The Original Girl Scout Cookie

I have been a Girl Scout for 13 years. Starting out as an adorable daisy when the cookie sales were aided by pigtails and grins missing front teeth, I made it all the way to a Senior Girl Scout, where, for the last two years we didn't even try to sell cookies. We just aren't the cute ones anymore. 

Anyway, my Girl Scout troop will be having our "Final Hurrah" party tonight to let things go out with a bang. We will laugh and cry over old pictures, remember camping trips, and do what we do best-- eat. 

Eating for our troop has always been a joyous affair. When we went on camping trips, we probably spent at least 80% of our waking hours preparing, making, and cleaning our meals. Camping food is usually worth it, but there are always those failures that make for laughs later (campfire nachos? ashes-filled barbecue chicken?)

A few years ago, I found a recipe for the Original Girl Scout Cookie, and I was very intrigued. This cookie was made by Girl Scouts only five years after Juliette Gordon Low started the organization. 

I decided our "Final Hurrah" would be a great time to have these cookies!

Fun fact: Girl Scout cookies are now $3.50 a box here, but when these were first sold in 1917 in a high school cafeteria, they were 25 cents a dozen (if they were still that, I think we can all agree we'd weigh about 500 pounds). 

Original Girl Scout Sugar Cookies

I got the recipe from the Girl Scout Website. 

Yield: 6-7 dozen thin cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (I used salted)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla (they're sugar cookies so try to use clear if you have it)

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Sugar for topping, if desired

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat until it's mixed in fully. 

Double yolk! I've never seen this before!

3. Add milk and vanilla. 

4. Mix together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add them in, slowly, to the wet mixture. 

As you can see, it's REALLY sticky. That's normal. 

5. Refrigerate dough wrapped in plastic wrap for 1 hour. 

Thanks, Siri!

At this point, I was looking through photos to bring to the party. I've decided to share this one for your viewing pleasure. 

Everyone at once: D'awwwwwwww!

6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Roll out dough onto floured surface with floured rolling pin. Cut into trefoil shapes, or just 2"-3" circles. I bent a football cutter into the best trefoil I could make, because seriously, I do not need a football cookie cutter. 

Keep in mind this dough is SOFT. I had to roll it out and then freeze it for about 3-5 minutes before cutting it out, but that made it so easy. I found the cookies did best if they were rolled out very thin. Sprinkle with sugar. 

See how the cookie stays stiff on the spatula? It's frozen. 

7. Bake on a silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet for 8-10 minutes (if really thin, 6-7 minutes), or until golden around the edges. 

I baked the leftovers (did you really think I was going to waste those delicious little pieces?) and they made some really funny shapes. I burst out laughing when they came out of the oven. 

That takes skill.

Here are the real ones:

Who else was a Girl Scout? How much were cookies when you sold?

Peace out, Girl Scout.