Girl Scouts Introduce New Cookie: Will Savannah Smiles Be a Hit?

Credit: Matt Slocum/AP Photo

Samoas, Thin Mints, Tagalongs, oh my! Girl Scout cookie season is (finally) upon us and soon the troops will fan out to sell the irresistible cookies with those signature smiles.

This year, in honor of the organization's 100th anniversary, you'll see a brand new cookie flavor, in the mix. Called the Savannah Smile, it's a crescent shaped, lemon-wedge cookie with lemon chips that's dusted in powdered sugar.

According to Little Brownie Bakers, the company that bakes the new confection, the cookie is named after Girl Scout founder Juliet Low's hometown and is "cool and crisp, with just the right number of lemon chips to deliver tiny bursts of flavor." For the calorie-counters, five Savannah Smiles will set you back about 140 calories.

Since 1917 when troops first baked cookies and sold them in the high school cafeteria, the Girl Scout cookie fundraising effort has grown to generate millions of dollars a year for the organization. Approximately 200 million boxes are sold each year and the biggest seller is the Thin Mint, which accounts for 25 percent of overall sales, according to their website. Samoas are a close second, consisting of 19 percent of total sales, and Tagalongs come in third with 13 percent. Do-si-dos and Trefoils round out the top five biggest sellers.

Where will the Savannah Smiles fit in the all-star lineup? Only time will tell if the treats will earn a spot in the cookie lovers' hearts and pantries or face the same fate as discontinued flavors like the Double Dutch or Aloha Chips.

For me, it's unlikely to top the irresistible chocolate caramel coconut Samoa combination, but soon you can decide for yourself. Many troops begin selling cookies as early as mid January, and you can find where scouts are selling cookies in your area at www.GirlScoutCookies.org .  For die-hard fans, there's also a cookie locator app for smartphones that uses GPS to tell you the cookie sales closest to you.  To see a listing of all current varieties of Girl Scout Cookies along with pictures and descriptions, go to www.GirlScoutCookies.org.