Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies. I don’t think I’ve ever typed sweeter words in my life. Move over Pepperoni Pizza Pull-Apart Bread because mama’s got a new favorite recipe, and it involves the perfect ratio of cookie and coconut to caramel and chocolate.
As far as I’m concerned, there are two types of people in the world: Samoas lovers and Thin Mint lovers. You are one or the other. You cannot be both. I picked my side two decades ago during my days as a Daisy and a Brownie. Team Samoas for life.
We have Instructables to thank for this recipe. Just imagine a buttery shortbread base piled high with a mix of toasted coconut and caramel that’s dunked and drizzled in dark chocolate. The result is a homemade take on the iconic Girl Scout cookie, ordinarily only available a few months out of the year. So quit hoarding those purple boxes and free up that freezer space by baking up sweet and chewy Samoas from scratch.
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Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the coconut topping:
- 3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
- 15 ounces store-bought or homemade soft caramels
- 3 Tablespoons whole milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces dark chocolate (See Kelly’s Notes)
Instructions
Make the cookies:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In three increments, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter, mixing between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the milk and vanilla extract, blending until combined and the dough begins to come together in large pieces.
- Use your hands to divide the dough in half, pressing it together to compact it into two disks. Wrap the disks securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate them until firm, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Once the dough has chilled, roll each disk out onto a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8-inch thick. Cut out as many cookies as possible with a doughnut-shaped cookie cutter. (See Kelly’s Notes for cookie cutter alternatives.) Place the cut-out cookies on a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
- Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half-way through, until the cookies are pale golden brown. Transfer the cookies to a wire wrack to cool completely.
Make the coconut topping:
- Spread the coconut flakes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the coconut for about 10 minutes in a 350ºF oven until toasted, stirring frequently to ensure even browning and so that it does not burn. (See Kelly’s Notes.) Remove the toasted coconut from the oven and set it aside.
- Melt the caramels, milk and salt in a double-boiler by placing the caramels in a medium saucepot set over a large saucepot of simmering water. Cook, stirring, until the caramels are fully melted. Remove the saucepot from the heat and combine ¾ of the caramel with the toasted coconut in a large bowl.
- Carefully spread the remaining ¼ cup of caramel atop the cooled cookies then press on a portion of the coconut mixture. Let the cookies cool for 30 minutes. If the caramel-coconut mixture thickens too much at any point while pressing it onto the cookies, return it to the double-boiler and warm it until it’s spreadable again.
- Melt the dark chocolate in a double-boiler or in the microwave. Dip the bottoms of the cookies in the chocolate and place them on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Use a fork to drizzle the tops with chocolate. Let the cookies sit until the chocolate hardens fully.
Kelly’s Notes:
- If you don’t have a doughnut-shaped cookie cutter, you can use two cookies cutters (such as a circular 2-inch and a circular 1-inch) to form the ring shape. Alternately, you can use the caps to any dry spices to serve as cookie cutters.
- If the dough is too firm to roll out after being refrigerated, let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling and cutting out the cookies.
- The shortbread should be very pale golden in color. When in doubt, underbake it!
- If using dark chocolate chips, 8 ounces is equal to about 1 ⅓ cups chocolate chips.
- Coconut burns very quickly, so keep an eye on it and stir often!
- Spreading the cookies with the reserved ¼ cup of caramel gives the coconut mixture a stickier base to adhere to.
- ★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
Nutrition
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Recipe adapted from Instructables.
Hey there! I have made these several times everyone always loves them!! I was wondering if I could freeze them and if I could how long would they be good? Thank You!!
So glad you’re enjoying the recipe, Kylee! You can absolutely freeze them in an airtight container and if stored properly, they should last for up to 3 months. Enjoy!
I made a modified version of this cookie. Instead of baking the shortbread for the bottom I purchased store bought fudge striped cookies. I’m so thankful I did because spreading the coconut mixture on that type of cookie was tricky enough and it didn’t have a hole in the middle. I can’t imagine having to fuss with spreading it in a precise donut shaped shortbread cookie. Also, unwrapping only 15oz of store bought caramels all at once was enough to make me want to pull my hair out. These cookies look beautiful, and taste great but are EXTREMELY sweet. I sprinkled flaked salt on top to cut the sweetness a bit. I’d suggest you use unsweetened coconut because the caramels are plenty sweet enough on their own. I’ve never had the store bought version of this cookie so I have nothing to compare to but my family enjoyed them. I’m not a fan enough to go through all the work again to have them. I think I’d just buy the boxed one if I wanted them.
Have made these several times aways a hit.thanks..I was a girl scout leader sold thousand of these cookies..hahaha..in a convection oven decrease the temp 50 degrees same time just lower temp.I cooked in convection ovens for years in restaurants..50 degrees.. lower then a conventional oven …fyi
So glad you’re enjoying the recipe, Paula!
Have made these several times aways a hit.thanks..I was a girl scout leader sold thousand of these cookies..hahaha
Same, Paula! So glad you’re enjoying the recipe :)
Hi, just wondered, could I use unsweetened coconut if that’s what I had in my pantry? Considering it’s mixed in with the caramel, which is essentially pure sugar, would it really matter?
Absolutely, Kelly!
I’m anxious to try these out, they look so yummy. The only part of the recipe that has me a little worried is the part of dipping them in the dark chocolate. In the picture, it looks like you use your hands, so I’m imagining the cookies is thick enough to grab by the sides and dip without burning your fingers? Are there any other tips to doing that part from others? Thank you.
Hi Chris! The chocolate is not very hot when it’s in melted form, so there’s no worry over burns. It’ll essentially be warm (or even room temp). Hope that helps!
I made a Girl Scout theme cookie board for a retirement a couple of days ago and my co-workers loved these cookies. I kept being told that they are better than the actual girl scout cookies you buy and even have a request to make them for another retirement party in a few months.
Love reading this, Bonnie! Enjoy!
I’ve been making these every Christmas for several years now. My favorite shortcut is instead of making the melted caramel sauce, I buy a jar of Mrs. Richardson’s salted caramel ice cream topping (it’s one cup). I pour 3/4 of it into the toasted coconut & use the remaining caramel to spread on the cookies.
Brilliant idea!
These were so so unbelievably good. Definitely take a bit of time but now I made a double batch and keep extras in the freezer. Ten stars!!
Thrilled you enjoyed them, Alyson. Love the idea of keeping them in the freezer!
hello. wanna ask, if I can bake them in air fryer?
Hi there! I haven’t tried baking these in an air fryer but I’m concerned with the convection-style of cooking that they’d burn.
These took some patience but OMG!!!! Best cookie recipe of all time and now I will make this a project with my kids whenever we’re craving Samoas. The results were INCREDIBLE!
Thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Ariel!