As young Girl Scouts begin to appear outside of stores and in malls, offering boxes of cookies, local restaurants gathered to see who could come up with the best recipe using some of America’s favorite treats. For the third year, Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York (GSNENY) hosted Cookie Cuisine with 14 district restaurants putting forward original recipes for appetizers, entrees and desserts made with Girl Scout cookies. Proceeds from the $40 admission price went to the Girl Scout camp program, going towards scholarships for girls who may not be able to afford it. “Everybody knows about the Girl Scout cookie,” said Allison Marinucci, community and government relationship associate for GSNENY. “The program is the most popular entrepreneurship program in the country for girls, so this is kind of the ultimate twist on Girl Scout cookies.” Restaurants that participated included Garden Bistro 24, Honest Weight Food Co-op, Druther’s, and the Bull and Barrel Smokehouse. The Desmond Hotel in Colonie once again hosted the event, and put forward a Thin Mint chocolate soup in a Savannah Smiles encrusted glass and Trefoil chicken sliders. Desmond Hotel sous chef Stephen Fratianni said that he and his coworkers had been brainstorming ideas for the night for some time. “These were the ones that stuck,” he said. “It was a lot of fun to make.” One Six Five Restaurant in Delmar and Frederick’s Pastry Shoppe of East Greenbush were also among the returning restaurants. One Six Five was last year voted as having the best entrée with Sonrisa short ribs with Savannah Smiles and Dulce de Leche. This year, the restaurant featured a braise pork mole with Samoas and peanut butter moose with Tagalongs. “I tried to do something savory and sweet to kind of please the masses, but we also like to pick our favorite cookies. We’re big fans of those, especially,” said One Six Five’s representative Emma Towsley. “We were actually a fan favorite (last year), so we have to defend our title.” Frederick’s, meanwhile, returned with a simpler dessert recipe. “The last two years, I did these high-end desserts and put a lot of effort into them, but I realized, for me, simple is best,” said co-owner Dan Raymond. The pastry shop offered whoopie pies made with Tagalongs, Samoas and Rah Rah Raisins. This year, judges chose The Bull and Barrel Smokehouse as having the best overall recipe for its lamb sliders with Masala Thin Mint sauce. Prime at Saratoga National was chosen as having the best use of a cookie for the night with its Samoa cheesecake. The cheesecake was also chosen as the Best Dessert by attendees. Yono’s in Albany was the People’s Choice with a Rah Rah Raisin curried chicken. “It’s a fun competition,” said Marinucci. “It’s not serious, but some of (the restaurants) get very into it and are really in it to win it.” By the end of the night, more than $8,000 was raised for the camp program, according to Marinucci. On top of scholarships for camp, funds from cookie sales also went towards helping a Scout troop plan an overseas trip. “The event is really to bring awareness to the Girl Scout camp program. It gets girls to unplug and get away from the computer,” said Marinucci. “This is kind of the perfect marriage of the Girl Scout cookie.”