The Original Girl Scout Cookies

The original Girl Scout sugar cookies, some round, some cut with my 1950s Girl Scout cookie cutter (post-baking)

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City/Region: United States of America

Time Period: 1922

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During the early years of Girl Scout cookies, the girls would bake the cookies themselves. This recipe, from The American Girl, the magazine published by the Girl Scouts, is from the first year of the official cookie sales in 1922. The scouts would continue to bake the cookies they sold for 12 more years until the task was turned over to commercial bakeries in 1934.

These are fairly standard sugar cookies, but they are delicious. They bake up nice and crispy, and the sugar sprinkled on top is a lovely touch. I could easily see myself eating dozens of them without even noticing.

“ATTENTION SCOUTS! FORWARD MARCH! BAKE! SELL!
This is your chance to show how much Scouting means to you.
GIRL SCOUT COOKIES
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.”

— The American Girl magazine, 1922

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup (227 g) butter or substitute, softened
• 1 cup (200 g) sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups (250 g) flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt*

*This is not in the original recipe because they would’ve been using salted butter. If you’re also using salted butter, omit the 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.
3. Beat the eggs well, then beat them into the butter and sugar until combined.
4. Beat in the milk and vanilla until combined.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt if you’re using it.
6. Add about half of the dry ingredients to the wet and mix by hand just until the flour is incorporated, then add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until combined.
7. Here’s where things get a little tricky. The historical recipe says to roll the dough out thin, but my dough was way too soft and sticky to roll out. I chilled it, and even then, I had to roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper with extra flour. I ended up rolling the dough into balls and leaving a few inches in between them on the baking sheet. If you want to make six dozen cookies as stated in the historical recipe, each dough ball will be about 9 grams (fairly small cookies). The size, shape, and cookie-forming method is up to you. A further note: the cookies I did manage to cut out with my 1950s Girl Scout cookie cutter lost all their shape in the oven.
8. Bake the cookies for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until they begin to brown around the edges. Take them out and immediately sprinkle them with sugar while they’re still hot.
9. Let them cool, then serve them forth.

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