Comparing Walmart And Aldi's Copycat Girl Scout Cookie Lineups

If you're looking for Girl Scout cookies, but they're out of season, check out Walmart and Aldi for imitations of the classic cookies. These grocery chains keep copycat cookies on their shelves because they know the non-profit organization for girls brings in a large amount of money with the yearly cookie fundraiser. Between January and April, the Girls Scouts sell about $800 million worth of cookies. That number is amazing considering most troops participate in cookie sales for about six weeks. Big business wanted a piece of that action.

There are advantages to appeasing your hankering for cookies by heading to the supermarket. You won't have to wait for cookie season or worry about shortages. Many of the knockoff cookies taste nearly identical to the original product. Finally, the prices in the grocery store are usually much cheaper. Girl Scouts sell their cookies for about $5 a box which is nearly double what most of the imitations cost. Don't let the higher price scare you away from supporting your local troop, though. According to the Girl Scouts of River Valley, about 75% of what you spend on cookies stays in your community. The same cannot be said of major grocery chains.

You can have the best of both worlds, though. Buy from Girl Scouts when they're selling and the rest of the year purchase cookies from the grocery store. So, it all comes down to which imitation cookies are the best tasting and closest to what your local troop sells.

Thin Mints are the Girl Scout's top-selling cookie. There's a good reason for that — the organization has been selling them since the '50s. They've had plenty of time to perfect the recipe. Since people love them so much, they're also one of the cookies other companies copy most often. Walmart's store brand, Great Value, offers packages of 40 fudge mint cookies for less than $2. Only 32 come in the original Girl Scouts' box and they cost more than double that price.

Instead of perfect circles like the original Thin Mint, these knock-offs come with delicate scalloped edges, perfect for a tea party. Their taste is indistinguishable from the original and they've got that perfect combination of crunch, chocolate, and mint.

So, you may try these and think they're cheaper, taste the same, and you can get them all year. You don't ever have to buy a box of Thin Mints again, and, yet, you hesitate. There is added value in supporting an organization that has been getting women and girls interested in community leadership and science for more than a hundred years. So, buy your copycat cookies from Walmart, but buy a few boxes from the Girl Scouts as well.

You're in the aisle of shame, browsing through great deals on stuff you don't need when a craving for some Thin Mints hits you. Pick up a package of Benton's mint-striped fudge cookies. These are not an exact copy of the top-selling Girl Scout Cookie, but they'll ease your need for mint and chocolate. Aldi sells them in packages of 28 for around $2.

These cookies are shaped more like Keebler's Grasshoppers than Thin Mints — a chocolate ring with scalloped edges. Instead of dipping them into a chocolate bath, though, Benton's has coated the bottom and striped the top with in light green mint frosting. These gorgeous cookies will add flare to any snack table — more than regular Thin Mints, but the flavor of these cookies is subdued. Their greater thickness means you taste more chocolate cookie and less mint coating. Grab one to nibble on and you'll need to eat it in about five bites instead of the two or three required for daintier thin mints.

The Girl Scouts sell gluten-free cookies, but these are restricted to two flavors: caramel chocolate chip or toffee. If you're gluten-free and were craving some Thin Mints, though, no green-vested helper could aid you. A new cookie company, Goodie Girl, has a solution, though — fudge-dipped mint cookies and you can pick up a box at Walmart in the gluten-free section. It'll cost around $5 and come with 24 units.

When you pop one of Goodie Girl's mint cookies in your mouth, you won't even notice that they're made with alternative flour. The flavor is just as it should be — all chocolate and mint. In fact, the company has taken these up a notch from traditional Thin Mints. The cookie is thinner, meaning you get a higher ratio of chocolate coating to cookie. The fudge bath uses slightly darker chocolate which is just that much more delicious.

Goodie Girl's mint cookies aren't the only thing from Girl Scouts that this company imitates. Did you notice the name? Goodie Girl's boxes also channel a Girl Scout vibe. Finally, Goodie Girl even sells another scout-inspired flavor: S'mores. You'll have to order those online, though, since Walmart doesn't stock them.

The Girl Scout's second biggest sellers are Caramel deLites or Samoas, but you can get the same dose of caramel, coconut, and chocolate by buying Great Value's knock-off caramel coconut and fudge cookies from Walmart. A package costs about $2.20 and has a cookie count of 15, –the same number as in an original box of Samoas, but at half the price.

