Homemade Samoas Cookies

from 44 votes

Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies

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.

Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies

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.

Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies

Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies

Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies

Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies

Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies

Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies

Craving more? Sign up for the Just a Taste newsletter for a fresh serving of content delivered every week to your inbox! And stay in touch on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for all of the latest updates.

Dessert

Homemade Samoas Cookies

Make sure you never run out of Girl Scout cookies again with this recipe for Homemade Samoas Cookies.
Author: Kelly Senyei
4.62 from 44 votes
Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Servings 48 (2-inch) cookies

Ingredients 

For the cookies:

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) 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 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

Calories: 162kcal, Carbohydrates: 16g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 11mg, Sodium: 62mg, Potassium: 95mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 125IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 22mg, Iron: 1mg

Shoutout

Did you try this recipe?

Share it with the world! Mention @justataste or tag #justatasterecipes!

This post may contain affiliate links.

Recipe adapted from Instructables.


Feeling social?

Share this recipe!

Categories

Related Recipes

Check out more crave-worthy favorites

Kelly Senyei holding a copy of The Secret Ingredient Cookbook

love the recipes on just a taste?

Check out my cookbook!

Order your copy of The Secret Ingredient Cookbook featuring 125 brand-new family-friendly recipes with surprisingly tasty twists!

This post may contain affiliate links.

Join the Conversation

Rate and Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. 5 stars
    These were very easy, you just need to follow the directions.
    Delicious, I made them for a cookie exchange, a big success.

  2. 4 stars
    I tried this recipe it seems to have worked out well. I think the next time I would roll the dough just a bit thicker. In addition I think the refrigeration time should be closer to 2 hours I had to put mine back into the fridge because it was getting too soft. But overall I think the recipe worked well.

  3. 5 stars
    These are my favorite Girl Scout cookies! I was excited to find this recipe! They turned out great. My family and I ate them up !

  4. 5 stars
    Made them for my boyfriend to take home when he visited them for the weekend and he said everyone loved them. His sister requested that I make some more and even the ones who don’t like coconut said they were really good. Probably the best cookies I’ve ever made!
    The cookies do take awhile, but definitely worth it. I followed another review that said to roll out the dough before chilling in the fridge and it took about 45 min to harden. I only used a 11oz pack of caramel melts which I found out was not enough, so def get the amount listed. Also not sure what the recipe called for but I realized I only needed to dip the caramel on the top half of the cookie bc the bottom has chocolate. I used semi sweet chocolate but probably will use dark next time to balance out the sweetness of the caramel. I only had salted butter on hand so I just substituted that and didnt add any of the salt to the cookies or caramel. Overall, definitely a wonderful recipe and will have to make it again and again!

  5. Great recipe! Honestly my first try at making the dough didn’t go well, it was way too sticky. My rope for that is if you think you can mix it for another few seconds, don’t – it’s done being mixed.

    Also, to keep the caramel from hardening I kept the bowl over the double boiler and just turned that burned on the stove off and never had a problem.

    I did find that using a 2in cookie cutter resulted in more than 48 cookies, but the more the merrier!

  6. I am so glad to find this recipe as I always buy Samoas Girl Scout cookies. However, I do take exception to your comment: “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 am here to tell you I am both. I love to put the Thin Mints in the freezer and eat one cold, then rinse my palate and nibble on a Samoas. LOL, I will try this recipe and let you know how it works (tastes!)

  7. 5 stars
    These are good and worth the work! Followed these comments from Kelly and her fans:
    1) For the cookies
    a) IMPORTANT: The key to making shortbread that doesn’t crumble is to mix it just until the ingredients are incorporated. If you overmix it, it will become crumbly.
    b) IMPORTANT: The key to making shortbread that doesn’t crumble is to mix it just until the ingredients are incorporated. If you overmix it, it will become crumbly.
    c) As soon as the cookies cool, dip into semisweet chocolate. Work with 2 cookies at a time and share the chocolate from the dipped cookie with the un-dipped cookie by gently rubbing them together, so the chocolate isn’t as thick.
    2) For the Carmel :
    a) Made my own Carmel. 2 batches.
    b) Used the entire first batch to mix with the toasted coconut. As mentioned in the other comments, I took the coconut/carmel mixture and rolled it into a flat disk. I cut it into squares to fit onto the cookies when it cooled.
    c) Used the second batch of Carmel as paste. Using a teaspoon, I scooped some Carmel onto the cookies starting from when it hit 220 until it hit soft ball stage, and pasted the disks on top shaping them to the cookie.
    3) the rest of the recipe as directed. Might be easier if you break it up into 2 days…

  8. 5 stars
    I made this gluten free, using 1 to 1 flour. And it turned out amazing! I burned the first round of coconut, but that was my own fault so thank you for putting an extra note about it burning quickly!! Thank you for this recipe!

  9. 5 stars
    This is an easy recipe, but has several steps. Nothing is incredibly difficult. It just takes some time. Prepare for your kitchen to smell delicious as you proceed through the steps!

    The cookies were very good! I used the melt/chocolate function on my microwave for both the caramel step and the chocolate step. I used a round 2 inch cookie cutter and didn’t bother with the hole in the center.

  10. 5 stars
    Made these..burnt blisters on all my fingers but they were a favorite! It’s a rush to get coconut mixture on before it hardens..but my son in law swears it’s the best cookie ever.definatley making again!

  11. 5 stars
    Surprisingly easy and addicting! I even substituted the flour for gluten free flour, and it worked perfectly! A new favorite recipe.

  12. Tip:.

    Put cookie dough between two parchment and/or plastic wrap layers.
    Then roll lightly between the layers to 1/8 inch thick.
    Then place flat on baking sheet.
    Put baking sheet in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour OR put into freezer for 15 minutes to 30 minutes.
    Then peel back top layer of plastic/parchment.
    Cut small donut shapes.
    Then transfer to parchment line/silicon lined baking sheet.

    Don’t add the extra time to have to spread it to 1/8th of an inch thin as hard disks that warm up with rolling.

    Pre roll ❤️

  13. These look amazing and I can’t wait to try!
    However, the only other girl scout cookie I like is the thin mint so I disagree with you saying there’s one or the other.

  14. This looks fantastic! Can’t wait to try it. But…um…i like thin mints, and Samos, and trefoils, and pretty much every other cookie on earth XD

  15. Hi I want to make these but don’t like dark chocolate can I use semi sweet thanks can’t wait to make them!

      1. 4 stars
        Just finished making. Everything was looking good until the ‘dipping the bottom in chocolate’ part. Chocolate was still hot and didn’t quite think the technique through, yada yada, the cookies now have more ‘personality’. Lol, gladly this is my personal/ first time batch and the taste/texture and spirit of a Carmel Delight is exact.

        I decided only to make half of the batch so I have the short bread in the freezer that I can pull out for the next go round.

        Thanks Kelly!

  16. the 15 0z caramel, is that the Kraft caramels wrapped individually? if you use the Kraft bits in a eleven oz bag, how would I measure out 15 oz. from 2 off those bags? thank you, Debra

    1. Yes, the individually wrapped caramels. I haven’t used the Kraft bits but you’d just need to measure out 15 oz. using a scale.

  17. 1 star
    Ugh these turned out awful!! The shortbread cookie is way too crumbly to hold up to the caramel, it just doesn’t work together. A lot of work for a gross impossible to eat cookie

  18. I made this recipe using Kelly’s (November 9, 2021) suggestions. I’m glad I did! I doubled the batch and it took 2 evenings to do all of the work. I think her suggestions made this recipe much easier to manage. The coconut mixture was very sticky and I put it on the cookies with my fingers. I couldn’t manage the spoons. Great recipe!

      1. 4 stars
        I love this recipe and have made it several times. I took one star off because I think it’s a bit overly complicated as written. Here are some things I’ve done to make it a bit easier:

        -I found this dough impossible to roll out and cut. Either it was way too firm from the freezer or for soft too quickly. Since I don’t care if it has the hole or not, I rolled the two halves of dough into logs about 2 inches in diameter, wrapped in parchment paper, and put in the fridge until firm, about an hour. Then I sliced them into 1/8-1/4 inch thick round slices and baked them. This saved A TON of time and headache. Even if you wanted the hole in the middle, I’d still recommend doing it this way and then just cutting out the middle circle. I’ve done this and used the inner middle circles to make mini cookies.
        -The coconut caramel mix hardens too fast to work with so I kept mine over the double boiler with the heat on low while working.
        -8 oz isn’t quite enough chocolate to coat the bottom and drizzle on top. Closer to 9-10 oz is safe.
        -I add about 1-2 tbsp of coconut oil in with the chocolate. This thins it out a bit, making it easier to work with, and is firm at room temperature, so it helps harden the chocolate.
        – because my chocolate hardens pretty quickly I dip the cookies in the chocolate as I’m melting the caramel. It’s just a bit easier to dip them when they don’t have the topping already on them, but that’s just a personal preference.
        – You can put the remaining chocolate into a zip lock bag and cut a small piece off the corner to pipe the drizzle on top. Much easier and cleaner than using a fork.

        Overall this recipe is DELICIOUS and is always a hit. Good luck!

      2. Thank you so much for all of your notes, Kelly! I’m thrilled you’ve been enjoying the recipe :)

  19. 5 stars
    The shortbread recipe was spot on– I did use the paddle on my newly received mixing stand and I whipped the butter and sugar together until it was fluffy before adding the flour mixture. I also substituted cream for the milk in the shortbread recipe. I found a great and easy recipe for homemade caramel, since I didn’t have any caramel squares at home. Next time, I’ll skip adding salt to my caramel, though because it’s a bit salty. I didn’t have chocolate chips so I just melted a Trader Joe’s dark chocolate bar. Once I’d toasted the coconut, it was easy to mix with enough caramel to make the spread. I found that I had to cool the cookies all the way down in the freezer in order to get the caramel to stick. All in all, AMAZING!

  20. 5 stars
    Delicious!! Definitely worth the effort. I like to whip up a homemade batch of caramel instead of using store bought. Also love the ghirardelli old fashioned chocolate chips….bomb diggity!

  21. 5 stars
    I made these cookies last year and they were a huge hit with our christmas parties. I will be making these for christmas again but as a cookie box (due to the current situation). Many people have asked for them so I will not disappoint. While these cookies are time consuming, the presentation and flavour are so worth it. Thank you so much!!!

  22. 1 star
    Not only do these take forever to make, they don’t taste like somoas. Making the cookie shape doesn’t seem worth it… Even after chilling the dough is very soft and hard to work with. After making 8 cookies, I made the rest into a rectangle and just cut them into squares. It’s also insanely difficult to get the coconut around the cookie and make it pretty. It just isn’t worth it. The coconut Carmel mixture also doesn’t set, so when you try to dip the bottom it all falls off. Ugh!!! Extremely frustrating recipe.

  23. 4 stars
    You should revise it so people don’t preheat their ovens just to find out the dough has to chill for an hour, haha. Good recipe otherwise

  24. 5 stars
    Love this recipe! I’ve been making these for almost a year and they’ve always come out so good. I will say it’s very time consuming, but it’s worth it in the end.

  25. Is there a link to a recipe for homemade caramels? Or how can we make the caramel part of the cookie without store-bought caramels?

  26. 4 stars
    These taste really good. If I did it again, I would thin the caramel more. I had a hard time making the 1/4 cup go far enough on the tops of the cookies. Or buy more caramel.

  27. 5 stars
    Didn’t make these yet! Just commenting to say great job with a recipe that people are still excited about years later, keep up the good work!

    I do have a question, do you know approx. how much coconut mixture is going on each cookie?

    1. 5 stars
      I haven’t made the recipe yet,but it looks delish. I just tried girl scout cookies for the first time two days ago, and I think I’m your unicorn because i happened to get thin mints and samoas to try.im in love with them both. Im gunna make the recipe to compare to the boxed ones while i still have some left over. Great job btw,like i said they look amazing

    1. Hi Ed – I’ve never tried freezing them so I’m not sure what the taste/texture would be like once thawed. However, you can store them in an airtight container at room temp and they should last up to about 5 days.

  28. 5 stars
    Wow. I was looking for a multi-step pastry project, and these “rang the bell,” according to a taster. The hardest part was unwrapping all those caramels.

    When I make these again, I’d use semi-sweet chocolate because this is an unsophisticated “girl scout” cookie, so the dark chocolate felt too grown up.

    Mine have dried and the bottoms are fine, but the caramel is still a tad sticky. This doesn’t bother me, but if anyone has found a way to make the caramel harden as the chocolate does, please post!

