Photo by Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar.

It is that time of year again, when you’ve already finished eating all of those Girl Scouts cookies.   The boxes upon boxes of cookies that were supposed to last the entire year are now gone.  But waiting a whole year for the next batch of cookies sounds impossible. It may help with that diet plan, but not with those cravings for cookies one can only drool over online.

So the next best option is to break out some dollar bills and try a few Girl Scouts cookie knock-offs. Over the last few weeks, my personal supply of Girl Scouts cookies has shrunk to one box, a single box of Thin Mints.  Thus, within a couple of journeys to the local grocery store, I picked up a few different brands of mint and chocolate cookies.

For only $3.59, I purchased a box of Keebler Grasshopper Mint & Fudge Cookies.  Each box of Thin Mints costs $4.00.  Compared to Thin Mints, this package contains 283 grams of cookies, while Thin Mints only have 255 grams of cookies for a higher price.  

Upon opening the package, the unmistakable aroma of mint filled the air.  Each Keebler cookie is a bit smaller than the original Thin Mints cookie, and it has a scalloped edge instead of the original smooth edge.  However, this cookie is much fudgier than the original Thin Mints and has a slightly more pronounced mint flavor.

Keebler is actually one of the companies the Girl Scouts employ to help mass produce Girl Scouts cookies.  Therefore, the overall flavor of the Keebler cookie is very similar to the original Girl Scouts cookie.  However, since Girl Scouts cookies go through transport and are made to last, they end up tasting a bit stale and dry, while the fudgier texture of the Keebler cookies tastes more appealing and rich.

Then, I purchased a box of Oreo Mint Creme cookies for an inexpensive $2.98.  Now, this box contains 432 grams of cookies, almost double that of the original Girl Scouts Thin Mints.  

The cookies are still the original Oreo design, with a mint creme filling sandwiched between two chocolate cookies.  Unfortunately, the cookie is not covered with chocolate, unlike the original and Keebler versions.

Each cookie is approximately the same diameter as the original Girl Scouts cookies, but are much thicker, due to the creme filling.  Upon the first bite, it tastes like a normal Oreo cookie, just with a hint of mint in the filling. Instead of the normal creme, this filling has been colored green and infused with a minimal amount of mint flavoring.  

The Oreo version is not as similar to the original Girl Scouts cookies as the Keebler version, but still has that mint chocolate taste.  Fortunately for those wallets, both knockoff versions are more affordable than the Girl Scouts cookies and can be found at a local grocery store or supermarket.  

The Girl Scouts cookies are still a classic, serve a special cause and must not be forgotten.  But if sometime in the middle of the year, a craving for Thin Mints appears out of nowhere, there are definitely affordable replacements to satisfy those desires.