What's Wrong with the Girl Scout Shortbread Cookies?

Looks like I have made a huge economic mistake. I generally purchase several cases of girl scout shortbread cookies. This year, I scaled back to only one case. I am scheduled to get them this week. A friend, let me have a few cookies from her box, she let me open it, today. They tasted like garbage! Dry, and chalky no hint of any type of oil. I cannot believe my taste has changed that much since last year. I have been eating these cookies for over 20 years .

Any insights?

I read an article somewhere that discussed how, due to the economic downturn, some of the cookies were going to be smaller this year and some of the packages would also contain fewer cookies. The article didn't mention it but perhaps changes in the recipes were made as well.

Friggin' Girl Scouts!

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Here's the article, from the February 18 edition of the Sun-Times:

Thin mints slimming down a bit

Kara Spak at The Sun-Times wrote:That box of Thin Mints is looking a little thinner this year.

Same for the other Girl Scout cookies, too -- Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Trefoils and Do-Si-Dos. The $4 cost of a box of Girl Scout cookies hasn't changed from last year. There are just fewer cookies -- or smaller ones -- in the boxes.

The bad economy, it seems, has taken a bite out of Girl Scout cookies.

"We had a weight reduction on a few varieties of cookies," said Michelle Tompkins, spokeswoman for Girl Scouts of the USA.

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Back in the day, all the GS baking was done by one bakery, Burry's, which is long gone. For many years, the baking is done by two bakeries unaffiliated with each other, to the point that the selection of cookies isn't even uniform, due to trademark issues and such. Also, the GSofA changes the licensed bakeries from time to time, which doesn't helf the uniformity and quality control. The idea of them cutting corners on the primary national fund-raising mechanism is kind of shocking.

pairs4life, do you know which local council you get yours from? Your scout should be able to tell you. Call them, and find out the ID of the bakery if your cookies are not up to snuff. They should be aware that they are selling an unacceptable product, especially for the prices charged. The GSofA gets a great big cut of the take, and if word gets around and sales tank, the local troop won't get much of the funds that those girls are working for.

I absolutely loathe all Girl Scout cookies and have done so long before the economic downturn. To me, they all taste like cardboard, except for Samoas / Caramel Delites, which taste like the cardboard you pack tropical produce in, drizzled with bad chocolate. If you freeze Thin Mints, they become barely (barely) edible, preferably downed with Baileys.

To my palate, once the cookies ceased to be made by Burry's, the quality nose-dived. And the GSofA pushes the kids harder than ever to sell, sell, sell - they even have a merit badge as an 'incentive' to sell.

The Girl Scouts have gone to hell in a handbasket. And it's not even a well-made basket anymore!

Santander wrote:I absolutely loathe all Girl Scout cookies and have done so long before the economic downturn. To me, they all taste like cardboard, except for Samoas / Caramel Delites, which taste like the cardboard you pack tropical produce in, drizzled with bad chocolate. If you freeze Thin Mints, they become barely (barely) edible, preferably downed with Baileys.

Yeah, they're pretty awful but like my mother's cooking, they're tradition.

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