Almost every year, the Girl Scouts add a new cookie – or sometimes two – to their existing lineup of cookies. This gives them a chance to try to incorporate various food trends into their products and to pull in some new customers who might be a bit bored with the same familiar offerings. Last year, however, the Girl Scouts didn’t introduce any new cookies. For 2017, a new box is back and it is filled with S’mores Cookies! There are actually two different styles of this cookie that will be available in different parts of the country. One version, made by ABC Bakers, consists of a graham cracker topped with a creme icing and enrobed in chocolate. The cookie is vegan, too! The second version, made by Little Brownie Bakers, has two graham cracker-flavored cookies sandwiching a chocolate and marshmallow filling.
The two bakeries have long produced Girl Scout Cookies with slightly different names and slightly different recipes, but this might be the first time that two very different cookies share the same name. The cookies that are available vary by region, so consider using the Girl Scout Cookie locator app to see if you can find both in your area if you want to give them a try, or simply check out the cookie locators on both of the bakery websites.
Another change to the Girl Scout Cookies this year is in their sale dates. Traditionally, the sale season has been during February and into March. This year, the Girl Scouts started taking pre-orders earlier than ever before: right after Christmas. I’ve also seen quite a few media outlets publishing reviews of the cookies, which aren’t scheduled to ship to girl scout cookie fans for another 4 weeks. There is nothing wrong with getting a little pre-season buzz happening about a new product (especially since this one sounds much more promising than some of the other flavors they’ve tried in the past few years), but part of the fun of the new flavors was buying them from Girl Scouts and trying them, not reading a review before visiting a cookie booth. That said, it could save you a few bucks on cookies if the reviews aren’t good and you can spend the money on the flavors you do like instead!
Keep an eye out for both new and old flavors in the coming weeks. In the meantime, try baking your own Girl Scout Cookies at home!
Kei
January 12, 2017The prices though…the Smores cookies are $5/box in my area. $1 more than the others. With those price increases, I wish more money went to the individual troop.