  29. 5 stars
    Just made these. They are definitely a labor of love – but well worth it! Can’t wait to surprise my husband – he’s been asking for them as we don’t have access to Girl Scout cookies in Germany. Thank you so much for the great recipe!

    1. Hi Anne – The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temp, and they should still be nice and fresh up to about 5 days.

  30. 4 stars
    Boy, these were an undertaking. They are delicious, though. I didn’t cut a doughnut hole and ended up just a bit short of the caramel coconut mixture as a result. The tip about adding some caramel directly to the cookie was spot on.
    I think next time I’ll try plopping the coconut mixture between two sheets of parchment paper and rolling it out thinner then using a cookie cutter to make a more finished look.

  31. 5 stars
    Just made these cookies. Yes, a bit tedious but all that much more love to put into them. I even made the caramel from scratch. A lot of work but with good turnout. They were amazing! So glad to have discovered this recipe. No more searching for me, this worked great. I will do be making them again!

  32. 5 stars
    After reading the comments, I decided to make a double batch to appease the whiners in my family who didn’t get their Somoa fix this year and I’m so glad I did! Even a double batch was gone in less than a day!
    The only change was making my own caramel, family preference says store caramels are too sweet, but otherwise I followed the recipe.
    Definitely a new family favorite. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.

  33. 5 stars
    I’m making these today but using my own short bread cookie recipe and doing them in rectangle shapes. After reading some of the comments I will say some things are worth the time spent, it’s not just food but a creation.

  34. 3 stars
    I gave them a 3 because of how much work they were, the taste is definitely a five. Made these today, I am a diligent baker and don’t mind fussy work, but these were a monumental amount of work. Yes, they taste and look fabulous – but having conquered them once, I think I will give my business to the Girl Scouts in the future. Thanks for the inspiration though. I have always wanted to try to make these.

  35. 4 stars
    I have to disagree that you can only be one or the other: samoa lover or thin mint lover. As I am most certainly a person who loves both. In fact they are both my favorite girl scout cookie. I have never been able to decide between the two, and I doubt, at this point, that I ever will.

    1. Hi Annabelle! I’ve never tried freezing them so I’m not sure about that option, but if you store them in an airtight container at room temp, they should last up to about 5 days and still be nice and fresh.

  36. I am going to try and make this gluten free with a different type of flour. My daughter loved Samoas but now has Celiac and needs to have them gluten free. Thanks for the recipe!!

  37. There is no need to cut a donut hole in the cookie. Putting the coconut over the cookie and drizzling with chocolate is just as delicious. Better, really.

  38. THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH! I live in Germany so we don’t have girl scout cookies, but when I once read about samoas in a book I fell in love (Yes, without even tasting) because it combines three of my favourite things in the world: coconut, caramel and chocolate. ;) And now I CAN try them, because of your genius recipe! *Thank you so much.*
    Lots of love! xxx

    1. Hi there, Cathy! I’ve never tried freezing them so I can’t say for certain how they’d taste. Let me know if you give it a shot!

  39. I will have to try this receipt. This is my favorite Girl Scout cookie. Always had been since I was in girl scouts

  40. Thank you for your response. When you indicate 3/4 of the caramel for the coconut topping do you mean 3/4 of a cup of caramel? Trying to figure out how much caramel topping to combine with the coconut.

    1. Hi Shari! I’ve never used pre-made caramel so I’m not sure the exact quantity, but you could definitely just estimate and add enough so that the coconut is well-coated.

  41. Do you think you could use caramel ice cream topping instead of the caramels? I am going to make these for a cookie swap that is this weekend.

  42. Hi! I’ve tried your recipe a number of times. Do you have any tips on how to make them super pretty like the picture? The tough part is applying the caramel and then coconut mixture quickly. Any tips?

    1. Hi Lena! If you’re finding it difficult to distribute the coconut-caramel mixture, chances are the caramel has cooled too much. I’d recommend reheating the mixture, which will soften it and make it pliable enough to stick to the cookies. Hope this helps!

  43. Hello, I wanted to ask how many grams is 1 cup? In my country 1 cup is 250 grams (I’m from Czech Republic) :)

    1. Depends on what you’re measuring. Mass and volume are not universally interchangeable. A cup of butter is 8oz, a cup of sugar is about 6oz, a cup of flour is about 5oz. To be more helpful, though, a cup is the volume of 8oz or about 250g of water.

