If you are anything like me, you have now eaten enough Thin Mints, Lemonades, and Shortbread cookies (sorry, but they will always be Trefoils) to last you until the next century. I make it my policy not to turn down a Girl Scout at my front door. Having once donned the uniform—yes, the whole thing complete with tie, sash,and beanie—I’m a sucker for a Brownie. The memory of the dreaded uniform is reason enough to buy.
It was bad enough when it was just the neighborhood kids, and I could get by with a box or two from each. But now that my daughter is a Daisy (she only needs to wear a vest which, incidentally, she loves) my stock has grown to vast proportions. I am currently faced with a real challenge—what to do with all of the cookies—and I’ve become inspired.
After starting with the obvious, turning them into mini ice cream sandwiches, I incorporated them into ice cream itself. Vanilla Lemonade and Shout Out Vanilla are topping the list, just behind Thin Mints and Cream. Another take on the sandwich idea is to use the Shortbread cookies as the base of a sandwich, filling it with lemon curd or raspberry jam.
The cookies can also be used as the crust of many cheesecake or mini cheesecake recipes. Use Thin Mints in place of Oreos or substitute Shout Outs where the recipe calls for graham crackers or ginger snaps.
My personal favorite, though, is a stroke of pure genius from my friend Julie. Despite our intentions of creating a Girl Scout Cookie Pate, we baked it only to find that it was a perfect Crumble base. The recipe follows, but feel free to substitute the fruit of your choice instead of the blueberries.
I think you’ll agree that we deserve a badge for this one.
Girl Scout Cookie Crumble
2 1/2 cups blueberries, rinsed and lightly dried (about 12 ounces if using frozen blueberries)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
Topping Mixture:
1/2 sleeve Lemonade cookies
1/2 sleeve Shortbread cookies
5 tablespoons of room temperature unsalted butter, cubed
Vanilla Ice Cream
Whipped Cream if desired
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Using a food processor, pulse the Lemonade and Shortbread cookies until crushed to a medium fine consistency. Remove from processor and mix in the butter using your hands until crumbly.
Toss blueberries, cornstarch, and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl. Mix in half of the cookie mixture.
Place in a baking dish (6x10 or 8x8 works well) and top with remaining cookie mixture. Bake for about 30 minutes—mixture should be bubbly and and the top of the mixture should be browned.
Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes and serve over ice cream. Top with whipped cream if desired.
