Girl Scout Cookies Are BACK — Including A New Caramel Chocolate One

One of the most celebrated American culinary creations is not served in fancy restaurants. Rather, you're most likely to find them outside a supermarket or through your neighbors. The Girl Scouts of America have been selling boxes of their legendary cookies for more than 100 years. For a few months out of the year, people channel inner bear-like instincts and load up on enough Thin Mints to last for the months ahead. You've probably been anticipating the arrival of Girl Scout Cookie season for months, but now the wait is finally over. Girl Scouts Cookie season for 2019 has officially begun, along with a brand new cookie.

According to the Girl Scouts, the cookie selling program is "the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world." The aim of the program is to build the next generation of strong, powerful businesswomen, and build girls' confidence in the process. As Girl Scouts perfect their sales techniques, everyone else benefits from the sweet, sweet treats. Now there's even more reason to celebrate with the introduction of the newest cookie to the Girl Scout Cookie line-up, which was first announced in August 2018. The Caramel Chocolate Chip cookie offers a mix of "...Rich caramel, semisweet chocolate chips, and a hint of sea salt in a chewy cookie." It's also gluten-free, so even those with dietary restrictions can indulge.

The catalogue of Girl Scout Cookies available more delicious than ever. The 12 varieties include classic favorites line Tagalongs/Peanut Butter Patties, Samoas/Caramel DeLites, Trefoils/Shortbread, Do-Si-Dos/Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Lemonades, and Thanks A Lots. Aside from the Caramel Chocolate Chip cookie, there are number of other flavors you might not recognize at cookie booths this year.

The Toffee-tastic cookie is another gluten-free offering. It is a butter cookie with sweet, crunchy, golden toffee bits. Savannah Smiles have been around since 2012, but remain a hidden gem in the cookie lineup. The wedge-themed confections possess a subtle lemony tang, and are coated in a generous amount of powdered sugar.

In 2017, Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) introduced TWO new styles of the same cookie for the season. These will remain on the lineup this year. As GSUSA contracts with two separate bakers depending on the market, the S'mores cookie from ABC Bakers and the S'mores cookie from Little Brownie Bakers vary slightly, but are both delicious in their own right. The ABC Bakers' S'mores cookie is a "crispy graham cookie double dipped in yummy crème icing and finished with a scrumptious chocolatey coating." It's about as close you can get to a real s'more without the need for a campfire. The Little Brownie Bakers' S'more cookie is a sweet graham sandwich filled with marshmallow and chocolate. You can see which cookie is available to you with the help of this nifty map the LA Times published back in 2015.

Whichever flavor floats your boat, you're sure to find the perfect cookie at a Girl Scout booth soon. Plus, with the addition of the gluten free Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie, you have more options to choose from than every before.