MILWAUKEE — Are you ready to have your mind blown? Not all Girl Scout Cookies® are created equal.
It's that time of the year again, Girl Scout Cookies® are on sale and people are already craving those Samoas® and Thin Mints®. But, did you know not all the cookies are the same across Wisconsin?
That's right, some of the cookies vary based on location. From the name to the way they're made, cookies in the Sheboygan area vary from those in the rest of the state.
Don't worry though, we're here to help by giving you a guide to your Girl Scout Cookie® shopping. So, grab onto your seat, this is about to get crazy.
The Girl Scouts organization has two licensed bakers, ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers. This is why we see two different catalogs of cookies across the country and within Wisconsin.
For some of the cookies, they're made the same but they have different names. However, there are also some totally different cookies depending on catalog.
To help clear up the confusion, we are going to compare the cookies of Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast, who uses ABC Bakers, and Sheboygan based Girl Scouts of Manitou, who uses Little Brownie Bakers.
1. Thin Mints® vs Thin Mints®
No need to fret, both groups sell the iconic Thin Mints®. One thing you should know though, they're made differently depending on what baker your troop uses. On the left is the Southeast Wisconsin chapter cookie. They describe their cookies as, "Crispy chocolate wafers dipped in a mint chocolaty coating." The Manitou cookies are described as, "Crisp wafers covered in chocolaty coating. Made with natural oil of peppermint."
So what's the difference? Well, the Manitou cookie says covered and the Southeast Wisconsin says dipped in chocolate. Our guess is the Manitou cookie is a bit creamier and has more chocolate than that of the Southeast Wisconsin cookie.
2. Caramel deLites® vs Samoas®
That's right, not everyone calls these coconut cookies Samoas®. According to Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast, these are Caramel deLites®. So, if they don't have the same name, are they not the same cookie? For the most part they're the same but not entirely.
The Caramel deLite® is described as, "Vanilla cookies topped with caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut, and laced with chocolaty stripes." Take note of the chocolate, it's regular milk chocolate. This is not the case for the Samoas®. The Samoas are, "Crisp cookies, coated in caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut, and striped with dark chocolaty coating."
3. Peanut Butter Patties® vs Tagalongs®
These two may have different names, but they're the same cookie. Both the Peanut Butter Pattie® and the Tagalong® are described as a cookie layered with peanut butter and covered in a chocolaty coating.
From what we can see, these two cookies should taste the same and essentially be the same but who knows!
4. Peanut Butter Sandwich vs Do-si-dos®
These cookies are just another example of the same cookie with a different name. Wisconsin Southeast's Peanut Butter Sandwich and Manitou's Do-si-dos® are both described as a crunchy oatmeal sandwich cookie with creamy peanut butter filling.
The only difference between the two besides the name is the hole at the top of the Peanut Butter Sandwich. That's it. That's all it is. Moving on.
5. Shortbread vs Trefoils®
No surprise here! Same cookie, different name. No matter what you call it, this cookie is simply your traditional shortbread cookie with the girl scout logo on it.
6. Lemonades® vs Lemon-Ups®
While both Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast and Girl Scouts of Manitou sell lemon-flavored cookies, they're not the same. The Lemonades® cookie of Wisconsin Southeast both looks and is made differently than that of the Lemon-Ups®. Described as, "Savory slices of shortbread with a refreshingly tangy lemon flavored icing," the Lemonades® are made of shortbread and feature an icing. In addition, they're made to look like lemons.
The Lemon-Ups® on the other hand, do not feature icing and are naturally flavored. Each cookie is baked with a motivational message on it too so that's cute.
7. S'mores vs S'mores
These two cookies probably have the most differences compared to the previous six. They look completely different, are made completely differently, and even taste pretty different. The only similarity is the name and general concept.
The Wisconsin Southeast cookie is described as, "Crispy graham cookie double dipped in yummy crème icing and finished with a scrumptious chocolatey coating." This cookie is simply one cookie dipped in cream and chocolate.
The Manitou cookie, though, is a bit different. Described as, "Crunchy graham sandwich cookies with creamy chocolate and marshmallowy filling," this cookie features two wafer cookies and is more sandwich like.
8. The Wisconsin Southeast Caramel Chocolate Chip and Thanks-A-Lot™ cookies
These two cookies are only sold by troops that have ABC Bakers as their baker. Therefore, if you live in the Sheboygan area you may need to travel somewhere else if you want to try these cookies.
The Thanks-A-Lot™ cookies are, "Shortbread cookies dipped in rich fudge and topped with an embossed thank you message in one of 5 languages." The caramel chocolate chip cookie is exactly what it sounds like, it's "Rich caramel, semisweet chocolate chips, and a hint of sea salt in a chewy cookie. "
9. The Toffee-Tastic® Cookie
Only offered from troops who sell Little Brownie Bakery cookies, the Toffee-Tastic® cookies are, "Rich, buttery cookies packed with golden toffee bits bursting with flavor. Gluten free."
So there you go, now you know exactly where to go to get the cookies you want. Hopefully we answered all your quetions, but if you still don't know which cookies are sold in your area, contact your Girl Scouts chapter wesbite and that should help you.
The website for Wisconsin Southeast can be found here, and the Manitou website is here.