Great Value has perfectly emulated the original cookie from the Girl Scouts. These have enough caramel mixed with coconut that there's no crunch, just chewy scrumptiousness. The chocolate dribbled over the top and coating the bottom goes perfectly with the other flavors. These treats are closer to being a candy bar than a cookie except that they're round.

In March 2023, Girl Scout troops across the country reported Samoa shortages — supply chain issues meant there weren't enough of the popular cookie to go around. If that happens again next spring, you'll know you can just head to Walmart for chocolatey, coconut, and caramel goodness.

If you love Samoas, but only shop at Aldi, no problem — you can get some fantastic copycat cookies there. Pick up a pack of 15 Benton's caramel coconut fudge cookies for about $2.60 and you won't be disappointed. Take a bite of one and you'll taste the same chewy caramel, coconut, and chocolate that made you fall in love with the original Samoas.

Not only are Benton's cookies very similar to the original Girl Scout cookies, but they are eerily identical to Great Value's. Hold one in each hand and you won't be able to tell which cookie came from which package. Compare the bottoms to see if they are the same size and there's not a millimeter of difference. They even have the same number of drizzled chocolate stripes across the top — five. The taste is identical and the ingredients list on each bag is suspiciously similar.

Tagalongs, aka Peanut Butter Patties, are the Girl Scout's third most successful cookie and you can find an acceptable substitute for them at Walmart. A package of Great Value's fudge-covered peanut butter-filled cookies includes 18 treats and costs about $1.80. That's a much better deal than 15 for around $5 from the Girl Scouts. Don't forget though: the money you pay for Girl Scout cookies goes to your local troop while what you spend at Walmart just goes into the megastore's coffers.

When you bite into one of these cookies, the first thing you notice is the sweet, melty chocolate. Then the peanut butter filling squishes out. The experience ends in a crunch when your teeth get to the cookie. That's just about the same as chowing down on some original Tagalongs, but you don't have to wait until cookie season in March. These are pretty good cookies, but having a thicker layer of peanut butter and a thinner cookie would make them mind-blowingly fantastic. Try topping them with an extra spoonful of spread if you want more peanut taste.

Head to Aldi if you've got Tagalongs stuck in your mind. Its store brand, Benton's, offers perfect copycats of the original Girl Scout cookie calling them, rather unpoetically, peanut butter-filled fudge cookies. If you've been wanting to eat a cookie that tastes like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, these will help you fulfill your dream and won't cost a hand and a leg — the price is around $1.70 for 18 cookies.

These Aldi cookies feel, taste, and look just like real Tagalongs as well as Great Value's copycat Tagalongs. The packages from the two grocery chains are the same size and even roughly the same orangish-brown color. The contents are identical. If the same cookie manufacturer didn't make the two packages, it would be surprising, but neither Benton's nor Great Value reveals who produces their cookies, so we'll all be left wondering where these cookies come from. 

If you're craving Do-si-dos, the Girl Scout's peanut butter sandwich cookie, buy Nature Valley's Peanut Butter Biscuits at Walmart. You can find them in the cereal aisle. Do-si-dos are one of the Girl Scout's oldest recipes — they came out in the 1960s and are two oatmeal cookies sandwiching a sweet peanutty filling. It may have been the first time anyone sold industrially baked peanut butter sandwich cookies.

Nature Valley's peanut butter sandwiches also come with peanut butter filling between two oatmeal cookies. While Do-si-dos are small circles, these biscuits are larger oval shapes. The best thing about them is the intense peanut butter taste you get with every bite — it's not overly sweet peanut butter-flavored frosting, but bonafide peanut butter, like eating a spoonful straight from the jar. The cookies have an oatmeal texture from beginning to end — if it weren't sacrilege, you might think Nature Valley's product was even superior to the original.

Ten Nature Valley cookies come individually wrapped in the box and cost around $6.80 — a little more expensive than a box of original Do-si-dos. While the extra packaging isn't great for the environment, it's nice for keeping the cookies fresh. It could also make you think twice before overindulging.

