Elizabeth is a Brownie Scout, so she has to sell Girl Scout cookies. I hate selling things, so basically what I do is buy a whole bunch of boxes ourselves and consider that good enough. (Paul also brings the form into work. This year he sold two boxes. It’s a poor idea to have a cookie fundraiser the first two weeks of January, right when people are most committed to their resolutions.) If I let the kids have two cookies every day after school, we go through them surprisingly fast. I’m also planning to bring some as my appetizer contribution the next time I get together with the wine-and-appetizer friend group.
One thing I wanted to try this year is a taste test. Keebler has cookies that look similar to Samoas / Caramel deLites (they’re called different things regionally for some reason) (and why the lowercase D and uppercase L in deLites?) and also cookies that look similar to Thin Mints (called the same thing everywhere). (Today I also found a version of Do-Si-Dos / Peanut Butter Sandwich, but we’d already done the taste test.) I thought we’d do a blind taste test and see if we could tell them apart, and which we liked better.
First, a cost comparison. Girl Scout Samoas / Caramel deLites are $4.00 for a 7.5-ounce box, or $8.53/pound. Keebler Coconut Dreams are $2.50 for a 8.5-ounce box, or $4.71/pound. (Furthermore, I got them on sale for $2.00, so that made them $3.76/pound.)
Girl Scout Thin Mints are $4.00 for a 9-ounce box, or $7.11/pound. Keebler Grasshoppers are $2.50 for a 10-ounce box, or $4.00/pound. (I got them on sale for $2.00, so that made them $3.20/pound.)
So the Girl Scout cookies are just under twice the price of Keebler’s (or just over twice the price, if you find the Keebler on sale), which makes sense since Girl Scout cookies are a fundraising product.
My photos turned out rather…poorly. But here they are:
Keebler Grasshoppers and Girl Scout Thin Mints
The Girl Scout Thin Mints are visibly darker, and with a smooth rather than scalloped edge..
Keebler Coconut Dreams and Girl Scout Samoas
The chocolate on the Girl Scout Samoas / Caramel deLites is darker and the cookie is slightly bigger.
I broke up cookies into color-coded bowls, so that taste-testers could say, “I liked Blue better” or “I liked Yellow better.” If the taste-tester liked both cookies equally, I made a mark in the middle. Everyone tasted without looking at the cookies. My test had to be even blinder because I’d noted the appearance of the cookies, and also I knew the bowl-color code; so I closed my eyes and Paul handed me one cookie piece in each hand, and I said “I liked Right better” or “I liked Left better,” and then he told me whether I’d preferred “Blue” or “Yellow.” After we’d all given our opinions, I wrote Keebler and GS over the colors so everyone could see what they’d chosen.
testing sheet
For the Thin Mints and Grasshoppers, Edward preferred the Girl Scout cookies, and Henry and I liked both the same. The other four preferred Keebler. Paul noted that his preferred cookie (the Keebler) had more chocolate on it.
For the Samoas / Caramel deLites and Coconut Dreams, Rob liked them both the same and everyone else preferred the Keebler. Paul noted that his preferred cookie (the Keebler) had a much more intense flavor.
I love that you did this! I am a big supporter of Girl Scouts, but I have wondered how the Keebler cookies compare as well.
Both of my daughters sold GS cookies for years. My wife was a troop leader for those years.
We all sold the cookies at home work and school.
In time we realized that the troop received $0.25 from each box of cookies which were $2.50 at the time.
The GS council gets half of the price of a box of cookies. The Keebler company gets the rest.
These girl scouts are replacing the truck drivers, store managers and whoever else is involved with distribution of cookies. The girl scouts (moms) do all the work and receive 10% of the take. What distribution company in the world would make that deal. The GS of America is the only one. Anyone in their right mind would scream child abuse. What about child labor laws etc.?
The whole thing is a scam. We are all better off buying Keebler cookies at Walmart and donating the difference (which is about double GS cookie prices) to the individual troops.
Thanks for reading. I’m sorry for the anger but this has been building up in my mind for many years.
Keebler doesn’t make the GS cookies. They do however make cookies every bit as good if not better as this blog points out.
