It’s a Saturday spring morning when you open your door and see a little girl in a sash covered with multicolored badges staring back at you. She grasps her clipboard and squeals, “Girl Scout cookies!” 

For millions, the season of spring means the pantry is stock piled with the classics: Samoas, Thin Mints and maybe even the new releases, if you’re feeling adventurous. Regardless of all the other Girl Scout cookies, including the newest addition, Adventurefuls, Samoas stay on top. 

The Girl Scouts now have 12 cookie options: Adventurefuls, Thin Mints, Caramel Chocolate Chip, Caramel deLites/Samoas, Do-si-dos/Peanut Butter Sandwich, Girl Scout S’mores, Lemonades, Lemon-Ups, Peanut Butter Patties/Tagalongs, Shortbread/Trefoils, Toffee-tastic and Toast-Yay! Only seven, however, are commercially being sold. 

 At the bottom of the pyramid, Thin Mints. A controversial choice, I’m aware. Thin Mints are a chocolate cookie covered in more chocolate. They earned a rating of two out of 10. The crunch when one bites into the cookie resembles the sound of stepping on snow, it makes my ears cringe in horror. The cookie itself is brittle and flavorless. I have frozen them, as per popular recommendation, but my opinion stands. 

Next on the pyramid is Lemon Ups. The snack is a lemon cookie with a glaze on the bottom and inspiring messages on the top. Now, room temperature they’re not even worth wasting the word count, but cold, they earn a four out of 10. When they are chilled, the glaze becomes flakey, and when bitten into, the glaze melts in your mouth. There is a strong lemon flavor and crunch which is also enjoyable. The glaze complements the lemon and overall it’s not a bad cookie but not a good one either. 

Next is the Do-si-dos/Peanut Butter Sandwich. I have personally never heard of these but I ordered them for the sake of informing the masses. They are an oatmeal cookie sandwich with peanut butter inside. It contains a nice cookie to peanut butter ratio, which is impressive as other cookies failed in this area. These cookies are sweet, a little too sweet — however, I give this underrated cookie a five out of 10. 

The cookie fourth on the pyramid earned this place because of its flavor when warmed. Adventurefuls are a brownie cookie with a caramel creme dollop on top and drizzled with chocolate. The crisp brownie part, strangely, did not taste like brownie. I wanted the caramel to have a pull when you bite into it, and I was left heavily disappointed. I decided to heat the cookie up in the toaster oven for a couple of minutes. This warmed the caramel right up, and it became runny. However, the brownie became burnt and the chocolate on the bottom melted. A disappointing cookie, however when warmed up, satisfying nonetheless. Overall, three out of 10 room temperature, seven out of 10 warmed up. 

Next on the pyramid is Trefoils/Shortbread. These cookies, in my opinion, receive way too much hate. They are solid cookies and pair well with tea and coffee. They have the perfect amount of sweetness. Trefoils are elegant. They are classic. In general, Trefoils are just a well rounded cookie, so they receive an 8.5 out of 10. 

Tagalongs earn second place. The concept in itself is solid — a crispy cookie with peanut butter on top and covered with a chocolate coating. The execution is where the cookie loses 1.3 points, earning it a 8.7 out of 10. These cookies are true to their description and all the flavors pair well together; however, the deduction is because of the cookie to toppings ratio. The cookie takes up too much of the snack and while that gives you a nice crunch, the biscuit itself does not really taste like anything. 

Samoas. Oh Samoas. You own my heart. Samoas are a crisp cookie with caramel, coconut and chocolate stripes. I order four boxes every year. It has the perfect cookie-chocolate-caramel ratio with a nice caramel pull. The coconut pairs well with the chocolate and caramel and the biscuit is perfectly soft and crunchy. Samoas have always been the it-cookie. However, they are a tad too sweet, especially after eating one or two. But regardless, I am happy to present, at the top of the pyramid with a 9.5 out of 10, first place, Samoas. Let your reign be long and your flavor be strong, long live Samoas.