Nutter Butters came out a few years after the Girl Scouts started selling peanut butter sandwich cookies. Nutter Butters are not exact copies of Do-si-dos, but if you're in a fix and you need some peanut butter sandwich cookie action, they may ease your pain and you can buy them at Walmart. If you're having some trouble finding them, just look up — the superstore stocks them on the very highest shelf. You'll need to call a sales associate to get them down for you.

Instead of oatmeal cookies, Nutter Butters are peanut-shaped shortbread cookies. The filling is sweet peanut buttery frosting which may be a little too sugary for some tastes. They're perfect for dipping in black coffee. Of course, if Nutter Butters just aren't close enough to the original for your taste, try making Do-si-dos at home. 

A family-size package of Nutter Butters will cost you about the same as a box of Do-si-dos, around $5. You'll get 26 Nutter Butters for that as opposed to 20 Do-si-dos.

In the grand ranking of Girl Scout Cookies, Lemonades fall somewhere around the middle. They aren't a favorite like Samoas or Thin Mints, but people still like them. They're big and pleasing to the eye, perfect to set out on a table to share. They're also an easy flavor for kids to enjoy. So it's easy to imagine a situation where you might want to buy them outside of season. If that's the case, you should head to Walmart and pick up some of Great Value's Lemon Dipped Shortbread Cookies. A package costs about $2 and contains 16 cookies — the same number as comes in a bag of the originals –, but significantly less expensive. 

Great Value's copycat lemon cookies are almost indistinguishable from the Girl Scouts'. Size, texture, and taste are identical. Carefully inspect the lemon pattern imprinted on the top of the cookie, and you might be able to tell it's one of these knockoffs because it's slightly different. 

Some people like the Girl Scouts' Lemonades because they simply love lemon flavor. If that's the case, there are several types of lemon cookies they could buy, but they should seriously consider buying some of Wow's Lemon Bursts from Walmart. At $6 for 16 units, they cost more than Lemonades, but are worth every penny.

The first difference between Lemonades and Lemon Bursts is that Wow manufactures them using alternative flour to make them gluten-free. They taste so good that even wheat-eaters will love them. Lemon Bursts don't look anything like Lemonades either — they're short, fat little pastries and they don't have lemon frosting on the bottom. Their taste is more intense and tangier than the original Girl Scout cookie. In conclusion, Lemon Bursts are nothing like Lemonades, but if you're looking for something to replace the Girl Scout cookie, you'll probably like Lemon Bursts even more than you like the original.

The Girl Scouts' caramel chocolate chip cookies haven't had the success of other cookies. Granted, they are gluten-free, which also means they're more expensive and have a less appealing texture. To most palates, though, they taste like any chocolate chip cookie. If you wanted to buy these because you can't eat gluten, check out alternative companies like Goodie Girl or Wow. On the other hand, if you simply wanted some normal chocolate chip cookies — Consumer Reports and CNet say these cookies have almost no caramel taste to them — try Great Value's Chewy Chocolate Chippers. These cost around $2.75 for more than thirty cookies.

Great Value's chocolate chip cookies are run-of-the-mill. There's not much that distinguishes them from a Girl Scout caramel chocolate chip cookie or any other brand. They have plenty of chocolate in them and a nice texture. If the chewiness isn't to your taste, Great Value also offers crunchier, classic chocolate chip cookies. That choice is something the Girl Scouts don't offer. Whichever pack you choose, these cookies are a perfect snack for a play date or an afternoon at grandma and grandpa's.

If you're looking for a chocolate chip alternative to the Girl Scouts' caramel chocolate chip cookies and you don't care if it's gluten-free or not, head to Aldi. There you can purchase a pack of about 40 Benton's classic chocolate chip cookies for around $2.60. On the other hand, if you do need a gluten-free option, Benton's also sells bags of almond flour chocolate chip cookies for about $3.

Benton's classic chocolate chip cookies give you what you'd expect from any industrial confection. They're sweet, crunchy, and have plenty of chocolate chips mixed in — they don't taste much different from the Girl Scouts' caramel chip cookies, and kids will love them.

The almond flour cookies are a different story. They've got great taste, but the texture is too crumbly, far more crumbly than the Girl Scouts' gluten-free cookies, as well as those sold by Goodie Girl and Wow. Worse, Benton's packages of almond flour cookies are often full of broken cookie parts rather than whole cookies.