Girl Scout cookie time has come. While cute kids peddle their wares in front of stores, in breweries, and online, at Rioja pastry chef Eric Dale worked up a dessert masterpiece featuring the same cookies, literally.
“For this dessert I wanted to do something reminiscent of the peanut butter and jellies of childhood,” said Dale, who has been working with Girl Scouts of Colorado for the last four years to make signature sweets with the famous cookies.
This year Rioja welcomed the Do-si-Do PB&J, which utilizes the peanut butter sandwich cookie of the same name. It also features grapes three ways: sliced thin green grapes, blistered red grapes, and a striking grape mousse. The Do-si-dos part comes out in the crunchy filo crisp delicately place on top and on the bottom. Over the course of cookie season, Dale will use approximately 36 boxes, or 720 cookies to make sure diners can indulge in the one-up creation.
“It’s fun to get something already crafted and get something new out of it,” added the chef, who spends about four hours to prep the dessert each day. “Working with an already baked cookie is different, and we tried various [recipes] to get it right.”
It’s not just Rioja featuring a Girl Scout cookie dessert, the other three Crafted Concepts restaurants also dish out a special item. Each place, including Ultreia, Stoic & Genuine, and Bistro Vendome, takes a type of cookie to work with. From there, the chefs whip up something special.
At Ultreia the shortbread-style Trefoil shines in the limelight with the Trefoil Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. This dessert features a cookie crumb crust, dulce de leche cheesecake, vanilla whipped mascarpone and white chocolate anglais. Stoic & Genuine took on the Adventurefuls Salted Caramel Tart to create a dessert that looks just like a giant version of the cookie. The sweet featured at Bistro Vendome centers around the Thin Mint. Dubbed Box of Thin Mints, it’s a decedent mesh of chocolate mousse, mint chocolate sauce and a vanilla and Thin Mint crumb.
The idea for the collaboration came in 2020 when the pandemic kept Girl Scouts from selling their wears in the normal, social ways. The organization reached out to Crafted Concept owners Beth Gruitch and chef Jennifer Jasinski to see if they could work together. Both women had been Girl Scouts themselves and were quick to agree. Dale started the program and made all four of the desserts the first year.
It’s now become a tradition the group plans on continuing. As a bonus, each dessert sale also facilitates a $1 donation to the organization. However, like Girl Scout cookies, you can only get these special desserts until March 10.
