A Timeless Treat

How Girl Scout Cookies Became a Century-Long Tradition of Leadership

For more than 100 years, Girl Scouts have ensured the success of the iconic annual cookie sale by peddling their irresistible boxed cookies. Girl Scouts have been blazing trails and redefining what’s possible for girls everywhere since 1912, when Juliette Gordon Low started Girl Scouts in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia. The first troop was made up of 18 girls.

At a time when women in the United States couldn’t yet vote and were expected to adhere to strict social norms, encouraging girls to embrace their strengths and create their own opportunities was game-changing.

In 1917, girls from the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, made and sold cookies to fund their project to send Christmas bags to soldiers in World War I. By the 1920s, cookie sales went nationwide, with girls using a simple sugar cookie recipe in their home kitchens and packaging them in wax paper sealed with a sticker, selling them for 25 to 35 cents per dozen.

Today, Little Brownie Bakers makes and packages the cookies found in this region. Cookies sell for $6 per box.

Cookie sales begin Jan. 6 and end March 8. Preordered cookies will arrive after Jan. 17. There are nine flavors of cookies available this year. Longtime favorites remain on the 2026 menu, including Thin Mints, Do-si-dos (oatmeal sandwich with peanut butter filling), Trefoils (shortbread), Samoas (caramel, coconut with chocolate swirl), and Tagalongs (crispy cookie with peanut butter covered in chocolate icing). Also in the lineup are Toffee-tastic, a gluten-free cookie, Lemon-Ups, a crispy lemon cookie with an inspiring message detail, and Adventurefuls, an indulgent brownie-inspired cookie topped with caramel-flavored creme with a hint of sea salt. New to the 2026 menu is Exploremores, a sandwich cookie with chocolate, marshmallow and almond flavor.

Franklin resident Connie Holzhausen has been a Girl Scout leader for 48 years. She has been a Girl Scout since she was 7 years old and holds a lifetime membership. She has taken troops camping, worked on numerous badge requirements, directed day camp, and guided girls to achieve the Gold Award, formerly known as First Class Scout. She has led Troop No. 2416 all over the world, including Rome, Venice, London, Paris, Switzerland and Australia. She has been to the hometown of Girl Scouting, Savannah, Georgia, 10 times.

“I love it. It’s my life. It’s Girl Scouts,” Holzhausen says. I don’t think there is anything out there for girls currently that is better. Programs come and go. It can make a difference in your life. It did mine.”

Holzhausen is currently the leader for five high school-aged girls who will be participating in the annual cookie drive. She explains that a portion of each box sold goes to the troop or into the girls’ “bank” to use for an upcoming trip to Europe in 2027. It takes a lot of strategic planning and many weekends devoted to reaching their cookie sales goals. Last year, her troop sold more than 5,000 boxes of cookies.

Holzhausen’s garage serves as the “cupboard” for the southwestern region for Girl Scouts of Central Indiana. There are 28 cupboards throughout Central Indiana. Her garage will soon hold between 1,700 and 2,000 cases of cookies. Leaders will empty the garage in a day or two as they pick up their troop’s orders, and the cupboard will replenish stock throughout the cookie sales timeline. Maintaining the cupboard has been a labor of love, with the assistance of her family throughout the years.

With the anticipation of Girl Scout cookie time approaching, those who have waited all year for their favorites will soon be able to indulge. For those sticking to New Year’s resolutions or who have already supported scouting with a dozen boxes sitting on the kitchen countertop, the ingenious scouts have thought of an alternative option. Cookies can be purchased through Operation Cookie Drop or Gift of Caring. Through these donations, cookies are shipped to deployed troops or distributed to veterans at VA medical centers. This is a meaningful way to support Girl Scouting and military heroes. This philanthropic venture cycles back to the scouts of 1917 who started cookie sales to benefit the troops.

In addition to enjoying the cookies right out of the box, they can last eight months to a year in the freezer. For those who like to experiment with recipes, Little Brownie Bakers offers recipe ideas using Girl Scout Cookies as a main ingredient.