my machine. Pour crumbs into mixer and add cream, softened cream cheese, peanut butter and salt. Blend until a smooth ball forms.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring after each until smooth. Time varies by microwave. Scoop walnut-sized balls of peanut butter mixture and roll into ball, then dip into melted chocolate. Place onto waxed paper-lined plate and chill until chocolate is firm. Enjoy!

You can also try these as peanut butter cups in mini-muffin pans, or roll the balls in finely ground peanuts. My taste testers' favorite version were the traditional truffle-like chocolate-covered version.

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!!

Next week I'm going to help with inventory for our Service Unit's cookies. Our Girl Scout Service Unit ordered 27,000 boxes, and I really want to see what that many cookies looks like! We deliver pre-ordered cookies next week, and start grocery-store sales on March 2nd (through 3/18).

And, if you happen to be on a gluten-free diet, I tested recipes last year, and finally found a winner right here. Seriously, I made these with my Christmas cookies and was hounded for the recipe. It's the only one I found that used real ingredients (butter, not shortening and sugar instead of xylitol, etc.) and the texture and flavor are fantastic! I adapted the printable recipe from Becks' Delish blog, but other than that, didn't change much. You can get peppermint oil from your local cake-decorating or candy-supply shop.

Amazing Gluten Free Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies from Delish
from http://delicioushouse.blogspot.com

makes 3 dozen cookies
Active time: 30 minutes

Please keep the following two rules in mind:

1. USE GOOD CHOCOLATE.
2. Mint flavoring and peppermint oil are NOT the same thing. You MUST use peppermint oil (available at your local cake- or candy-supply shop), because mint extract/flavoring contains alcohol and water which will seize up (totally ruin) chocolate.

INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup sweet rice flour
4 tbs cocoa powder
2 tbs corn starch
1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
1 cup + 1/4 sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint oil (type used in candy making)
1 egg

1 lb good-quality semi-sweet chocolate (or milk chocolate if you prefer it)
1 tsp peppermint oil

First, mix together your dry ingredients - the brown and sweet rice flours, cocoa powder, corn starch, and baking powder.  Then, beat butter on high (with a mixer) until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add in sugar, and beat on high until smooth, another 2 minutes (this aerates the dough and keeps it from getting too heavy). Add egg, vanilla extract, and mint extract, and continue to beat until egg is incorporated, and batter is light and smooth, 2-4 minutes. Then, with mixer on low, add in flour mixture until just combined. You can even stop the mixer once large crumbs form, and mix the last bit by hand with a spatula. You don't want to over mix, or the dough will become too heavy. Dough should be soft and pliable. Remove dough from mixer bowl and place on a piece of wax paper, form into a log about 1" thick, and roll it up in the wax paper. Set in freezer for 1-2 hours, until dough is very firm.

When you’re ready to bake…  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Pull your dough out of the freezer, and cut it into thin slices - no more than 1/4 on an inch thick. Line a cookie pan with parchment paper. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes. Cookies should be crunchy, but not burned.

Get out your fancy chocolate.  Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, until it's smooth, stirring between sessions. Add 1 tsp. peppermint oil (NOT mint extract. Mint extract will make chocolate seize and get hard).  Now place a cookie in the chocolate, and gently turn the cookie over so it is coated with chocolate.  Pick the cookie back up with a fork, and gently tap the fork against the side of the bowl, so any excess chocolate dribbles back into the bowl. Place cookies onto parchment paper, and let dry (you can refrigerate them or freeze them to help the chocolate set faster).