Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts of America. You’re 99 and still a young girl.
We’ve loved your cookies filled with coconut… chocolate… mint… looked forward to them each year when a little girl in a brown dress would show up at our door to sell your famous cookies.
The first year you never came around, your little girl grew up– or maybe moved out of town. I wondered if I had been gone from the house on that Saturday, then waited the following Saturdays… then the next year for her to show up… I missed the several boxes, and more, of Girl Scout Cookies I’d have to order out of tradition and the sheer joy of receiving those yummy cookies that are still so American –and always will be…
A tender age of a young tenderfoot, my mother recalls the sweetness of her days by a campfire roasting “dough boys” when the South was lush at a time of year, when all was green on the ground. If you’ve been in the South in spring and in summer, you’d know what I mean– It’s beautiful; spring, nice foliage; summer, ideal morning before the day gets hot. Spanish moss is hanging from the trees, kudzu vines grow wild and Wisteria bloom purple flowers, Azaleas in many colors are plump and pastel-colored with some that are brightly hued… everything is thick and lush-green, and the birds know it.
So I wanted to bake something that reminded me of the traditional cookies that only the Girl Scouts can sell, fond memories of those delightful, wholesome cookies. And I chose to bake these with my little girl, who can look at her grandmother’s photographs and marvel at how much she takes after her… And I get to see my mother through her face.
Chocolate-Mint Chip Pistachio Cookie ~
~ Skirt in the Kitchen ~
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter (1 1/4 cup), softened; also 1/4 cup soft shortening…
… Mix in 1 cup of packed dark brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar…
… along with 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.
Beat in 2 large eggs, one at a time…
… add vanilla extract.
… Next, a little at a time, mixing on low speed, add your flour–
2 1/2 cups.
Stir in 2 cups mixed chocolate chips and mint chips…
Finely chop Mexican-flavored pistachio nuts, measure 3/4 cups…
Toast 1/4 cup shredded coconut… and finish stirring into cookie batter with 1/4 untoasted shredded coconut.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, watching carefully not to over-bake quickly.
(my mother)
(my little girl’s antique “Suzi” paper doll)
Portrait of Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low ~ Founder of Girl Scouts of America–
History:
“During World War l and World War ll, girls involved in Scouts helped the Allied forces by selling defense bonds, growing victory gardens, and collecting waste fat and scrap iron. Girl Scouts also spread their values into their communities through community service projects such as soup kitchens and food drives.”
This Skirt in the Kitchen recipe & post is linked to:
Yum, what a fantastic combo of mix-ins for a cookie. I bet it was hard to eat only one of these. I have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog and I’d like to invite you to stop by and link your cookies up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/03/sweets-for-saturday-8.html