Gluten-Free Girl Scout Cookies - Horrible!

[sschevychevelle]

Hey everyone, this is my first post since being diagnosed with Celiac in December (2013). The forum has been incredibly helpful, and I'm excited to become part of the community. Now, on to the post...

 

It's unfortunate that my first post is a negative one, but ever since finding out about the pilot program for gluten-free girlscout cookies a few weeks ago, I had been dying to see what they came up with - I'm a thin mint addict every year when they come out, and love most of their other cookies, so I figured they'd be able to put together a phenomenal gluten-free cookie.  WRONG.

 

My coworker, who's daughter is a Girl Scout, brought in one single Girl Scout gluten-free cookie for me to sample today. They only gave her one sample cookie in a sealed plastic bag, and knowing I had just been diagnosed with Celiac, she kindly saved it for me to sample.  It was REALLY bad.  Super sugary sweet, crumbled into a very fine powder in my mouth, and had a strange flavor that reminded me of something ..... had me racking my brain for a minute.....  then I came up with it - it tasted exactly like candy cigarettes, the white sugary ones.  These: 

 

 

That is not how a cookie should taste. The only good part was the chocolate chips.  Anyways, I'm extremely disappointed.  Try them out if you must, but I just want to save some people the 3.75 or whatever they will charge for them.  I can all but guarantee they won't sell them nation-wide next year because whoever tries them during this pilot season is going to absolutely hate them. 

[bartfull]

I never bought girlscout cookies even before I went gluten-free. Too expensive, and hardly any of the money raised actually goes to the girl scouts.

[pricklypear1971]

If you want thin-mints...try an almond or coconut based one. I *think* Elana's pantry has a recipe. I've been too chicken to try (I have mint flavoring issues) but I may since I've had luck recently with an organic mint extract.

I'll probably get violent d, but what the hell.

[bartfull]

I just looked up Pamela's cookies and I didn't see a thin mint, but their double chocolate mini cookies are really good. I haven't tried all the flavors because a lot of them have corn (which I am intolerant to), but if the rest of their stuff is as good as these chocolate mini's, I bet you'll be delighted. Maybe you could make some sort of mint "dip" to use with them.

 

Or you could google gluten-free thin mint recipes and make your own.

[LauraTX]

That is quite disappointing.  My area isn't a part of the test areas, but I was hoping for it next year.  I always like to support Girl Scouts, when I was a kid I would sell a lot of boxes so I could get free summer camp.   Ah well, my hiney size doesn't need cookies anyways!

[cyclinglady]

I never bought girlscout cookies even before I went gluten-free. Too expensive, and hardly any of the money raised actually goes to the girl scouts.

No, the troop gets about 70 cents per box. The rest of the profit goes to the council who must pay for volunteer training (from how to safely camp to child abuse identification....the classes are endless), fingerprinting and background checks (that exceeds fifty bucks per adult), liability insurance for every single Girl Scout event including meetings, etc. Like you, I was skeptical. It is unfortunate that we live in a sue happy society where even the scouts are not immune.

Our cookie troop profits cover the costs of our events like camping, but also we cover vests and dues to those who can not afford to be in scouts. Girl Scouts is primarily run by volunteers like me and most of our female Senators, Congresswomen, astronauts, etc. we're once scouts.

I will get off my soap box now. But I really believe in the Girl Scout organization. It is not perfect, but no group is!

[bartfull]

I apologize. I knew the troop only kept a small percentage but I assumed it was like a lot of the school fundraisers where a COMPANY kept most of the profits. Now I know better. Thank you.

 

I was a 4-H girl when I was young. And whether it be 4-H, Scouting, Boys and Girl's Clubs, or other kid's organizations, there is no doubt in my mind these things are great for kids.

[cyclinglady]

I have not tried the gluten-free Girl Scout cookies yet. I expect they'll be no better than other store-bought gluten-free versions, but remember, it takes time to forget what gluten/wheat tastes like. I expect Chevy Chevrolet ( my brother has a 1968 model), you have not been gluten free long enough!

In any case, our troop is selling them. I hope they sell well. I am excited that some little celiac Girl Scout will get to eat some cookies. How nice to feel normal!

By the way, You don't have to eat the cookies. Girl Scouts has a "Care to Share" program. These cookies are donated to our troops or our local food shelter.

[sschevychevelle]

I have not tried the gluten-free Girl Scout cookies yet. I expect they'll be no better than other store-bought gluten-free versions, but remember, it takes time to forget what gluten/wheat tastes like. I expect Chevy Chevrolet ( my brother has a 1968 model), you have not been gluten free long enough!

In any case, our troop is selling them. I hope they sell well. I am excited that some little celiac Girl Scout will get to eat some cookies. How nice to feel normal!

