Who could resist the gap-toothed grin of Girl Scouts pedaling Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos and Tagalongs around campus recently? Dropping three dollars from your spring break budget to invest in cookies was a treat to both your sweet tooth and the local Scout troops.

Returning from a week of vacation to find a cupboard full of stale Samoas and leftover Trefoils isn’t quite as appetizing.

Now that you’re done with pre-break bikini diets, it’s time to turn those cookies into a decadent dessert. By thinking outside the Girl Scout Cookie box with a few common kitchen ingredients you can whip up a tasty pudding pie.

The Daily Illini’s mouth-watering adaptation of Girl Scout Pudding Pie incorporated Thin Mints, chocolate pudding and mint M&M;’s. Other variations combine Trefoils and cheesecake pudding, Tagalongs and vanilla pudding, Samoas and coconut cream pudding, or Do-si-dos and classic vanilla pudding. Experimentation is encouraged – there are no mistakes when you’ve got Girl Scouts in the kitchen!

Girl Scout Pudding Recipe

Pie Crust

• 1 1/4 cup crushed cookie (1 tube/half the box)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend cookie crumbs with butter and press into bottom and sides of 9-inch pie pan. Bake 5-7 minutes and cool thoroughly.

Filling

• 1 box (2.1 ounces) instant pudding mix
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup candy pieces (optional)

Whisk pudding and milk for about 2 minutes, until lumps are gone. Mound pudding into pie shell. Sprinkle with candy pieces, if desired. Refrigerate for 1 hour until firm.