Trefoils are the healthiest Girl Scout cookie. The ABC Bakers version comes in at just 120 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, and 6 grams of sugar for a four-cookie serving, making it the lightest option across the entire lineup. That works out to roughly 30 calories per cookie, which is the lowest per-cookie count you’ll find in any box.
But “healthiest” depends on what matters most to you: fewest calories, lowest sugar, most protein, or fitting a specific diet. Here’s how the full lineup breaks down so you can pick the best option for your goals.
The Top Picks by Calories and Sugar
Trefoils are simple shortbread cookies, and that simplicity works in their favor nutritionally. With no chocolate coating, caramel layers, or peanut butter filling adding extra calories, they stay lean. The ABC Bakers version edges out the Little Brownie Bakers version, which packs 160 calories and 7 grams of fat into a five-cookie serving (about 32 calories per cookie, still very competitive).
After Trefoils, your next-best options depend on whether you care more about the per-serving numbers or the per-cookie numbers. Here’s how the lighter end of the lineup stacks up:
- Trefoils (ABC Bakers): 120 calories, 4.5g fat, 6g sugar for 4 cookies
- Adventurefuls (Little Brownie Bakers): 120 calories, 6g fat, 9g sugar for 2 cookies
- Peanut Butter Patties (ABC Bakers): 130 calories, 7g fat, 8g sugar for 2 cookies
- Exploremores (Little Brownie Bakers): 130 calories, 5g fat, 8g sugar for 2 cookies
- Lemon-Ups (Little Brownie Bakers): 140 calories, 6g fat, 7g sugar for 2 cookies
On a per-cookie basis, Trefoils dominate at 30 calories each. Thin Mints land at 40 calories per cookie, which is respectable for a chocolate-coated treat. The heavier options like Samoas and Tagalongs run 70 to 75 calories per cookie.
Lowest Sugar Options
If you’re watching sugar specifically, Trefoils again take the top spot at 6 grams per serving (ABC Bakers version). Lemon-Ups and Toffee-tastic tie for second at 7 grams per serving, though both have smaller two-cookie serving sizes compared to Trefoils’ four cookies, which means you’re getting less cookie for roughly the same sugar load.
On the high end, Exploremores from ABC Bakers pack 14 grams of sugar into a three-cookie serving. Caramel deLites hit 12 grams for just two cookies, and Samoas aren’t far behind at 11 grams for two. The caramel and chocolate coatings on these varieties drive sugar counts up significantly.
Best Options for Protein
Girl Scout cookies aren’t a protein source by any stretch, but if you want a cookie that’s at least slightly more satisfying, the peanut butter varieties pull ahead. Do-si-dos (the peanut butter sandwich cookie from Little Brownie Bakers) and their ABC equivalent, Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies, both deliver 3 grams of protein per serving. Tagalongs and Caramel Chocolate Chip also hit 3 grams.
By contrast, Adventurefuls, Caramel deLites, and Toffee-tastic all come in under 1 gram of protein per serving. The peanut butter in Do-si-dos and Tagalongs provides a small amount of fat and protein that may help you feel more satisfied after a couple of cookies rather than reaching for more.
Why Your Baker Matters
Girl Scout cookies are produced by two different bakeries, ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers, and your local council contracts with one or the other. You don’t get to choose which baker you buy from, but the nutritional differences between versions of the “same” cookie can be surprising.
Trefoils are a good example. The ABC Bakers version gives you four cookies for 120 calories, while Little Brownie Bakers gives you five cookies for 160 calories. That’s 30 versus 32 calories per cookie, a minor gap. But with Exploremores, the difference is dramatic: ABC Bakers’ version runs 180 calories and 14 grams of sugar for three cookies, while Little Brownie Bakers’ version comes in at 130 calories and 8 grams of sugar for two. Per cookie, that’s 60 calories (ABC) versus 65 (Little Brownie), but the sugar gap is real: about 4.7 grams per cookie versus 4 grams.
Adventurefuls also differ noticeably. The Little Brownie Bakers version saves you 10 calories and 2 grams of sugar per serving compared to ABC Bakers. If you’re comparing nutrition labels at the table, check which baker made your box.
Vegan and Gluten-Free Options
If you eat vegan, three varieties qualify: Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties, and Lemonades. Of these, Peanut Butter Patties are the healthiest pick at 130 calories and 8 grams of sugar for two cookies, plus 2 grams of protein. Thin Mints are a close second, though they carry more sugar (10 to 11 grams per serving depending on baker).
For gluten-free diets, you have two choices: Toffee-tastic and Caramel Chocolate Chip. Toffee-tastic runs 140 calories with 7 grams of sugar for two cookies. Caramel Chocolate Chip comes in at 160 calories and 9 grams of sugar for three cookies. Neither is the lightest option overall, but they’re reasonable for gluten-free packaged cookies.
What None of Them Contain
One piece of good news across the board: no Girl Scout cookies contain high-fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oils, and all have zero grams of trans fat per serving. These were common concerns with packaged cookies in the past, but Girl Scouts has eliminated all three from the entire lineup. That doesn’t make them health food, but it does mean you’re not getting the worst industrial ingredients when you grab a box.
The Bottom Line on Portions
Serving sizes across the lineup range from two to five cookies, which makes comparing nutrition labels tricky if you’re grabbing different boxes. A serving of Trefoils is four or five cookies depending on your baker, while a serving of Samoas is just two. That’s part of why Trefoils feel like such a good deal nutritionally: you get to eat more cookies for fewer calories.
The practical move is to look at what you’ll actually eat. If you always eat three or four Samoas regardless of what the label says, you’re looking at closer to 225 to 300 calories. If you can genuinely stop at four Trefoils, you’re at 120. The “healthiest” cookie is partly about the cookie itself and partly about how many of them end up disappearing from the sleeve. Trefoils and Thin Mints, with their smaller individual size, make portion control a bit easier than the denser, richer varieties like Tagalongs or Samoas where each cookie packs more calories.