Trivia and recipes for those sweet treats
Girl Scouts have been selling for over a century
Just as National Girl Scout Week takes off this month, Georgia’s 30,000 scouts will wind up their 2026 cookie sales season, forcing those who didn’t stock up to wait until next January for their next taste of Thin Mints or Tagalongs.
The Girl Scouts organization was only five years old when, in 1917, a troop in Muskogee, Okla., began selling homemade cookies in their school cafeteria as a fundraiser. Today, members sell over 200 million boxes annually. Proceeds pay for troop service projects, camp maintenance and travel experiences while helping girls learn essential skills like money management and goal setting.
Treat trivia
In celebration of this American tradition, Walton Gas has compiled 10 fun facts about the Girl Scout cookie program.
- The Girl Scout cookie program is the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world.
- Girl Scout cookies are a $900 million-per-year business — they outsell Chips Ahoy! and Milanos combined.
- Cookie flavors offered by Georgia Girl Scouts this year: Exploremores, Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs, Adventurefuls, Do-si-dos, Trefoils, Lemon-Ups and Toffee-tastic.
- Thin Mints, which have been around since 1939, have been the #1 best-seller for decades.
- The original Girl Scout cookie was a simple sugar cookie made from butter, sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla, flour and a touch of baking powder.
- The oldest cookie flavor in the current lineup is Trefoils, a shortbread introduced in 1974.
- Exploremores, a chocolate sandwich cookie inspired by Rocky Road ice cream, debuted as the newest flavor this year.
- There is a cookie option for those on a gluten-free diet: Toffee-tastic. Every flavor variety is kosher and Halal certified.
- The 2025 selling season was the last for longtime favorite S’mores.
- The 2026 cookie sales season in Georgia began Jan. 2 and runs through March 8.
More than a snack
Girl Scout cookies don’t have to be eaten straight from the box. You can use them in creative ways.
Pair them with other ingredients to upgrade a dessert by:
- crushing them for crusts,
- baking them into brownies and blondies,
- layering them in parfaits with pudding or whipped cream, or
- blending them into milkshakes or mochas.
Little Brownie Bakers, one of the two official Girl Scout cookie bakeries, offers recipes for pairing your cookie stash with other foods to make interesting main courses and side dishes. Here are some of our favorites:
