Cookie Emergency: Girl Scouts Recall Lemon Chalet Crèmes

Responding to customers reporting an odd taste and smell to some boxes of Lemon Chalet Crèmes, Little Brownie Bakers has ordered a recall of a number of batches of the Girl Scout cookies.

To which we responded: NOT THE LEMON ONES.

From the Little Brownie press release:

We determined that while the cookies are safe for consumers to eat, they are not up to our quality standards. Certain lots of Lemon Chalet Crème cookies contain oils that may be breaking down which can result in an off taste and smell.

Girl Scout cookies are manufactured by two different licensed bakeries, and each regional Girl Scout council decides which to use, determining cookie availability for that area.  TRANSLATION: This might not even affect you.  Depending on where you live, Lemon Chalet Crèmes might not even be available.  Little Brownie has a list of lot codes for Girl Scout troops, to be used to identify the off cookie batches.  If you’ve already bought boxes of Chalet Crèmes, they won’t make you sick.  If they taste weird, just don’t eat ’em.  If your local Girl Scouts get their cookies from ABC Bakers rather than Little Brownie Bakers, Chalet Crèmes won’t be available to you.

There are only three types of cookie that are always offered by Girl Scouts everywhere: Thin Mints (which account for 25% of total cookie sales), Peanut Butter Sandwiches/Do-Si-Dos, and Shortbreads/Trefoils.  The rest are subject to yearly variability, though, due to their popularity, Caramel DeLites/Samoas and Peanut Butter Patties/Tagalongs are usually available. According to Wikipedia, these five cookies account for more than 75% of all Girl Scout sales.

Lemon Chalet Crèmes are one of the more variable types.  They were also this writer’s favorite because, brace yourselves, I’ve never liked chocolate.  If they don’t look familiar, it might be because their design has changed over time. When I was a kid they were rectangular, with the eponymous Chalet on one side, yellow icing peeking through its windows.

I say they were my favorite because last year I discovered the even less well known Lemonades.  Hopefully those will be available this year as well, so us lemon lovers can get our cookie fix.