Girl Scouts of the USA Announces Second Annual National Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Contest, Sponsored by Taste of Home

NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Girl Scouts of the USA today announced the return of the National Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Contest, sponsored by Taste of Home, the leading multi-platform producer of information on food, cooking, and entertaining for home cooks around the world. From February 26 through March 25, Girl Scout cookie enthusiasts can create and submit their favorite dessert recipes using the iconic cookies as ingredients, for the chance to win prizes ranging from $250 to $500, plus a spotlight feature in Taste of Home magazine.

This year's recipe contest kicks off during National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend (February 26–28), which has become a national holiday for Girl Scout Cookie fans. The weekend honors girls nationwide who positively impact their communities using their cookie earnings, funding "Take Action" projects and educational experiences such as raising awareness about Tourette's syndrome and building a new storage shed for a school's drama department. In short, selling cookies enables girls to make a difference that consumers support through their Girl Scout Cookie purchases. National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend also celebrates the essential "5 Skills" each #cookieboss learns through the Girl Scout Cookie Program—goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics—which are invaluable to a girl's future.

"As we kick off National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend, I urge consumers to take pride in what buying a box of cookies really supports. Your purchase enables girls to learn important entrepreneurial skills and, through their earnings, positively impact their world," said Anna Maria Chávez, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. "During this highly anticipated time of year, we are excited to collaborate with Taste of Home yet again, giving consumers a chance to share their fun and delicious cookie creations with the world while supporting girls. Now that's a winning combination!"

The National Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Contest invites chefs of all levels, from home cooks to established professionals, to submit Girl Scout Cookie-inspired entries in one of four categories: (1) cakes, pies, cupcakes, (2) cookies, brownies, bars, (3) pudding, ice cream, gelatin desserts, and (4) candies. The culinary experts with the Taste of Home Test Kitchen, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will review and test each recipe, selecting the top 16—four from each category—based on taste, visual appeal, creativity, and crowd appeal.

From April 25 to May 1, members of the public will have a chance to vote for their favorite finalist recipes at girlscouts.org/recipecontest. The recipes with the most votes in each category will win and be announced in May. Last year's grand prize winner, 15-year-old Girl Scout Stephanie Salmento, created a recipe for Delightful Caramel Bars, a three-step, multilayered treat consisting of both Shortbreads/Trefoils and Caramel deLites/Samoas. The full recipes from all of last year's 16 finalists—including delectable treats like Thin Mints Popcorn and Touch of Coconut Baklava—are available at girlscouts.org/recipes.

"As a Girl Scout alumna, I am so excited to be working with Girl Scouts for the second year in a row," said Taste of Home Editor-in-Chief Catherine Cassidy. "We know how passionate people are about Girl Scout Cookies—last year's contest received double the entries in half the amount of time of an average Taste of Home contest—and we can't wait to see the delicious recipes entrants come up with this year!"

To learn more about the Girl Scout Cookie Program and to find Girl Scouts selling cookies near you, visit www.girlscoutcookies.org. To submit your favorite Girl Scout Cookie-inspired dessert recipe and view full contest guidelines, please visit girlscouts.org/recipecontest.

We're Girl Scouts of the USA
We're 2.7 million strong—1.9 million girls and 800,000 adults who believe girls can change the world. It began over 100 years ago with one woman, Girl Scouts' founder Juliette Gordon "Daisy" Low, who believed in the power of every girl. She organized the first Girl Scout troop on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, and every year since, we've made her vision a reality, helping girls discover their strengths, passions, and talents. Today we continue the Girl Scout mission of building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. We're the preeminent leadership development organization for girls. And with programs for girls from coast to coast and across the globe, Girl Scouts offers every girl a chance to do something amazing. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, visit www.girlscouts.org.

About Taste of Home
Taste of Home, a Trusted Media Brands, Inc. (TMBI) Company, is the leading multi-platform producer of information on food, cooking and entertaining, serving home cooks engaging media that capture the joy and comfort received from food made with love. Content is available online at tasteofhome.com and via the Taste Digital Community, with more than 39 million monthly visitors*, making these sites top destinations for kitchen-tested recipes, how-to techniques, cooking videos and lively community forums. The same engaging content can be found in Taste of Home magazine, with a circulation of 2.5 million; Simple & Delicious magazine; top-selling bookazines; newsstand specials; popular cookbooks and via digital download on iPad, mobile apps and Kindle.

Taste of Home also produces the Taste of Home Cooking School, one of America's leading cooking school programs, inspiring more than 140,000 passionate home chefs each year and hosting more than 200 events across the country. The Taste of Home Online Cooking School is a convenient at-home experience that delivers the same blend of energy and expertise that those who attend the live Cooking School shows enjoy.

Learn more at TasteofHome.com and join more than 24 million** fans for the latest on recipes and food, visit us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Google+.

TMBI comprises a network of engaged, active readers who genuinely connect with its blend of uplifting and enduring expertly-curated family, food, health, home improvement, finance and humor content digitally, via magazines and books, social media, and events and experiences. Founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace as Reader's Digest Association, one of the first user-generated content publishers, Trusted Media Brands, Inc. is headquartered in New York City. For more information, visit TMBI.com.

*comScore Media Metrix, January 2015
**Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram May 2015

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160222/336186 

SOURCE Girl Scouts of the USA

Related Links

http://www.girlscouts.org