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Northern California’s Girl Scout Cookie season is officially open for business now through March 15, and there’s a new flavor to check out for 2026. Called Exploremores, it’s a luscious, Rocky Road-inspired chocolate sandwich cookie with a chocolate, marshmallow, and toasted almond crème filling.
I got a special sneak peek of Exploremores last fall, thanks to the Girl Scouts of Northern California, and I may or may not have eaten the whole box in a day or two, which you can take as a ringing endorsement.
I like to honor the start of each season with some ideas on how to hack your cookies—here’s some of my all-time favorite alterations to try:
Trefoils are the jam
Trefoils, the shortbread cookies shaped like the Girl Scouts logo, are great with jam to make sandwich cookies. I love using apricot jam, but it’ll work well with whatever you like, especially if you give it a while to sit and do whatever the cookie equivalent of marination might be. The flavors soak in and intermingle, and it’ll be hard to stop at just one—just as the Girl Scouts intended.
Koolfi cardamom-spiked Samoas
The chewy chocolate-coconut Samoas have always been a personal favorite, and now I can’t imagine them without a big scoop of Mom’s Cardamom ice cream from San Leandro’s Koolfi Creamery in between. All these flavors absolutely live together in harmony.
Thin Mints, vegan paradise
Did you know that Thin Mints are vegan? They are brilliant to use in dairy-free ice cream sandwiches — my favorite so far is with Humphry Slocombe’s Cherry Elderflower vegan ice cream — and crumbled for a tart crust.
Tagalongs on a date
Cut a crispy chocolate covered peanut butter Tagalong in half and stuff it into a pitted Medjool date. You will not be able to stop at just one.
Lemon-Ups hors-d’ouevres
Of all the Girl Scout Cookie varieties, the Lemon-Ups will hold up the best to additional toppings. For instance, they make for instantly fancy appetizers when topped with a little bit of honey goat cheese from Sonoma’s Laura Chenel and a little sprig of fresh basil. The cookies have inspiring messages such as “I Am a Leader” printed on them, and they’re delicious.
Open sesame Do-si-dos
I like to separate the peanut butter cookies and add even more peanut butter filling that has been heated and mixed with a handful of black sesame seeds or powder.
Blended Adventurefuls
When this brownie cookie with caramel and sea salt joined the lineup in 2022, I immediately made a naughty shake that I still can’t stop thinking about. For a good time, blend two to four scoops of Straus Family Creamery’s coffee ice cream, half a cup of full fat milk (Straus if you want the best), and two Adventurefuls.
Tamara Palmer offers the complimentary Food Book Club and California Eating newsletters.
