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It’s that time again.
Girl Scouts are posting up at your local grocery store or maybe your neighborhood dispensary. If you have a connection (that is, if you know a parent whose kid is in Girl Scouts), you’ve probably gotten at least a couple of emails already reminding you to put your order in. While Girl Scout cookies have their doubters and haters, they also have devoted fans—people who set a line item in their budget every February labeled simply “Thin Mints.”
The Girl Scout cookie scene has seen a few notable shifts in recent years. Supply-chain issues created hiccups for the youth organization’s annual cookie sale in 2022 and 2023. Two years ago, the Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington announced that starting in 2025, they would be changing bakeries in 2025. That meant Oregonians used to hoarding Samoas would have to get used to hoarding Caramel deLites instead; those who prefer the Tagalong have to get used to ordering the Peanut Butter Patty. (In addition to having more literal, less cute names, these cookies apparently have slightly different recipes.)
This year, the Girl Scouts of America announced another notable change: a new cookie flavor. Exploremores are, according to the label, Rocky Road inspired (“with flavors of chocolate, marshmallow and toasted almond creme”). When a box arrived at WW’s office, we decided to put it through our rigorous testing process. Read: We set the box on a table and conferred while jamming cookies into our mouths.
What follows is a transcript of our discussion, edited for brevity and clarity.
Andrew Jankowski: So they’re kind of Oreos-y.
Rachel Saslow: Yeah, it’s a sandwich cookie format.
Christen McCurdy: I can’t of think of any other Girl Scout cookies that are sandwich cookies.
Saslow: Maybe the lemon one is. (Editor’s note: The Girl Scouts’ website only lists two sandwich cookies available in 2026: the Exploremores and the Peanut Butter Sandwich Do-Si-Dos. The Lemonades are, however, “topped with a tangy lemon-flavored icing.”)
McCurdy: Oh, maybe. I only ever buy three flavors.
Jankowski: Well, this is softer than I was expecting.
McCurdy: I like the filling a lot, but the structural integrity of the cookie part of the cookie is definitely, in my opinion, not up to the GSA’s exacting standards.
Saslow: I think these are really good, you guys.
McCurdy: They’re very tasty.
Saslow: They make me really thirsty. Like for milk.
Jankowski: They’re definite vanilla creamy.
Saslow: You need, like, ice water or milk with these cookies. They’re coming out of the sleeve kind of broken, which might be a shipping issue. I don’t know. They’ve got the cute little clover imprint.
McCurdy: The almond paste flavor is coming out really well in the filling, I think.
Jankowski: Huh. I’m not getting any kind of nuttiness.
McCurdy: I mean, but it tastes like, what’s the almond paste? Is it marzipan? (Editor’s note: Marzipan is a sweet confectionery paste made from ground almonds and sugar, often with almond extract added.)
Saslow: OK, it also breaks into two really cleanly, which is a plus for people who like to dismantle their Oreos.
McCurdy: I was never one of those people.
Saslow: I was. I’d do weird stuff with the frosting, like drag two teeth through it.
Jankowski: That was part of the enduring appeal of the Oreo; there’s so many different ways to eat it. Which, now I want to know, how does it stay together? Sometimes you can eat the [Oreo] filling like a puck. [Takes cookie apart] Yeah, that was very much like a frosting. It is not like an Oreo puck. [The middle is] not gonna stay together if you try to, like, eat it on its own.
McCurdy: The filling is really nice, I think.
Jankowski: I think that’s my favorite part. I like it more than like the cookie. I think if the cookie was a little crisper, I think that would be more of a win, but softness is a little—I was bending there for a second.
McCurdy: I’m feeling the opposite. I feel like they’re maybe a little bit too crispy and crumbly. Mine just keep falling apart.
Saslow: These to me feel so sweet. I think it’s the reason I’m getting so thirsty. I would not eat a sleeve of those, because you would feel really sick, whereas Thin Mints really, you’re like, meh.
McCurdy: And Thin Mints are also just perfect texturally. They don’t fall apart the same way that these are.
Jankowski: They’re like the opposite, because they are kind of like crisper in my mind, but they are more structurally sound.
McCurdy: We did just demolish a sleeve, though, the three of us. Even though we have our quibbles, this is a very edible cookie.
BUY IT: Text your neighborhood Girl Scout parent, keep your eyes peeled at the grocery store or visit girlscoutsosw.org to get your 2026 Girl Scout Cookie fix.
