The Girl Scouts' Latest Cookie Flavor Is Here to Sweeten the New Year

You know the drill: If you love them, you’ll actually want to engage in conversations about your coworkers’ children for a change; if you hate them, you may want to start scoping out a back entrance to the grocery store. Yes, Girl Scout Cookie season officially begins this week. How quickly you can get your fix depends on where you live: Local scout councils determine the actual start date, and in some areas, it’s still over a month away. But even if you won’t be facing a barrage of sashes until February, it’s never too soon to start pondering your order — which for 2019 includes a new gluten-free cookie option.

Caramel Chocolate Chip will officially be joining the Girl Scout Cookie lineup this year. Announced back in August, the new variety’s “Meet the Cookies” profile (yes, that’s a thing) states that we can expect “Rich caramel, semisweet chocolate chips, and a hint of sea salt in a chewy cookie. Gluten-free Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies are offered only in select Girl Scout council markets for as long as supplies last.”

For the record, it’s not the first time the Girl Scouts have jumped on the gluten-free fad. The original cookies introduced without the much-maligned wheat component debuted back in 2015. Of those two offerings, Toffee-tastic is still available in select markets this year. The other, known as Trios, has apparently been retired. Still, gluten or not, Caramel Chocolate Chip also has the distinction of being the first cookie added to the annual lineup since 2017 when Girl Scout S’mores hit the market.

If you want to know when Girl Scout Cookies are slated to go on sale in your area, the Girls Scouts have a “Find Cookies!” option on their website that allows you to search by your zip code. Though let’s be honest here: If you simply keep doing whatever it is you’re doing, Girl Scout Cookies will probably eventually find you.