The Girl Scout Leadership Experience program averages around $800 million in cookie sales annually. With their cookies being back in season, I began to wonder if these boxes were really worth their recent increase in price from $5 to $6 in the past two years. So, in order to find the best cookie your money can buy, I decided to try eight different flavors of Girl Scout cookies and give you my personal favorites. For almost half of these cookies, I haven’t given them a try until this season, and I can tell you with certainty that there is a wide range of flavors from savory to sweet and from simple to busy. For my ranking, I have included Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Trefoils, Caramel DeLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Thin Mints, Lemonades, Toast-Yays! and Adventurefuls and have ranked them from my personal worst to best.
At the bottom of my list are Girl Scout’s most basic cookies, the Trefoils. Trefoils are their iconic shortbread cookie inspired by the original Girl Scout recipe. It was buttery and crunchy, but other than that, it didn’t have much else going on. I think like most shortbread cookies, Trefoils would taste great paired with something else; however, they are just too plain by themselves. If you like simple sweets, this cookie is definitely for you. For me, however, I will not be repurchasing the Trefoils. They receive a 4/10.
Another cookie I ranked pretty low were the Peanut Butter Sandwiches, also known as Do-si-dos. Although I clearly prefer things to be on the sweeter side, I feel that this barely counted as a cookie. They are exactly what you expect them to be, crunchy oatmeal sandwich cookies with peanut butter filling. The peanut butter was very thick, and this cookie was definitely made for peanut butter lovers as a savory snack. Even so, I prefer peanut butter sandwiches from different brands. They receive a 5/10 from me.
Next on my list is one of the two cookies that will be retired for the 2026 season, Toast-Yays! This is a much bigger cookie shaped like toast and inspired by a French toast flavor. I enjoyed my first few bites of this, but I couldn’t even finish the whole cookie before putting it down. It was very cinnamon-y and thin, reminding me a lot of Cinnamon Toast Crunch breakfast cereal. It had great flavor, but I got sick of it too fast. They receive a 6/10. The other cookie being retired is the Girl Scout S’mores, which has graham cracker sandwich cookies with a chocolate and marshmallow filling. Although I didn’t get the chance to try this, I would still recommend giving the S’mores a try before they are gone. For the Toast-Yay! however, I think you can pass.
In the middle of my ranking are the Lemonades. These are also bigger cookies, similar to Toast-Yays!, but they are much simpler. With a shortbread cookie on top and tangy lemon icing on the bottom, my point that the Trefoils would be much better paired with something else is proven correct. The Lemonades are very crumbly with savory lemon aftertaste. They are very light cookies, which makes it easy to eat lots of them. Overall, the Lemonades are a 7/10.
Moving to the better half of the eight are the Caramel DeLites. For me, these are the cookies that have been in our pantry every Girl Scout cookie season since I was a kid. Formerly known as Samoas, these chewy cookies are made with caramel, coconut and chocolate stripes. My favorite thing about them has to be their texture due to their mainly being made out of coconut flakes. Although this cookie is good, I still think there are better ones; the Caramel DeLites receive an 8/10.
In third place for my favorite Girl Scout Cookies are Thin Mints. A classic and well-known cookie, Thin Mints are crisp, chocolate cookies dipped in a mint chocolate coating. I think they have a great balance between chocolate and mint, while also smelling a lot mintier than they actually taste. They are super simple and obviously a fan favorite, Thin Mints also receive an 8/10.
In second place are the Adventurefuls. Debuting in 2022, these cookies are one of the newest flavors added to the lineup. They are brownie-inspired cookies with caramel in the center and although they seem like they have a lot going on, the components all go really well together. My only critique about this cookie is that I wish they were softer and had more of a brownie texture. Other than that, these cookies are delectable and therefore receive a 9/10.
At the very top of my list and receiving a 10/10, are the Peanut Butter Patties. These are thin crispy cookies with a peanut butter topping all dipped in chocolate. In my opinion, these cookies aren’t too chocolaty while still being perfect for chocolate lovers. They are much softer than the rest of the cookies, and they leave a peanut butter aftertaste. I will continue to repurchase these throughout the season. The next time you wonder what Girl Scout cookies are truly worth the $6, just think again about how savory, simple, chocolaty, or crunchy you’d like your cookies. There’s definitely a cookie for everyone in Girl Scout Cookies.