  44. These are awesome!! I ran out of dark chocolate so some were plain on the bottom but still delicious..Recipe is a keeper

  45. Hi.. i would like to ask.. after cooling all of the chocolate and caramel.. where do we store them? Air tight container? Or in fridge? How long can it last?

  46. I am sitting here eating the Samoas I just made, thanks to your recipe. Mine are gluten free though, and instead of making them like rings, they are just a solid circle shape. Holds more of the delicious topping way! They were pretty time consuming but the end result is worth it.

    Thanks for the recipe–it’s terrific!!! Now I can have Samoas again!

  47. So…I am not a big fan of dark chocolate, and it’s not something you’d find in my pantry–but I LOVE Samoas…
    Do you think I could use semi-sweet to get rid of the bitter dark chocolate taste, but still not too sweet?? Or do you think that dark chocolate is the way to go? Let me know, I REALLY want to make these little beauties!

  48. Dear Lory, I don’t know if you have a Dollar General Store where you live. If you do, go there, you will find all of the GS Cookies under the Clover Valley brand..Where I live you can get any choice For $1.80. I have tried them they are just as good as Gs cookies..Heck of lot cheaper than homemade or GS. If possible try 1 pkg. and see what you think.It has got to be cheaper to throw out than what you lost in your homemade, IF YOU DON’T THEM! We LOVE them!!!

  49. Just made these and I’ve very happy with how they turned out! The only change I made was adding more flour to shortbread dough because it was very sticky after adding the milk and vanilla. I use a scale instead of measuring cups so that may have made a difference. I made the caramel from scratch so the process took about 4 hours from start to finish but it was worth it. Thanks so much for the detailed recipe!

    1. Francesca! What a beautiful name.
      I was wondering, what recipe did you use to create your own caramel?? I’ve noticed that all caramel I come across is nothing but fructose corn syrup and food coloring…If yours is any better please let me know!! Thanks!!

  50. AMEN!!! Me too … if that’s the rule … we are the exceptions and I wear my weirdness proudly. When I was a Girl Scout there were on 3 kinds to choose from Chocolate Mint (now known as Thin Mints), Shortbread, and Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies. The mint is tried and true and withstood the test of time.

  51. These look great. Does anyone know why I should follow the recipe and let the caramels “..cool for at least 2 hours” and then melt them? Wouldn’t it be easier to just cook them at the same time adding the milk as they cool? You might be able to skip the double boiler.

  52. Hey! I made these cookies tonight and they are delicious! Question though. When I dipped (or spread) the chocolate on the bottom and sat them on wax paper, they stuck and peeled the chocolate off. So I dipped/spread and put them upside down. Any suggestions for next time? Great cookie!

    1. So glad you enjoyed the recipe! It sounds like they hadn’t dried enough, so the chocolate was still adhered to the wax paper instead of the cookie. Next time you can try popping them in the fridge for about 10 minutes to really firm up the chocolate. Hope that helps!

  53. They look great. I like both mints and Samoans. In. Canada you can only get the thin mints and a chocolate/vanilla sandwich cookies. I think my mother brought back these with her. They were delish.

  54. I just made a batch of these for a charity bake sale at work and they were amazingly good. The recipe was so easy to follow and everyone raved about how delicious they were. I live in the UK now and really miss the real samoa cookies, these are the closest I’ve come to matching them.

  55. These are amazing…do you think you could create a healthy version? my mouth waters…

  56. turned out absolutely dreadful… will never make these again. id rather spend the money on real samoas!

  57. Thank you for this delicious recipe. Made them to sell at a bake sale here in New Zealand and boy are they in for a treat. I ended up using your caramel recipe linked as well and was quite pleased. I do not have a candy thermometer but the caramels still turned out great. Thanks again!

  58. I will have to respectfully disagree with you. ;) You CAN love both because … *I* do. Thin Mints and Samoas are my favorite GS cookies!
    These look fabulous, btw. :)

  59. I agree with you on this one. The recipe was an epic fail. I live in a humid environment where we keep the windows open all year round and do not use the air conditioner as it is so expensive.

    The cookies turned out soggy due to the humidity. The caramels were so warm I had to put them in the freezer to harden up. The coconut was the easy part. The chocolate never melted well.

    So I have soggy cookies with coconut caramel on top, no chocolate on the top or bottom.

