Hey, guys. Hiya. Hey. We’re back. Sort of. We’re summering. But we had a moment. Yeah, we’re just dropping a little. A little nugget of an episode. A cookie crumble, if you will. Of course, to get you through to Labor Day. Everyone’s been having a great summer, though, right? Yeah, yeah. Lots of pools this summer. For me, it’s been my summer of pools. That’s what I would like to say. We’ve hardly seen each other because everyone’s just been on a different vacation schedule. Yeah, I know, we literally once one of us comes back, the other one leaves. Yeah. This is a very brief, uh, I would say this is a very brief intermission. I’m about to leave on my vacation, and while I’m leaving on my vacation, Colleen’s going to be leaving. And this is the first time we’ve all been together since Megan went on her two week excursion. Yeah. So. So here we are. So no drink check. This is a quick one, but we have been waiting to come to you all with the viral conspiracy about Dollar Tree and Girl Scout cookies. Yeah. And I’ve got a lot to say. Okay. Colleen is passionate about this topic. Colleen. Really? She’s been passionate about the fact that her Girl Scout cookies don’t match the Girl Scout cookies down here. Yeah. And I said, you better fact check the boy record. And she did. So we’ll get to that. We will get to that. So, guys, what if I told you that those mint cookies sitting on the shelf at Dollar Tree are actually Girl Scout cookies in disguise? Internet detectives have been making these claims for years, pointing to identical factories, matching ingredients, lists, and even the same parent company. So are you paying six dollars for branding or is there more to the story? There’s a lot more to the story. I am a I am a previous Girl Scout. Were you a Girl Scout? I was a Girl Scout in elementary school. Yeah, my daughter’s Girl Scout. Shout out Katie. She’s our cookie mom. She’s really good at it and I never want that responsibility. Shout out to Bridget and Rachel, some other cookie moms in my life. My mother, Christine, was my troop leader and cookie cookie lead. Oh, okay. So thanks, Christine. Christine, I have to really reach out to multiple cookie moms to make this taste test happen. I reached out to Kate. I reached out to my sister in law, Bridget, and I reached out to Rachel and between them we were able to compile quite a quite a taste test here. But also we don’t have an accessible dollar tree, so you had to wait till you got to that too, right? Yeah, I went to I went to Dollar Tree that I drove by Dollar Tree about an hour and a half away from home. And I was like, oh, I gotta get in there. Yeah. So remember, again, the conspiracy goes that that we pay. What is the going rate, Kate? Six dollars for a Girl Scout cookie box now. Yes. I think I thought it was five five something. I think it’s six. Oh. I used to be four when I was growing up. Inflation. You know, Dollar Tree sells mint cookies and peanut butter cookies for a dollar and twenty five. They taste incredibly similar. And they supposedly come from the exact same factory. Give us the facts. All right. Let me give you let me give you some Girl Scout background. Okay. There are two different parent companies that produce Girl Scout cookies, and they’re territorial and spread across America. So it is region specific. What cookie you’re purchasing. And that is why there are different names for Girl Scout cookies. So I’m a New England girl at heart. And, um, I was in the Boston area growing up as a Girl Scout and what I called peanut butter patties. You lot down here in the south called Tagalogs. Okay. I thought peanut butter patties were dosi dose. No. They are, they are this cookie. Yeah, that’s a peanut butter patty. Chocolate covered peanut butter cookie. Okay. Yep. Um, and then caramel delight is what you call it. Samoas. Yep. And so there’s two parent companies. There’s little brownie bakers and there’s a, B, C bakers and they’re sporadic. It depends on which territory you’re in, what you’re going to get. So in front of us today we have little brownie bakers. Okay. Now from what I understand is that Dollar Tree is owned by ABC bakers. So my prediction for our taste test is that they will taste different because we don’t have a B, C Girl Scout cookies in front of us. We’ve got little brownie bakers. Okay, but then who owns Interbake Foods? ABC bakers? My hypothesis is that Colleen remembers things with rose colored glasses. I sent you all the evidence, and they’re all going to taste the same. Yeah, that’s my hypothesis. No, I’ll tell you what. Every time I buy Girl Scout cookies down here. I’m always disappointed that Thin Mints are a different texture. The tagalogs are a different texture, I think. Little Brownie Bakers has poor quality chocolate. I’m going to talk smack. I’m an a, b, c baker girl. All right. I just want to say I love to rage bait. She likes to poke the bunny. The problem is I need to get we need to do this again with a, b, C Baker cookies. But we’re still going to do today’s test because because it took because Megan accumulated all of these. And of course, Colleen was like, mm, not good enough. Why didn’t you go up to New England and the. Okay, so here is where we’re going to start real quickly before we get into our taste test. So I’m looking at the thin mint box here, which says it is manufactured by Little Brownie Bakers. Yep. And next to it I have the oven baked fudge mint mint cookies, which is manufactured by Interbake. And this comes from Dollar Tree. And Interbake owns a b c Baker. Yes, ABC bakers is part of the Interbake Foods family. So the ingredients say enriched flour, sugar, vegetable oil shortening, high fructose corn