Best Girl Scout Cookies

Packaging description: “Crispy cookies topped with caramel, toasted coconut, and chocolatey stripes.”

Coconut might not seem as universal a flavor as your standard peanut butter sandwich or chocolate chip cookie recipe, and yet: These chunky, chewy, donut-shaped cookies took our rankings by storm. Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, says they lived up to his high expectations. “I typically only purchase one or two boxes of Girl Scout Cookies each year, and this is usually one of them,” he says. “I love the texture contrast of the crispy cookie, chocolate, caramel, and coconut.” 

This cookie is all about the texture; multiple evaluators mentioned their appreciation for its chewy, candy-like consistency. My husband, who counts these among his faves, says that with the combination of the cookie and the shredded coconut, “it’s a nice mixture of crispy and chewy.” 

These aren’t great frozen, though, or at least not frozen solid. “I wouldn’t recommend eating them frozen unless you’re looking to chip a tooth or remove a couple of old fillings,” Brian says. However, if frozen and slightly thawed—or not frozen entirely—they become even more candy-like. Proceed with caution, and you may be rewarded.

Packaging description: “Indulgent brownie-inspired cookies with caramel flavored crème and a hint of sea salt.”

These were the first to go in my house; my husband ate them practically by the handful. These are rich and chocolatey like a brownie, with a chewy caramel-flavored center. It’s a bit firmer than what you might expect from your traditional brownie or caramel, though; it’s clearly brownie-inspired, and not a true brownie. 

I adored them, as well, and found that they bear a remarkable resemblance to Cocoa Puffs, flavor-wise. Because these cookies aren’t hard or crispy but rather lean more chewy, they’re good frozen, too. “I was concerned that it would be very difficult to consume, but since the cookie part is slightly softer, it ended up being very good,” Brian says.

Packaging description: “Crispy chocolate wafers dipped in a mint fudge coating.”

Thin Mints are clearly a Girl Scout Cookies classic for a reason. Nobody disliked these lightly minty cookies that have a balanced sweetness that will appeal to kids and adults alike. Curiously, however, they weren’t the overwhelming favorite quite like their reputation led me to expect.

“They’re a little softer than expected—not as crispy,” says Diane Umansky, deputy print editor at Consumer Reports. “They have a nice crunch on first bite, but while chewing, they get somewhat grainy,” says Althea Chang-Cook, Consumer Reports’ associate director of content. “I really like mint, but I wish they were like York Peppermint Patties on a cookie rather than just a mint-flavored chocolate cookie.” Althea’s husband also considers them “overrated.” 

Those who are on the fence should try Thin Mints frozen. The cookie gets more crisp, and the chill makes the mint even more refreshing. “I love mint chocolate chip ice cream, and when Thin Mints are consumed frozen, it can have a similar heavenly taste and elicit visions of my family’s annual beach vacation,” Brian says. In fact, why not go all the way? Stick a frozen Thin Mint into a bowl of ice cream in the flavor of your choice for an exhilarating treat. 

Packaging description: “French Toast-inspired cookies dipped in delicious icing and full of flavor in every bite. Yay!”

I’d never had these before—they’re relatively new, having come out in 2021—and was shocked when I took my first bite and discovered they really, truly taste like French toast. Were you to give someone a piece of these toast-shaped cookies without explanation, I don’t doubt that they would immediately identify what these cookies are supposed to resemble. “I think the description sells them short,” Althea says. “They taste very close to French toast.” 

This flavor seems to derive primarily from cinnamon and a splash of maple syrup. Almost every Consumer Reports evaluator enjoyed these, although my husband mostly left them untouched, and I prioritized others (Lemonades, Trefoils), so we still have an almost entirely full box of them in my home office. They’re big cookies, so where two will do elsewhere, one will do here; they also snap in half easily if you’re the type to share. Less is really more here, because they’re very sweet. “I initially thought I’d rank these as my top choice, but after eating a few, I realized the sweetness would limit how many I’d eat in one sitting,” Althea says. “Which may actually be a good thing.”

We were divided on how we liked these frozen. It tempers the sweetness, but some evaluators thought it made the texture of the icing weird. There’s no harm in trying.

Packaging description: “Crispy cookies layered with peanut butter and covered with a chocolatey coating.”

These are perfectly good cookies, but they’re unlikely to please true, hardcore peanut butter fans (like myself). If, however, you’re in the market for a balanced peanut butter and chocolate cookie that is neither overwhelmingly chocolatey nor overwhelmingly nutty, the Peanut Butter Patties are for you. “They’re like a Reese’s peanut butter cup with a shortbread cookie in the middle,” says Tara Claesgens, a New York City office manager and an evaluator. Brian appreciated the tempered sweetness made possible by the peanut butter. “The peanut butter is not too sweet, so sweetness doesn’t overwhelm the taste of the cookie and chocolate,” he says. 

Should you freeze these? They make an already mild-tasting cookie more mild, so if that’s what you’re looking for, go forth. Some evaluators thought the texture was improved when frozen, however: Tara prefers them frozen, as the chocolate and peanut butter become more creamy as they melt together in your mouth. Diane thought they were too soft on top whether frozen or room temperature. “The insides are marginally harder but basically the same,” she says. 

Packaging description: “Savory slices of shortbread with a refreshingly tangy lemon flavored icing.” 

These aren’t the group favorite, but they are my favorite. For lemon devotees, they’re perfect: a crisp, not-too-sweet shortbread with a lemony sweet icing on top. For our non-lemon-worshiping evaluators, these cookies fell to the middle of the pack—nobody’s favorite, but certainly not despised. “It doesn’t really have a refreshing tang,” says Diane’s son, Kyle.

