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Girl Scouts unveil radical new flavor for 2023 cookie season in Houston

They say it's a sister to the Thin Mint.

Photo courtesy of Girl Scouts

The Girl Scouts are up to something radical: According to a release from Girl Scouts of the USA, they're adding a new flavor for the 2023 season that's a spinoff of their trademark Thin Mints cookie.

Called the Raspberry Rally, it's a thin, crispy cookie that looks and acts like a Thin Mints, with the same chocolaty coating, but instead of a minty center, it's infused with raspberry flavor.

They're calling it a sister to the Thin Mint but everyone knows that the Thin Mint is an only child and has no siblings.

The new raspberry-flavored cookie will be available to consumers nationally during the 2023 Girl Scout Cookie season, alongside favorites like Thin Mints and Samoas. But it will be available online only, the first Girl Scout cookie lineup to be thusly sold, with the idea that it will enhance Girl Scout e-commerce sales and entrepreneurial skills.

It will also be in limited quantities so, stand by for some frenzied online ordering once the season begins.

Girl Scout cookie season begins on January 12.

The release recounts the myriad pluses of the Girl Scouts cookies program, not that anyone needs persuasion, I mean all you have to say is cookies, but here goes:

One-hundred percent of proceeds raised from in-person and online cookie orders directly benefit local councils and troops.
Girl Scouts learn leadership, problem-solving, and community building through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, resulting in an invaluable experience that cultivates an innovative, entrepreneurial spirit.
The Girl Scout Cookie Program encourages girls to be risk takers, to think outside of the box, and to be confident in their own abilities.

The program embraces the understanding of the world of business, money management, and entrepreneurship. Cookie Business badges range anywhere from goal setting to learning effective in-person and online sales pitches, using market research, creating business plans, and implementing digital marketing campaigns.

There's also the fact that it's just fun to get something that isn't readily available 365 days per year.

This is not the first new flavor the Girl Scouts have introduced. Who could forget Adventurefuls, the brownie-inspired cookie with caramel-flavored crème and sea salt they introduced for the 2022 season? Still available, btw.

"The Raspberry Rally is the perfect addition to our delicious line up of Girl Scout Cookies," said Jennifer Bartkowski, CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. "When you purchase a box of Girl Scout Cookies, you are fueling girls’ learning and development through incredible leadership development programs. All proceeds stay local and support troops in your community with essential funds to power unique opportunities and adventures for their girls."

Visit www.girlscoutcookies.org to sign up to be notified as soon as Raspberry Rally and other Girl Scout Cookies are on sale.

desserts

hail hail

Self-driving Waymo robotaxis hit the streets in Houston

Waymo/ Facebook

Waymo is now offering driverless rides to Houstonians.

Waymo will begin dispatching its robotaxis in Houston and four more cities in Texas and Florida, expanding the territory covered by its fleet of self-driving cars to 10 major U.S. metropolitan markets.

The move into Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando, Florida, announced Tuesday, February 24, widens Waymo's early lead in autonomous driving while rival services from Tesla and the Amazon-owned Zoox are still testing their vehicles in only a few U.S. cities.

In contrast, Waymo's robotaxis already provide more than 400,000 weekly trips in the six metropolitan areas where they have been transporting passengers: Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, and Austin.

Waymo's cars soft launched service in San Antonio in November 2025, initially only offering the rides to employees. The company first began testing Alamo City’s roads the previous May as part of a multi-city “road trip” meant to map out roadways and help alleviate local concern over safety and other issues.

Waymo operates its ride-hailing service through its own app in all the U.S. cities except Atlanta and Austin, where its robotaxis can only be summoned through Uber's ride-hailing service.

The expansion into four more markets marks a significant step toward Waymo's goal to surpass 1 million weekly paid trips by the end of 2026. Without identifying where its robotaxis will be available next, Waymo is targeting a list of eight other cities that include Las Vegas, Washington, Detroit, and Boston while signaling its first overseas availability is likely to be London.

To help pay for more robotaxis, Waymo recently raised $16 billion as part of the financial infusion that puts the value of the company at $126 billion. The valuation fueled speculation that Waymo may eventually be spun off from its corporate parent Alphabet, where it began as a secret project within Google in 2009.

Although Waymo is opening up in four more cities, its robotaxis initially will only be made available to a limited number of people with its ride-hailing app in San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, and Orlando before the service will be available to all corners in those markets.

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This article contains additional reporting from CultureMap San Antonio editor Brandon Watson.

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