syrup, cocoa, cornstarch, salt, leavening, soy lecithin, peppermint oil, and artificial flavor. And guys, that ingredient list that I just read is the exact same on both boxes on both the Thin Mints and the fudge mint cookies. Reporting live here from Northern Virginia. Now we are going to do a blind taste test. So when the cookies are handed to us, we will truly have no idea what’s being put in put into our system, but based on visual inspection of the box, they look like different cookies. Dollar tree does have that traditional thin and like thinner. Um, probably I’m going to predict a little bit more crispy, which is what I want out of a thin mint versus little baker. Little little brownie bakers trash, which looks thick, not crispy. And I just know I’m not gonna like that one. Now, I would say that the manufacturers claim that just because these are manufactured at the same factory does not mean they are identical, because that it might be in different recipes, same same equipment. But I just read you that recipe list, guys. Same match, same serving size too. So yeah. Oh no no hold on. Wait. Little brownie bakers, ten more calories. You know what I’m gonna predict? Actually, because we haven’t opened these boxes. I’m going to predict that the packaging is a little bit different because the Girl Scout cookies I get from Megan’s niece, I think the Thin Mints come in a tray, The Girl Scout cookies. They come in a. Thin mints come in a in a roll. Now Samoas and Tagalongs come in a tray. Okay. All right. Never mind then. All right. So these girls are going to put their eye protection on and we’re going to do a blind taste test. I’m trying to find the mic with my mouth. That sounds like see through plastic to me. Well, they’re both in see through plastic. Oh. See, the ones I grew up in are in tin foil plastic. And these are both in cardboard boxes with a plastic tube. But this one, the exact same number of cookies. Okay, one see through. Yeah, they’re both see through. Okay. Oh, this is little Brownie Baker. No this is oh, wait, no, you’re right. This is this is a Girl Scout cookie. I’m not going to comment until I have another cookie. This is good. Oh, no, no, this one. The second cookie. This is New England. This is a b, c right here. That’s Dollar Tree. This second one. Are you on the second one? Yeah. Yes, that is Dollar Tree. But that is that you can tell by the feel that is an A, b, C Baker know the cookie from Dollar Tree is crispier. It’s less air filled. Yeah, it’s denser, but I like that. And the chocolate melts a little quicker. I think that the texture is different, but they taste the same. Mhm. I like this stuff. This is like. I think you guys should take your mask off. Mhm. Were we right? You were right. The first one. Not predicting a vanilla. Me neither. Was not predicting that. Here’s what I think. So this this tube here is the Girl Scout cookies. It is rounder. It is darker. The Dollar Tree have more of, like a groove. Like a scalloped edge. Yep. That’s how I knew what it was. Because of the feel of it. It had like divots in it and it looked thinner. Layer of chocolate on it. And it looks like a lighter chocolate. Yeah. But you just pointed out the so the Dollar Tree is white inside. That’s interesting. So you guys noticed a taste different. No, I think the chocolate ratio’s a little bit different. And the texture is a little bit different, but taste is equal. Taste is equal. Texture is different. Okay, so you didn’t did you have a favorite? I think I preferred the Dollar Tree. Yeah. I think Dollar Tree. Did the Dollar Tree feel like your childhood cookie? Mhm. The Dollar Tree is has more of a crisp. And I, I agree with Colleen. The Girl Scout cookie is like airy. Mhm. Like when you bite into it, it’s like it. Remember? You know how I always say Thin Mints are eating air? Mhm. That’s exactly how it feels. Mhm. Yeah. Girl scout. Yeah. Dollar tree. So. So Dollar tree is preferred based on texture and, and ratio. But you feel that they don’t taste that dissimilar. Yeah. I am surprised by the vanilla cookie or it’s not vanilla, but it’s, it’s a pale artificially colored brown with the dollar tree one because I don’t remember that growing up. Well, I think what you could say is just on physical appearance alone, this is not the same cookie. They did not just Reebok’s the same cookie because they clearly look different once you take them out of their packaging. Again, I think our takeaway from the first round could be that yes, while these. While the ingredient lists are the same, they probably have maybe different ingredient proportions. And we definitely have a different cookie texture. And would you argue one had a less intense mint flavor? Yes. Okay, so now we’re going to move on to the Tagalong. And for those not from here, for the D.C. area, these are peanut butter patties that were trying peanut butter patties. Tagalongs peanut butter patties. As someone from North Carolina, it’s a tagalong peanut butter patty over Thin Mints. I prefer a Tagalong because I prefer. I always love chocolate peanut butter. It’s like my favorite flavor combo. Mhm. These are my two favorite ones. I actually don’t like the caramel delites at all. Oh, the Samoas. Yeah. Say it. What? People know Colleen. My people, my people know. Okay, but are the majority of the world from Boston? Yes. No. Yes. Everybody knows somebody wants a masshole. Always. All right, girls, here we go. Kidding. I love my Bostonian. Hands out! Please! Okay. Okay. This is thick. Oh, immediately. What I am noticing with this cookie is I can tell the sphere of peanut butter is not centered. So the. You got to look where you’re gonna bite. Mhm. I think that’s a Girl