Althea felt more positively, saying that “its sweetness and slight saltiness of the cookie evened each other out,” although “I expected it to be more savory after reading the box, but only tasted a tiny hint of salt,” she says. Perhaps a pinch or two more salt and a pinch or two less sugar would have made these cookies more of a crowd-pleaser, but as it stands, I’m the only one inclined to write a love song dedicated to them.

Like the Toast-Yays, these cookies are big and amenable to sharing; they’re a bit less sweet than the aforementioned cookie, but clearly still on the sweeter side, so give yourself some time between cookie one and cookie two to avoid any sweetness overload. Alternative: Freeze them. These cookies taste like they’re meant to be frozen. “Lemon cookies were more soft when not frozen, so freezing made them a little crispier,” Kyle says. “And the little bit of zesty lemon flavor is more there, so the flavor feels more right.” Personally, I wish I could get these in summer, when I would serve them alongside a glass of white wine or lemony iced tea for a bracing late-afternoon snack.

Packaging description: “Iconic shortbread cookies inspired by the original Girl Scout recipe.” 

For a Girl Scout Cookie, these are about as plain as it gets. They’re basically vanilla wafers, and whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on your perspective. They’re a bit crumbly, they’re lightly sweet, and they have a strong vanilla flavor despite the fact that, as Althea says, vanilla is not listed in the ingredients. To be fair, Trefoils don’t advertise themselves as vanilla cookies, but they taste so much like vanilla cookies that you’d be forgiven for thinking they were. 

Are these going to excite anyone? Send them skyrocketing into hedonic bliss? Provoke religious revelations? Probably not. Diane’s husband, Mick, called them “fine.” But they’re solid. Dependable. Depending on whom you ask, iconic. And because they’re small and relatively light in sweetness and butteriness, you can indulge without prompting nausea. Don’t bother freezing them; it adds nothing to the texture or flavor of these cookies. They just taste like cold Trefoils, nothing more.

Packaging description: “Crisp and crunchy oatmeal cookies with creamy peanut butter filling.”

These would be better if they didn’t taste like they’d been left out for a few hours too long on the kitchen counter. Tara found them too crumbly, and I thought they were too dry to enjoy—a bit like the last bit of all-natural peanut butter left at the bottom of the jar.

But they’re not terrible otherwise. “They’re not so sweet—this has a homemade taste,” Mick says, while Kyle says “the only real flavor is from the peanut butter, so it tastes like peanut butter.” These are fully cookies that deserve to be dipped in milk—the dryness is ideal for soaking up some creamy milk, although because these cookies are crumbly, you might end up with crumbs in your cup.

There’s no point in freezing them; they stay the same, except they become harder. “Consuming this frozen didn’t really enhance the cookie in any discernible way,” Brian says. If anything, they could stand to be warmed, so consider dipping them in your latte, instead. 

Packaging description: “Thin, crispy cookies infused with raspberry flavor, dipped in chocolatey coating.”

The Girl Scouts’ newest cookie is a raspberry-flavored, online-only mystery. From the outside, it closely resembles a Thin Mint, but bite into it and you’re greeted with its vivid pink insides. Eating it is confusing; my mouth expects crispy mint, but instead I’m greeted with what is more accurately described as magenta flavor than raspberry flavor. While your curiosity at this new, online-only Girl Scout Cookie is understandable, we’re here to tell you that there’s truly no need to try to buy these for an inflated price on eBay. They’re not worth it.

“It’s sweet but fake-tasting,” Althea says. “The raspberry flavor is reminiscent of the raspberry cream-filled truffle in a box of mixed chocolate truffles, which I leave in the box for last—and not because I’m saving the best for last.” Diane’s husband, Mick, agrees: “It’s a little weird tasting and artificial and too sweet.” Freezing it may be helpful; Brian says it’s less sweet when frozen, though other evaluators say that the artificial taste remains. 

We can’t say this is worth waiting a week or two for after placing an online order—unless, perhaps, you really love a raspberry-flavored Harry & David truffle. 

Packaging description: “Caramel, semisweet chocolate chips, and a hint of sea salt in a delicious cookie.”

Once again, I’m struck wondering if the copywriter hated this cookie—the use of the word “delicious” is so uninspired that it feels, at best, lazy and, at worst, complete misdirection. But perhaps it’s unfair to hold a gluten-free cookie to the same standards as a gluten-full cookie; the technology isn’t quite there, so often gluten-free versions of foods typically made with wheat are texturally lacking.

That’s the case here, though it isn’t the cookie’s only deficit. “We did not find it delicious, contrary to the box description,” Diane says. “It tastes stale, and it’s crumbly—but not in a good way.” It also lacks the caramel bits that are portrayed in the photo. The caramel flavor is mostly found in the cookie’s aroma and fades quickly once you bite into it. 

It’s not like these are disgusting. Rather, they have a stale texture—kind of spongy—and aren’t caramel-y enough. To their credit, freezing improves them. “You feel like you’re biting into a cookie instead of a crumbly mush,” Kyle says. Gift these to your gluten-free friend who’s desperate for a cookie—and be sure to mention that they simply must be frozen before they’re eaten. 

This product evaluation is part of Consumer Reports’ Outside the Labs reviews program, which is separate from our laboratory testing and ratings. Our Outside the Labs reviews are performed at home and in other native settings by individuals, including our journalists, with specialized subject matter experience or familiarity and are designed to offer another important perspective for consumers as they shop. While the products or services mentioned in this article might not currently be in CR’s ratings, they could eventually be tested in our laboratories and rated according to an objective, scientific protocol.

Like all CR evaluations of products and services, our Outside the Labs reviews are independent and free from advertising. If you’d like to learn more about the criteria for our lab testing, please go to CR’s Research & Testing page.