Girl Scout Cookies Inspire Area Chefs to Create Culinary Masterpieces

Limoncello Cheesecake made with fresh berries and Girl Scout Lemonades®; thick, delicious brownies with bits of Thin Mints®; and decadent Dessert Sushi featuring Caramel deLites® are among the desserts and dishes guests can sample during the 2^nd-annual Girl Scout Cookie Crunch Feb. 28, 1-3 p.m., at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks. Tickets for the event, which benefits Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania and ArtsQuest, are $30 for the public, $25 for ArtsQuest Members and $21 for active Girl Scouts ages 17 and under; they’re available now at steelstacks.org and 610-332-3378.

At the 2015 Cookie Crunch, Iron Lakes Country Club stole the crowd’s heart with their Chipotle Shortbread® Mac ‘n’ Cheese, taking home the 1^st place People’s Choice Award. This year they’re back to defend their title with a new dish, a Thai Coconut Lemon Chicken incorporating Lemonades®.

Several other restaurants and culinary teams will join them, with The Steel Pub tackling bread pudding using Caramel deLites®; Parkhurst Dining Services offering up Chocolate Caramel deLites® Beignets; and Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School culinary students preparing Peanut Butter Crunch Lollipops and more. If that isn’t enough to satisfy your sweet tooth, the Bethlehem Dairy Store has two decadent ice creams to sample – Mint Madness, a mint ice cream with fudge and crushed Thin Mint® cookies; and Caramel Swirl, a caramel ice cream with chocolate caramel cups and crushed Caramel deLites® cookies.

The confirmed Cookie Crunch participants so far and a sample of their offerings include:

187 Rue Principale, Emmaus – Dish TBA
Beanbath Café, Bath – Dish TBA
Bell Hall, Allentown – Coconut Cupcakes with Caramel deLites® Cookie Bottoms and Salted Caramel Icing, topped with Toasted Coconut
Bethlehem Dairy Store, Bethlehem — Mint Madness (mint ice cream with fudge and crushed Thin Mint® Cookies); and Caramel Swirl (caramel ice cream with chocolate caramel cups and crushed Caramel deLites® Cookies)
Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School – Lemonades® Cheesecake Crunch Lollipops and Peanut Butter Crunch Lollipops; Caramel deLites® Chicken Wonton Tacos
Bruno Scipioni’s Italian Ristorante, Bethlehem Township – Limoncello Cheesecake with Lemonades® and Fresh Berries
Emeril’s Chop House, Sands Resort Bethlehem – Caramel deLites® Dessert Sushi
Iron Lakes Country Club, Orefield — Thai Coconut Lemon Chicken with Lemonades®
Parkhurst Dining Services, Cedar Crest College, Allentown – Chocolate Caramel deLites® Beignets
Sagra Bistro, Hellertown – Dish TBA
Saxbys Coffee, Bethlehem – Gourmet Coffees paired with Girl Scout Cookies
The Dime at the Renaissance Hotel, Allentown – Dish TBA
The Steel Pub, Bethlehem – Caramel deLites® Bread Pudding
Trixie’s Treats, Allentown – Thin Mint® Brownies

Girl Scout cookies are more than just a delicious treat. The Girl Scout cookie program is the largest girl-led business in the world and by participating girls gain the key skills of goal setting, money management, business ethics, people skills and decision-making. Proceeds from the cookie sale support girls’ goals of traveling, going to camp, completing service projects in their community and more. The Girl Scout cookie sale is running from Jan. 14-March 13 this year and cookies will be available for purchase at the Cookie Crunch event.

Proceeds from the event benefit the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania and the ArtsQuest™ Arts Education Fund, which helps to provide quality arts and education programs for area students.