By the way, You don't have to eat the cookies. Girl Scouts has a "Care to Share" program. These cookies are donated to our troops or our local food shelter.

 

I have only been gluten free for a month, however I've already had 4-5 different brands/kinds of gluten free cookies - not that that's something to brag about! - and they've all been very good actually.  I didn't mean to come on here and rag on the Girl Scout organization in any way, I was just shocked at how bad the cookie tasted.  I assumed if it was made by the Girl Scouts, it was going to be really good.  I'm also disappointed because it would've been great to see this become a regular part of their line-up, but now I'm doubting that enough people will buy these again after eating them and so they will most likely not continue to make them.

 

But I'm one person, so obviously try them for yourself before taking my word for it.  

[pricklypear1971]

Too bad they didn't make gluten-free thin mints. No one out there has a version...everybody has chocolate chip.

[cyclinglady]

I just returned from a cookie meeting and I guess I will have to wait until the end of the month to try the gluten-free cookies when they make the initial deliveries for our service unit. I am really hoping that they are decent. If not, maybe they will source a better supplier for next year. I did hear that they are better than those cinnamon "diet cookies" that they had in the past and have since discontinued.

I agree that there are too many chocolate chip cookies in the market. A nice brownie type cookie maybe. Of course I use to adore Thin Mints......

No offense taken.

[Juliebove]

They tried sugar free ones one year.  Anyway...   A girl kept pushing me to buy some.  I finally told her that we had food allergies.  Not quite true as they are really intolerances.  So she brightly said that they had sugar free ones!  Then I told her that we weren't allergic to sugar.

 

Apparently in PA they sold nuts and trail mix one year as I found some outdated packets in my MIL's cupboard.  We never had those here though.

 

I think they might do better if they switched to something smaller and less expensive.  Not sure what though.  The boy scouts have popcorn but that's even worse in terms of price.

[WitsEnd]

Girl Scout cookies are made in several different bakeries across the country and while they all produce the same core cookies (thin mint, trefoils, samoas, etc) there are other flavors that are unique to certain bakeries so one GS may sell a lemon cookie, for example, but that cookie isn't offered in a different state. So there's a possibility some gluten-free cookies are better than others.

I haven't heard anything about their baking process for gluten-free cookies though. I hope they are taking all the proper precautions necessary to avoid cross contamination. Knowing the Girl Scouts I bet they are but obviously I'd like to see that in writing before eating the cookies.

[Brandiwine]

I was looking forward to trying them, glad you let us know I would have been disappointed with a box full of nasty cookies...

[Adalaide]

I can not figure out for the life of me why on earth they thought it was a good idea to make a gluten free Girl Scout cookie and not make it a thin mint. Frankly, the decision to go with something else entirely was (imo) the height of idiocy.

[JNBunnie1]

I'm kinda with you on that one Addy, I used to be a Girl Scout, definitely the best-seller.

I know I used to eat more than my share....

[NoGlutenCooties]

I'm one of the few weird people in the world who don't like Girl Scout cookies - any of them - never did. But I was going to try the Gluten Free ones if I saw them... now I know not to bother. Thanks!

 

(Someone asked about their process and being aware of cross-contamination... the advertisement I saw had the "Certified Gluten Free" logo on it... which leads me to believe they must be doing it right... right?)

[larry mac]

My wife always bought a bunch of cookies when her niece was in Girl Scouts. Luckily she's grown up now. Thin mints were my least favorite. Just never have liked hardly anything mint. I did like the Trefoils, Thanks-a-Lots, Samoas, and Tagalongs.

 

It's my understanding that the gluten-free ones are only to be offered in certain regions of the country, and only for table sales. 

 

best regards, larry mac

[cyclinglady]

I have the new gluten-free chocolate chip Shortbread cookies. Our troop is selling them. I admit, the are not as good as my homemade chocolate chip cookies, but the are not bad for a commercially baked cookie. The bakery did use two gums which affect the texture a bit, but I suspect that they were trying to kids from pulverizing them.

I ate one and then found myself reaching for another. If they were horrible, I would have stopped at one. My Gluten eating daughter stressed that they were much better than the cinnamon diet cookies offered in the past.

The original poster has only been gluten-free for less than two months. Everyone has their own opinion, but let's face it, it takes a long time to forget what gluten containing foods taste like!

[sschevychevelle]

I have the new gluten-free chocolate chip Shortbread cookies. Our troop is selling them. I admit, the are not as good as my homemade chocolate chip cookies, but the are not bad for a commercially baked cookie. The bakery did use two gums which affect the texture a bit, but I suspect that they were trying to kids from pulverizing them.

I ate one and then found myself reaching for another. If they were horrible, I would have stopped at one. My Gluten eating daughter stressed that they were much better than the cinnamon diet cookies offered in the past.

