Which Girl Scout cookie are you?

I got my annual Girl Scout cookie fix last Friday. One of my favorite two Girl Scouts, my niece Megan, showed up just before supper time to make her pitch. I was happy to take a full case (and a couple extra boxes) off her hands in support of a good cause.

Now, a few days later, as I munched on a Tagalong while trying to come up with a topic for this column, I got an idea. Personality tests are popular these days, particularly in work settings. Companies want to know what motivates a potential employee before they even start work. What if I could tap into the personality of someone just by knowing their favorite Girl Scout Cookie, I wondered. Hmm.

Tagalongs are my favorite. While the name doesn't necessarily appeal to me, as it implies a follower rather than a leader, peanut butter and chocolate make a great combination. Even science says so. According to Gregory Ziegler, a Penn State University professor of food science who studies chocolate, the pairing creates "dynamic sensory contrast," and our taste buds love contrasting flavors. I purposely seek out contrasting opinions every day, so it sounds like a match to me.

Thin Mints are crispy and refreshing, also one of my go-to flavors every year. When I think of thin mints, I think of my middle child. She has a mind of her own, and thin mints are definitely in a league of their own.

My husband's favorite are Samoas. Caramel, dark chocolate and toasted coconut make a great combination; I'm a fan too. That said, it's a complex flavor for someone that always wants to keep things simple. "It's not difficult," he says when I'm thinking through a challenge.

Adventurefuls are the newest to the Girl Scout lineup, and my oldest insisted that I get a box to try. It's basically a brownie with sea salt caramel filling in the middle – sounds good to me! She is definitely adventurous, taking in all life has to offer. She loves to drive – everywhere .... She's probably put on more miles in the past six months than I have. That's how she rolls, behind the wheel and in control.

My son gravitates towards the Lemon-Ups. In fact, he polished off a whole box in a few hours, all by himself. I took one bite of the first cookie, and he had the rest. Yes, he can be a bit sour at times (as most teenage boys are), but he has a zest for life that is unmatched.

Well, that was fun. I thought my little personality assessment by Girl Scout Cookie was pretty accurate, but as all good journalists do, I needed to verify. Surely there must be some sort of quiz or article about how Girl Scout Cookie choices relate to personality, I thought. I took to Google, and sure enough there were both.

First I came across a link to a quiz on the popular digital platform BuzzFeed, "Which Girl Scout Cookie Are You?" I couldn't get it to load, so I moved on.

Next I found a link to a 10-question quiz on another digital platform. But, that turned out to be data mining for the global marketers. I was asked to answer a bunch of questions about my potential to purchase a foreign car before I could get the actual answer to the survey.

The third time was the charm though. I found a fun, 8-question quiz that purported to identify which Girl Scout cookie matched my personality. Better yet, I found it on a newspaper website. If the Cincinnati Enquirer linked to it, it must be legit, I surmised.

The questions were easy to answer, so I quickly clicked through it, eager to see if my guess (Tagalongs) matched the algorithm.

Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed with the result. I reportedly have the personality of a trefoil, or shortbread, the simplest of the flavors. I'm apparently "iconic" yet also "basic" at the very same time.

I was then told, "The Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte should return sometime around August." What? I don't even like pumpkin spice, as I have mused about before in this space. Surely the online autobots should have picked up on that by now. I demand a retake!

If you want to give the quiz a try, go here: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2022/01/11/girl-scout-cookies-quiz-which-cookie-matches-your-personality/9135411002/.

After a brief moment of reflection, I decided to keep looking rather than put myself through the misery of a redo. After a few more seconds of scrolling down the search page, I hit the motherload. Little Brownie Bakers, one of the two "official" bakers of Girl Scout Cookies in the nation, has its own description of how each cookie relates to personality:

"If you're fond of Thin Mints®, you might be bold, strong and confident.

"If you love Adventurefuls™, you might be daring, curious and determined.

"If you get pumped up for Lemon-ups®, you might be upbeat, loyal and friendly.

"If you have a soft spot for Samoas®, you might be brave, curious and innovative.

"If you can't get enough of Tagalongs®, you might be artistic, creative and driven.

"If Trefoils® are your cup of tea, you might be supportive, considerate and optimistic.

"If you're devoted to Do-si-dos®, you might be passionate, empathetic and kind.

"If you always want more Girl Scout S'mores®, you might be enthusiastic, resourceful and honest."

Yep, there it was. A fan of Tagalongs, I might be artistic, creative and driven. I can't argue with that.

If you haven't gotten your Girl Scout cookie fix, there's still time. New Rockford and Carrington don't have troops anymore, but Fessenden Girl Scout troop #10323 is selling until March 20