Oh dear, let’s not get me started on the differences between the two girl scout cookie bakeries. I grew up in an area that used Little Brownie Bakers (LBB) and now live in an ABC Bakers area. They’re vastly inferior (maybe just to me…), but, hey, at least I eat less cookies that way. Fortunately, Thin Mints have a standard recipe both bakers are required to make the same:) The shapes are different, but the cookie/taste is the same.
Also, LBB happens to be a subsidiary of Keebler so you were comparing two Keebler products! (LBB is the one who calls theirs Samoas/Tagalongs/Do-si-dos, etc.)
I learned yesterday that the GS cookies are also priced regionally. You can get those cookies for $3.50 in Florida!
This post has made me hungry for cookies.
I feel cheated! Living on the other side of the pond, I always thought that Girl Scout cookies (or biscuits, as we call them in the UK) were homemade. Just as well I don’t live stateside; I’d pay a lot for homemade baked goods, but if they come out of a box, I’d probably pass and just go to the supermarket for cheaper biscuits. I would feel conned at paying double the price for what is essentially the same thing!
Another regional difference – Girl Scout cookies are now $5 a box here in the San Francisco Bay Area!
FYI, Keebler also has a version of the Tagalongs!
I buy the Grasshoppers on a semi-regular basis, and put them in the freezer just like Thin Mints.
Oooo, fun.
I have found GS cookie knock offs at the Dollar General. They might be Clover Valley brand? Anyway without using your scientific method, my vote is Good Enough. They are less than $2 a box here.
I have found off-brand versions of GS cookies at Aldi as well. They were ok. I’m a big supporter of Girl Scouts, and I will always buy their cookies on principal, but it is nice to have an alternative for that middle-of-the-year fix.
This is fabulous. As a statistician, I think your science was excellent, especially considering your own family is your population of interest.
I always buy GS cookies, because I love our little neighbor girls, but now I’m curious if I find Keebler as tasty/tastier, too.
I think that selling things is horrible, except for those parents who are out there hawking girl scout cookies because almost all people are happy to get that knock on their door! I only have a son so we’re stuck with gift wrap and popcorn, not so many people are happy to see us. Also, I love the thought of you sitting around a table with your actual family and in front of you is a sheet with family pseudonyms on it. Do they all know and/or like their chosen pseudonyms?
Ha, yes! They do know their pseudonyms, though they forget: they said, “What are these letters?” and I had to say, “I’m using your pseudonyms so I can use this for a blog post.” It was kind of neat for me to see what it would look like if we really had named the twins with the same initial (an idea I was very drawn to): having to put El and Ed on the list of otherwise-just-one-letter names.
In Canada we have Girl Guides (the British version of scouts) and they sell chocolate mint cookies in the fall and then vanilla/chocolate cookies around March (they’re basically an Oreo’s variant). I always though they’re timing was good since they avoided Christmas. They also don’t do order forms here and the girls just go door to door (as a group with lots of moms present) to sell from a stockpile in a wagon. It creates a sense of urgency to buy cookies since you never know when they’ll run out/if they’ll be back.
I also wanted to add that the inflated price is worth it in my opinion- Girl Scouts provides important programs for girls.
I totally agree. I never really bought things from kids selling door to door before I had kids. Now I’m a Girl Scout leader and my daughter and I sell door to door. It’s amazing the skills she has learned — counting change, making small talk, overcoming shyness, and gracefully accepting a “no”. I always buy from kids now, even though the cookies are indeed overpriced (and we only pay $3.50!).
Our Troop was told they only earn 70 cents per box sold. Just seems like it should be much higher for a $4 box of cookies. We didn’t sell many during pre-sale (and I won’t sell stuff at work), but my daughter enjoyed the booth sale they operated this past weekend. I spent $40 for 10 boxes of cookies… I could have bought Keebler for half as much and then donated $7 to the troop instead!
Typically the troop earns a certain amount, and then the council earns a certain amount in addition to that. That goes toward various expenses related to both operations and programming, I believe. Many older troops further divide that to put a portion into “accounts” for the individual girls- I accumulated enough in my account over my high school years to both pay for a big end-of-the-year trip and a lifetime membership when I graduated.
