Girl Scout cookies turned 100 this year. (We know, they hardly look a day over 50!) And while the best way to celebrate is by placing an order with your local troop for a couple dozen boxes, the anniversary means we also learned some fascinating facts about the history of the cookies.
Fundraising with cookies started in 1917, but they weren't commercially produced until the 1930s. Before that, individual scouting troops baked up their own cookies and sold them door-to-door. In honor of a centennial of cookies for the greater good, the Girl Scouts have shared the first cookie recipe printed in The American Girl, the organization's official magazine.
The simple recipe made "six to seven dozen" cookies, and the article suggests scouts sell them for 24 to 35 cents a dozen. See the original recipe below — what a long, sweet trip it's been from these original sugar cookies all the way to the s'mores versions of today.
Girl Scout Cookies
Courtesy of Girl Scouts of the USA
Courtesy of Girl Scouts of the USA
Ingredients
1 cup of butter, or substitute
1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder Cream butter and sugar; add well-beaten eggs, then milk, flavoring, flour, and baking powder. Roll thin and bake in quick oven. (Sprinkle sugar on top.) This amount makes six to seven dozen.
1 cup of butter, or substitute
1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder Cream butter and sugar; add well-beaten eggs, then milk, flavoring, flour, and baking powder. Roll thin and bake in quick oven. (Sprinkle sugar on top.) This amount makes six to seven dozen.