The original poster has only been gluten-free for less than two months. Everyone has their own opinion, but let's face it, it takes a long time to forget what gluten containing foods taste like!

 

Cyclinglady, you already posted a comment on the 1st page of this thread saying that I've only been gluten-free and it takes a long time to forget what gluten containing foods taste like.  My response to your first comment was that I actually have found a TON of delicious gluten-free cookies.  For example, Udi's snickerdoodles, although they are incredibly unhealthy (100+ calories per cookie) are actuallly the best snickerdoodles I've ever had.  I've even made a couple batches of gluten free cookies myself, using good recipes, that turned out really delicious.  So the issue is not that I am expecting so much from gluten-free cookies.  The issue was that MY experience with the girl scout cookie was that it was powdery, SUPER sweet, and tasted exactly like a candy cigarette. 

 

But again, I didn't write this post with the intent of attacking the girl scouts or hurting their sales.  I was just taken back by how bad of a job they did, especially considering that it seems very easy to make delicious gluten-free cookies, and I wanted to share my experience with others. 

 

As for your review of the cookie, someone mentioned that different regions bake the cookies differently, so maybe your region made a better gluten-free cookie, who knows.  My region's was very very BAD.

[LauraTX]

Cyclinglady, you already posted a comment on the 1st page of this thread saying that I've only been gluten-free and it takes a long time to forget what gluten containing foods taste like.  My response to your first comment was that I actually have found a TON of delicious gluten-free cookies.  For example, Udi's snickerdoodles, although they are incredibly unhealthy (100+ calories per cookie) are actuallly the best snickerdoodles I've ever had.  I've even made a couple batches of gluten free cookies myself, using good recipes, that turned out really delicious.  So the issue is not that I am expecting so much from gluten-free cookies.  The issue was that MY experience with the girl scout cookie was that it was powdery, SUPER sweet, and tasted exactly like a candy cigarette. 

 

I think you guys both have valid input here, that is the great part of this forum  We are all Silly Yaks together.  I think cyclinglady may be correct in that they had to make them extra hard and stuff to make it through handling and such with the pouch packaging.

 

I personally never liked thin mints but I don't really like mint. I always liked the shortbread ones or "trefoils" I think they are called.   I think people don't buy girl scout cookies for the taste necessarily... I mean, how good can a shelf stable cookie be?  I used to LOVE pecan sandies as a kid, and one day a few years back I had a home made version from a bakery and I was like wow, pecan sandies taste like crap- where have these been all my life?!?!?!  I used to also be a fan of the famous amos chocolate chip cookies and those are about as hard and crusty as you can get.  But I would still eat the whole bag because they are all tiny and pop right into your mouth.  But they are no where in the same realm as fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.

 

BRB going to go dig in my chocolate stash now....

[IrishHeart]

. But I really believe in the Girl Scout organization. It is not perfect, but no group is!

 

 

Me too! I was one for many years and I sold dozens of cookies.

 

I could eat a whole row of somoas in a heartbeat.  

 

I asked a group of them selling boxes outside the grocery store the other day f they had any G F ones. You would think I had asked

of they had any liver-flavored ones from the look I got. LOL The supervising Mom said 'Um,. no we just have the same flavors as always".

 

flavors...sigh...

I bought a few boxes anyway and gave them away to the guys working on our house.

 

Girl Scouts are a solid organization and they can use the support. IMHO

[lpellegr]

Just as a counterpoint, in spite of what I read here I bought 2 bags of the gluten-free cookies from a local (NJ) troop, and I was pleasantly surprised.  Sure, you only get 20 cookies for $5, but I had to stop myself after 3 cookies.  I thought they tasted and felt like my memory of Pecan Sandies (with chocolate chips instead of nuts).  It has been 9 years, and I have pretty low expectations for gluten-free foods, but I have to say I would recommend these.  I'm going to buy more and hide them from myself for when I need a cookie fix and don't want to bake them myself.

[cyclinglady]

Just as a counterpoint, in spite of what I read here I bought 2 bags of the gluten-free cookies from a local (NJ) troop, and I was pleasantly surprised.  Sure, you only get 20 cookies for $5, but I had to stop myself after 3 cookies.  I thought they tasted and felt like my memory of Pecan Sandies (with chocolate chips instead of nuts).  It has been 9 years, and I have pretty low expectations for gluten-free foods, but I have to say I would recommend these.  I'm going to buy more and hide them from myself for when I need a cookie fix and don't want to bake them myself.

I have some in my big freezer right now! It is supposed to keep me from gobbling them up, but I deserve a treat after polishing all my living and dining room furniture (my Mom is coming soon!)

[LauraTX]

UGH I want some!  Can't get them in my area