I order one box from anyone who comes to the door, because I love cookies and Girl Scouting and I hate selling things, so points to anyone who can do it. Also I figure it makes up for my refusal to buy Boy Scout stuff.
Usually lots of girls come to the door. This year, only one. And she has yet to come back with our cookies.
I didn’t know there were similar cookies available in stores. Interesting post!
Fascinating!
I always buy several boxes of cookies, since it is such a worthwhile cause. They are only $3.50 here in Kentucky, but then again, you only get around 15 cookies in a box!
Girl Scout Samoas used to be so good, now they just taste like plastic.
I agree. I feel like spending $4/box would be more acceptable for me if they were worth eating.
I HATED selling Girl Scout cookies when I was a kid. My mom baked, so I never understood why anyone would want to buy machine-made cookies in the first place. In my day, we went door-to-door on our own, but nowadays it’s a rule an adult has to accompany the girls, so that explains the lack of knocks at the door.
Now that I’m an adult, I HATE selling (or buying) things (at inflated prices) that I don’t really want in the first place. My daughter’s troop allowed us to just donate money, since the troops get so little per box. Some of the money goes to higher levels of Girl Scouts, so the troops in more affluent areas help support the troops in poorer areas, which I don’t mind, but I’d much rather write a check (or give a kid at the door a couple of bucks) than be involved in all that merchandising stuff. My daughter’s school lets us “Invest in Your Child” with a check each fall in lieu of fundraisers, and I really appreciate that!
This post was very timely, as just last week I bought four boxes of GS cookies from a coworker. They are $4 per box here, which seems high-ish, but it’s been ages since I had real GS cookies so I’m looking forward to giving myself a sense-memory explosion when they arrive. It’s good to know there are similar cookies in the supermarket for other times of year. I had no idea the Keebler ones existed! As always, you are providing an important public service, Swis.
I really wish I hadn’t learned that there were cookies that taste even better than Thin Mints available in the grocery store all year round. The only thing keeping me from a one sleeve a day Thin Mint habit was the fact that I only had a couple of boxes and then they were gone. I may have to start running extreme marathons or something if I have Thin Mint equivalents in my freezer all year….
My thoughts exactly! While I appreciate the thoroughness of your research, I wish I DIDN’T know I could buy even better tasting and cheaper Samoas any old time of year.
How I long for the fund raiser opt-out some schools offer! I’m good with volunteering and I am happy to help pay for things the school needs but PLEASE don’t make me deal with one thing or another every few weeks. I can handle the money but not the stress!
Haha, yes, me too: one of the GS cookies’ principal values is that they are only available once a year!
I had no idea there were equivalents in the store. But I love to bake so if someone wants cookies, I always default to baking.
I would also much rather just donate money than buy something. We’ve only done one fundraiser so far this year and the quality of the products received was…not up to par in my opinion. I’d rather just write a check and know that they get every penny. But I do love Girl Scout Cookies but no one seems to hit me up for them and I actually have to seek them out.
I’m sure someone else mentioned it on here, but I’m too lazy to read back through the comments, but Keebler is one of the bakers that Girls Scouts has used in the past to bake their cookies. I believe that GS probably gets more profit using other bakers, but that might be urban myth or something. And the names of the cookies have to change with different bakers GS uses due to copyrights & such. Thin Mints will always be Thin Mints, but Samoas might be Carmel DeLights, Hoedowns might be Peanut Butter Patties, etc.
We’re one of the few councils still selling for $3.50 a box. We’re pretty sure we’re doomed for a price increase next year!
I can’t shake the feeling that what you’ve done here is downright un-American.
Ill second LBB > ABC Bakery. With LBB, you can have 4.5 thin mints versus 4 of ABCs for the same # of calories.
MUST. HAVE. EXTRA. HALF. COOKIE.
This is all fascinating to me, but further fascinating is the change from Samoas to Caramel D-Lites (or whatever they’re called). Was it to separate from the South Pacific Islands? I feel the need to rabbithole the internet for that. (I’m testing out making my own verbs. I’m not fond of it.)
As others have said, it’s because different bakers have different names for the cookies trademarked.