Scout cookie. Okay. Outside. So it’s getting a little melty here, but this feels evenly dispersed. Peanut butter a lot better dispersing of peanut butter. That’s a peanut butter patty. This is Dollar Tree. That’s dollar tree. This is. I don’t like it. I prefer the Girl Scout. I think I do the first one. You guys guessed wrong. Really? Yes. This is a Girl Scout cookie. The first cookie you have sucks. The first cookie you had was the Dollar Tree. That was way better. Yeah, it was way better. Second cookie you had was the Girl Scout cookie. Yeah. The girl, the dog. Now way better. Dollar tree is way better. Now, when you look at Dollar Tree, it looks a little fuller. Yeah, there’s thicker peanut butter. And interestingly, it’s the opposite now because the Dollar Tree is chocolate inside and the Girl Scout is white inside, which is the opposite of the Dollar Tree is really good. But you guys would argue these taste these didn’t taste the same. No. Yeah. Okay. So debunking the theory is different. It’s it’s a different ratio. Mhm. And the cookie is different. The cookie of the dollar tree is like more crisp. Yeah. All right. And the peanut butter is better. Okay. So debunked. I agree peanut butter is better debunked. These are not the same one. So maybe next year spend a dollar twenty five on the dollar tree and then just make a donation of five dollars to the Girl Scouts. Oh, I never even thought to donate. I’m surprised. Yeah, that’s really good. Do we want to wrap up and see if the Keebler. Are we cookies out? I’ll eat a Keebler. I would like to try Keebler. Compared to Dollar Tree, my master’s going on. Kate started it like a wine tasting. Like she took a little nibble and then set it aside like she wasn’t going to finish. I have finished every cookie. I’m not going to. I did finish the I told you tagalongs the peanut butter chocolate. Oh. We used to have to hide the peanut butter patties from each other at my household. Oh, these two are very similar. Dollar tree. Oh, that I just put down. Hold on. This is the I think. Yeah. Dollar tree is in the middle. Okay. So I think this is. No, I think this one’s Keebler. Oh. Oh it’s peppermint. Yeah. That’s a different mint. That’s. Oh, no, I don’t hate that one. Yeah. Whatever the you just gave us the first one. Terrible. I don’t know what kind of mints in that car. This is peppermint. It’s overpowering. It’s a different mint. Mhm. It’s like wintergreen or peppermint, I don’t know. I don’t know. I can’t tell if the mint, like peppermint also is the mint in the chocolate or in the cookie? I don’t know, but it’s overpowering. It’s. It takes over. It tastes like toothpaste. Keebler was the first one you had that didn’t like. Yeah. The chocolate. Doesn’t even taste like chocolate. Guys. So take away here. Don’t buy those cookies from those girls dollar tree across the board, guys. So yeah, they’re good. They’re Dollar Tree cookie has a little salt to it. You know what I mean? Like they’ve got good like they got little umami in there. That’s interesting because I usually would say like, we shouldn’t be buying any food at Dollar Tree. It’s like, you know, buying food at home goods, food at home goods. Sometimes I buy food, food at TJ Maxx. I just feel like, how long has it been sitting out there? You know, I know, but sometimes you walk by and you’re like, those look good. Yeah. The only time I buy anything there is when I see like, like watermelon, tahini snacks or something. And I’m like, Colina, like those. Okay, I did like those. In summation, now debunked. These are not the same cookies. And we actually prefer Dollar Tree. So I would say the flavor profile is so similar for both cookies that if you weren’t tasting them side by side, then you could like be like, yeah, these are Girl Scout cookies. I think that that’s yeah, probably. But Keebler suck the Keebler suck. Also, I think those are bougie. Also thinking again. Just looking at them without a taste test, you could say this is not. These are not the same cookie. So okay, so guys buy from Dollar Tree for one dollar twenty five. And if you want to support the Girl Scouts, just give them a little donation, donate to your troop and maybe next Girl Scout season. We will do this again if Colleen can bring us some peppermint oil. What I say Keebler do has peppermint in it, but this has peppermint oil too. And Thin Mints oil of peppermint. I don’t know, it’s different mints, but yeah, I’m gonna get a hold of some ABC bakers and we’re gonna do another another round. All right. February’s cookie season. Normally, guys, just a reminder, don’t forget to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages at three Scream Queens. That’s the number three scream queens. All one word. We’re also on Reddit. Same username. If you want to check out our website, go to three scream queens dot com and you can find links to our social media accounts, our buzzsprout page, all of our episodes, additional content, and our contact page where you can engage with us and share any updates on the topics that we have discussed. Let us know how we’re doing and what you want to hear next. There are also opportunities to financially support us with links to buy us a cup of coffee and links to our merch store. As always, if you choose not to financially support us, we appreciate the follows the downloads and listens, the likes. And to end this episode, I’ve been dying to say this. Um, now that we’ve taste tested all our cookies, uh, we just want you to know that that’s how. That’s how the cookie crumbles. You know, that’s how the cookie crumbles. And we will see you after Labor Day. See you see you see you see you see you on a Tuesday, but not next Tuesday.