    Epic fail…wish I lived in the US so I could just buy the cookies… This was a VERY expensive recipe and it was a bust.

  60. please can we have a video on how these somoas cookies should be done? I did make them,But there’s got to be an easier way. thank you.

  61. My roommates and I had an empty Saturday today so we made these awesome cookies! They definitely took the better part of the afternoon, but they’re a lot of fun to make with simple steps. They are so good!!! We gave them out as gifts to our friends and everyone loved them. Thank you for the recipe!

  62. I found out that Ernie the Keebler Elf must’ve seduced the Head Girl Scout ‘cuz he makes Thin Mints AND Samoas. Yep – just as good as the Girls but more reasonably priced. You are welcome!

  63. Sadly this was a pinterest fail. The time on this is closer to 4 hrs. The caramel was not nearly enough to paste on the cookies AND mix with the coconut. We used caramel candy and it just kept hardening way too quick. The way it hardened on the cookie ruined the cookie. Homemade the way to go here? Would love to try again as I liked the shortbread but candy caramel is definitely the WRONG route.

  64. Hi, I made these cookies yesterday and took them to work today. Everyone loooooovvvvveeeeedddd them! Now , if you want to make them , set aside some time because from my experience they took more than 2 hours ( 4hrs to be exact but that just me maybe). The hardest parts for me were : 1)cutting the cookies since i didnt have a cookie cutter (used the water bottle cap for the little circle and another bigger cap), 2) dipping them in melted caramel since it is hot and the cookies are thin I ended up dropping them in the pan multiple times (i tried spreading the caramel with a spoon but it would cool off really fast). Other than that these cookies are to die for. Thank you for the recipe!

  65. I was a Girl Scout (yes there’s a card in my wallet) and I will always buy them, but it’d be nice to adapt the recipe. Thank you, , I think I’ll make the Caramel Delights with the centers though. I’ll keep looking for the shortbread and thin mint recipes, I love them all. :)

  66. I would ask you to marry me, if I had not just gotten married in September! LOL Wow…this is probably my most fave recipe EVER…and I rarely use recipes. But…I do have a slight indifference with you…I love BOTH Samoas and Thin Mints….equally! I usually feel compelled to order a case of cookies, all in the name of supporting Girls Scouts, of course…and I order 6 of each! ;)

  67. I can’t imagine how skilled you are. I attempted the cut out version and threw in the towel after 5 cookies. I made a bar version. They are good but the shortbread didn’t have the same texture as the gs version. They were crumbly. Still good though.

  68. I too love Samoas, and could not wait to try these. Wow, send in the cleaning crew, what a mess. It took about 3 hours and was just frustrating, so since I made a double batch and was exhausted after the first I took the second batch of dough and put it in a silicone baking dish, baked it, cut it while warm, then topped it once cooled. So much easier and just as yummy ! I will still buy the Girl Scout cookies as opening a box and sitting with a cup of coffee is heaven, but these will be nice for special events, mine are just squares.

  69. Hello, so today I spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen making the cookies it takes more then 2h. As anyone here said how pretty they look but no one said how do they taste, I thought I would write a review (wish I could post a picture) well. They taste AMAZING. The flavor is most likely the same as the samoas, I use the exact ingredients nothing added as I wanted to see how would they be. And my review is 5* but prepare urself to spend the half day in the kitchen. Thank u for the recipe Kelly, they are a big hit!!!! :)

  70. My two FAVORITE cookies are Samoas and Thin Mints. Funny you say it’s one or the other! This recipe looks amazing, but like GS Samoas, not good for my diet since I can’t help but eat a whole box at once!

  71. These are fantastic! I have made them twice in the last week. My chocolate was a little thick though, would adding a little oil help to thin it out? Thanks!!

  72. Yummy! We made these today and they are absolutely delicious! They taste way better than the boxed version! We followed the directions other than our cookie cutter was a little large and it made 27 cookies. They were definitely messy and time consuming. Next time I will probably just do a circle cutter with no hole and scoop a glob of the coconut topping in the middle. This is a fantastic recipe thanks for sharing!

  73. Wow. These were not easy. They came out great but a few questions: how did you manage to speak the coconut goo on the ring cookies? I’m so glad I gave up early on with the ring shape and just went with simple circles. Still good though. Also…these took me no less than 3 almost 3 and a half hours…did it really only take you 2 hours? Also how did you keep the rings from breaking when dipping them in the chocolate? Even my sturdy circles struggled to hold it together.

