It’s currently Girl Scout cookie season where I live. Kids are hitting the neighborhood streets to ring doorbells, and they’ll soon be setting up booths outside shops and restaurants to sell their sugary treats. It’s a win-win because I can satisfy my sweet tooth while also helping to support scouting activities. But cookie season doesn’t last forever, and sometimes the cravings strike when there are no Girl Scout cookies to be found. That’s where Aldi comes in.
Aldi sells several kinds of knockoff Girl Scout cookies all year, so you can buy them even when it isn’t cookie season. My favorites are the peanut butter fudge cookies, which are dead ringers for Girl Scout Tagalongs. Aldi also sells some caramel coconut fudge cookies that are perfect imitations of Girl Scout Samoas or Caramel deLites.
Aldi also used to sell some knockoff Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies, but they suddenly stopped carrying those a few years ago. If you need a Thin Mint fix, you can find good generic versions at both Dollar General and Dollar Tree. Last year, Aldi also briefly sold some striped fudge mint cookies that tasted a lot like Thin Mints, even if they didn’t look like them, but those are currently not in stock at Aldi.
With that said, today I’m looking at the Aldi caramel coconut fudge cookies. Otherwise known as knockoff Samoas or Caramel deLites.
Benton’s Caramel Coconut Fudge Cookies cost $1.39 for an 8.5-ounce package at the time of publication. That’s a lot less than official Girl Scout cookies, which run $5 to $6 per box. Just keep in mind that you aren’t supporting Girl Scouts if you buy the Aldi cookies. (If you personally know some scouts, you can make a donation directly to a troop to make your dollars go even farther.)
These Aldi cookies are a Regular Buy or core range product, which means Aldi should stock them all year.
These are kosher and are made with real cocoa. They contain bioengineered food ingredients.
If you’re watching out for allergens, these contain wheat, milk, soy, and coconut. They may also contain peanuts.
Benton’s Caramel Coconut Fudge Cookies nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
There are about nine servings per package, and a two-cookie serving has 130 calories, 6 grams of total fat (8% DV), 5 grams of saturated fat (25% DV), 55 mg of sodium (2% DV), 18 grams of total carbohydrates (7% DV), and 11 grams of added sugars (22% DV).
These cookies taste and look just like the real thing. They have a buttery inner cookie topped with gooey caramel, chewy coconut, and just the right amount of chocolate. I’ve eaten a ton of Girl Scout cookies in my lifetime — and I’ve even sold them as a Girl Scout myself and later as a co-leader with my daughter’s troop — and I don’t think anyone would be able to tell the difference between the Aldi cookies and real Samoas in a blind taste test. They are indulgent and great for satisfying any sweet tooth.
The Verdict:
Benton’s Caramel Coconut Fudge Cookies are practically identical to Girl Scout Samoas or Caramel deLites cookies. They have lots of chewy caramel and coconut, perfectly complemented by fudge stripes. If you’re craving Girl Scout cookies but it isn’t cookie season, these are a good alternative.
I absolutely love these Caramel Coconut cookies.
And while I think Aldi’s version is better, Keebler’s Grasshopper cookies are a close second substitute for Thin Mints.
I’m 37 about to be 38 now but I remember when they had these kind of cookies all the way when I was a child and they sold them at a store way before girl scouts did them or maybe they did do them I just don’t remember it but I remember these being some kind of thing in the store and I thought they were called macaroos but I guess not