Whip up a batch of these Homemade Samoas at home in minutes! These caramel and coconut topped shortbread are even BETTER than the original.
Love the classic caramel and coconut flavor? You have to try my famous German Chocolate Cupcakes! Soft chocolate cake with a delicious caramel coconut topping.
RECIPE FEATURES
- Better than the original: We LOVE the original, but this version is melt-in-your mouth delicious!
- Freezer Friendly: Freeze the cookies to keep them on hand for weeks!
Samoas are my husbands absolute favorite girl scout cookie. He cannot resist the toasted coconut pieces tossed in caramel and lightly drizzled with chocolate. A match made in heaven.
So it only made sense that I’d try to recreate my own version of the Samoa Cookie Recipe. This way he can enjoy these sweet caramel and coconut cookies all year round, and not only during Girl Scout season.
WHAT ARE SAMOAS MADE OF?
So, what exactly do you need to make this samoas recipe? Turns out the ingredient list is fairly simple!
- Butter: Softened butter is going to be the key ingredient to the shortbread base.
- Powdered Sugar: You read that right, powdered sugar is used in place of granulated to give you that melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Vanilla Extract: Just a touch of vanilla. Be sure to use pure vanilla extract. Imitation vanilla will leave a slightly chemical aftertaste.
- Flour and Salt: Flour for the cookie structure, and salt to enhance the overall flavor.
- Soft Caramels: These are those caramels in the baking aisle that are used for apple dipping. They come wrapped in individual squares, most likely in a large bag.
- Cream: Heavy whipping cream is mixed with the caramels to make it more of a soft and chewy texture. This will create the base to mix in the coconut for on top of the cookies.
- Coconut: If you aren’t sure how to toast coconut, be sure to check out the post linked here. Toasted coconut is key.
- Chocolate: Just a touch of melted chocolate to drizzle, or dip the bottoms of your cookie. We use semi-sweet chocolate chips but milk chocolate will work as well.
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE SAMOAS COOKIES
So, how exactly do you make these caramel and coconut girl scout cookies? Here is the step by step process, starting with the cookies.
- Add the soft butter to a mixing bowl along with the powdered sugar. Beat with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or a hand mixer, until fully combined and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla, flour, and salt.
- Continue to mix at low/medium speed until the dough comes together.
- Divide the dough into 2 and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Once chilled, roll the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper until 1/4 inch thickness.
- Cut into circles (or the classic donut shape if desired) and add to a baking tray lined with parchment or silicone baking mats.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are just lightly browned.
For the Coconut Topping:
- In a glass, or microwave safe bowl, combine the unwrapped caramels and heavy cream.
- Microwave for 2 minutes.
- Stir, and return to the microwave for 15 seconds at a time, stirring between each reheat, until the caramel is melted.
- Stir in the salt and vanilla extract.
- Reserve 1/4 cup of caramel for later use.
- Stir in the toasted coconut flakes into the rest of the caramel mixture.
Recipe Tips and FAQs
Do I have to chill the dough?
MORE GIRL SCOUT COOKIE COPYCATS
MORE COCONUT AND CARAMEL RECIPES
- Coconut Macaroon Cookie
- From Scratch Coconut Cupcakes
- Coconut Horchata Latte
- Easy Coconut Whipped Cream
- Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bars
- Homemade Soft Caramels
- Caramel Corn Recipe
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Homemade Samoas Cookies
cookies
Whip up a batch of these Homemade Samoas at home in minutes! These caramel and coconut topped shortbread are even BETTER than the original.
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the topping
- 1 cup soft caramels wrappers removed (about 8 to 9 oz)
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 1¼ cup toasted coconut
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
For the Cookies:
- Add the soft butter to a mixing bowl along with the powdered sugar. Beat with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or a hand mixer, until fully combined and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla, flour, and salt.
- Continue to mix at low/medium speed until the dough comes together.
- Divide the dough into 2 and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Once chilled, roll the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper until 1/4 inch thickness.
- Cut into circles (or the classic donut shape if desired) and add to a baking tray lined with parchment or silicone baking mats.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are just lightly browned.
For the Topping:
- In a glass, or microwave safe bowl, combine the unwrapped caramels and heavy cream.
- Microwave for 2 minutes.
- Stir, and return to the microwave for 15 seconds at a time, stirring between each reheat, until the caramel is melted.
- Stir in the salt and vanilla extract.
- Reserve 1/4 cup of caramel for later use.
- Stir in the toasted coconut flakes into the rest of the caramel mixture.
- Spread roughly 1 teaspoon of the reserved caramel onto the top of each shortbread cookie.
- Spread 1 heaping spoonful of the coconut caramel topping directly on top of each cookie.
- Melt the chocolate inside a glass bowl, or zip top bag. Drizzle each cookie with chocolate and allow to set before serving.
Notes
optional: You can always dip the bottom of the cookies into the chocolate for the classic look. We enjoy just a drizzle on top of each cookie.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 229kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 175mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
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Comments & Reviews
Katie says
I have tried a few other recipes for samoas. These taste close and were much easier than others. I did dip the bottoms of the cookies in chocolate.
Laura says
I made these a couple of weeks ago. I was really disappointed in a couple of things. First the recipe said it used a touch of confectioners sugar in the filling. It used 2 parts con. sugar to 3 parts PB. If I try this again, I will definitely adjusted this lower mayb e 1 to 3 or less. Recipe used 1/2 tsp. of filling per cookie. That’s not even enough to spread. I used much more but did not measure. I had just enough filling doing this way and it was still not enough. I shared these cookies with a few people and all wanted more filling not just a super-thin layer. When covering the cookies in chocolate, next time I will try spreading the choc. first on one side of all the cookies and once this hardens I will spread on the other side. I hope I can spread this instead of dipping the cookies so I can control the amount used. Dipping seemed to put too much chocolate on them plus I ended up using the rest of the choc. chips plus some. The cookie layer was good. I used a juice glass for cutting and got 34 out of the stated 36 so I was happy about that. I don’t normally use parchment paper but in this case I was glad I did.
Jesseca says
Hi Laura,
I’m sorry this was a frustrating recipe for you. You can always double the filling and add it onto the top of the cookie. The measurements worked well when we made the cookies, but I’ll test again just to be sure everything is on point. Always appreciate feedback.