When does Girl Scout Cookie season end? Time is running out

Girl Scout Cookie season is in full swing! Since January, Girl Scouts across the country have rallied their troops and set out to see who can sell the most boxes of their iconic (and delicious) cookies.

If you haven’t had the chance to snag a box of cookies, your chances are becoming limited, as Girl Scout Cookie season typically lasts until mid-April.

In Greater Cincinnati, the season ends a little sooner.

So, when does Girl Scout Cookie season officially end? And what happens to all the leftover cookies that don’t get sold? Here’s what we know.

When does Girl Scout Cookie season end? When is the last day to buy cookies?

Girl Scout Cookie season is recognized nationally from January through April. In Greater Cincinnati, Girl Scout Cookie season ends March 29, according to the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio.

How to buy Girl Scout Cookies

In Greater Cincinnati, which includes Ohio and Indiana, Girl Scouts started taking cookie orders Jan. 7 and host booths at local businesses from Feb. 27 to March 29.

If you know a Girl Scout, reach out to her.
If you don’t know a local Girl Scout, enter your zip code at gswo.org/findcookies. There, you can purchase cookies to be shipped directly to you or donate cookies for local community causes. In late February, this link can also be used to find cookie booths at nearby businesses.

What are the 2026 Girl Scout Cookie flavors?

This season, the following cookie flavors are available in Western Ohio:

Adventurefuls: indulgent brownie-inspired cookies with caramel-flavored crème and a hint of sea salt.
Caramel Chocolate Chip: chewy cookies with rich caramel, semisweet chocolate chips and a hint of sea salt. Gluten-free.
Caramel deLites: crispy cookies with caramel, coconut and chocolaty stripes.
Exploremores: sandwich cookies with chocolate, marshmallow and almond-flavored crème.
Lemonades: savory slices of shortbread with a refreshingly tangy lemon-flavored icing.
Peanut Butter Patties: crispy cookies layered with peanut butter and covered with a chocolaty coating.
Peanut Butter Sandwich: crisp and crunchy oatmeal cookies with peanut butter filling.
Thin Mints: crispy chocolate wafers dipped in a minty chocolate coating.
Trefoils: iconic shortbread cookies inspired by the original Girl Scout recipe.

What happens to unsold Girl Scout Cookies at the end of the season?

To ensure freshness, Girl Scouts “only sell cookies produced for the current season,” the organization’s website reads.

If a council or troop has extra cookies at the end of the annual Girl Scout Cookie sale, they’ll work with local food pantries and other charitable organizations to distribute cookies “as a special treat for people seeking food relief services,” per the Girl Scouts of USA website.

Additionally, the Girl Scouts work with licensed bakers to make sure an annual plan is in place for “responsibly managing leftover cookie inventory.”

These Greater Cincinnati charities and organizations receive Girl Scout Cookie donations

Girl Scouts of Western Ohio shares its unsold cookies with local nonprofits in two ways, KayAnn Rutter, director of marketing and communications of Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, said.

First is the Girl Scouts’ Cookie Share program, where people can purchase cookies for donations. The council will distribute the cookies to local food pantries and nonprofits that support military and veterans’ organizations in Cincinnati, Dayton, Lima and Toledo. If the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio have any unsold cookies remaining at the end of the program, they will share additional packages with those same partners.

Last year, the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio shared cookies with the following Greater Cincinnati organizations, Rutter confirmed:

Freestore Foodbank.
Meals on Wheels Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky.
Shared Harvest Foodbank.
Matthew 25: Ministries.

“Individual troops may also decide to share unsold cookies or packages donated during their booth sales with a local charity of their choosing,” Rutter said.

The Enquirer’s Bebe Hodges contributed to this report.

‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’

‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.cincinnati.com ’