    Thanks for a great recipe!!

    1. Thank you so much! I really appreciate you pointing this out. I’ve been in touch with the person who runs the site and had the content removed. Thanks :)

  74. This does look amazing! I am wondering about making “caramel de lites” though.. Basically the same cookie but with milk chocolate versus dark chocolate. Does anyone know if the measurements would be the same for milk vs dark chocolate?

  75. UGH!!!!! I want them RIGHT NOW!!!! need to go to the store and get the coconut and the carmel. CANT WAIT!!!!!!

  76. I could marry you Kelly!!! These are my ALL TIME FAVORITE Girl Scout Cookies!!! And thanks to you I can make them at home when ever I want!!! You so totally rock!!!

  77. Hi Kelly,
    I love samosas…n love cookies. This is absolutely mouth watering combination. Thanks for sharing.
    Devi

  78. I absolutely love Samoas but I don’t buy any Girl Scout Cookie now cause they have gotten to expensive and they don’t have as many in the box as they use to. This I will have to try cause I love these. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!!! :) <3

  79. Do the Girl Scout cookies really use dark chocolate? I always thought they tasted too sweet to be dark chocolate.

  80. These are a pain to make! I finally quit after a half a bottle of tequila..lol
    I added more caramel to the coconut because it was just to hard to spread or dab onto the cookie making it more playable so to speak. I got a total of 10 cookies done and the DH came in and ate them.
    I will try again when the hubby is at work in the morning…….

  81. Oh, and they did take way longer to make than estimated…it took me approximately 4 hours from start to finish, and I didn’t chill for an hour, I did about 15 minutes in the freezer. That part was easy, but 10 minutes per baking sheet (dozen) of cookies adds up, then 10 minutes to toast the coconut. Next time I’ll likely make the cookies one day and toast the coconut, then the next day top with caramel and chocolate.

  82. How did you get the chocolate to cover so nicely? Mine was thoroughly melted but was much thicker in consistency, even after adding a bit of oil. Even with them being a little tiny bit difficult to dip, they were absolutely heavenly!!! Thank you so much for sharing, this is definitely going to be a recipe I keep!

  83. Thank you SO much for this recipe! Recently diagnosed with celiac, Girl Scout cookies are no longer on my menu. I was able to make these, however (substituted gf flour & 1/2 tsp xantham gum for the flour) and I was able to enjoy samoas! Can’t wait to make again for my gf friends & family members :)

  84. My husband made these last night. they look nothing like yours. lol. and it took him all day!!!! omg never again. they taste great but we will buy the box next time. please share how do you put the carmel on without burning your fingers. and how do you possibly dip the bottom half of the cookie into the chocolate, again.. without burning your finger tips or getting it all over and making a complete mess?we could not find a tiny cookie cutter for the middle anywhere so we just made them with no holes. like i said the taste was great but by the time he was done , he said. Never Again, he will buy a box for all the work that took. lol

  85. Well, call me weird, because I’m the rare one who loves both Samoas, and Thin Mints :-) I’ll have to try this recipe!

    1. Definitely, Angela! Feel free to leave the cookies whole :) You just might need a bit more caramel-coconut topping.

  86. Amazing! I made these for my husband for valentines day and he just loved them . Thanks so much for posting :):)

  87. I made these today and am officially addicted. I also shared these with some friends at a church function and I did not have any to take home. :) SOOOOOO Good. I couldn’t take credit for something this good, you will probably be having some new visitors looking for the recipe. Thank you for making this recipe so easy.

  88. – Oh, my ….. Kelly. I don’t think I’ve EVER jumped off my kitchen stool as fast I just did in an effort to ensure I had all ingredients in the cupboards.
    Soon, and very soon, I’ll be in Samoa Heaven.

    Every effort will be worth the prize of Samoas on the kitchen counter for the next couple of days (or, perhaps for the evening!).

    Thank you, indeed …. thank YOU!

  89. I had a lot of trouble distributing the caramel and coconut to the cookies (they refused to stick) could it of been because of the caramel was too old? (It wasn’t yet expired) and I started applying the caramel as soon as it was fused with the baked coconut shavings, and it ended up being wayyy to hard to eat after it was all done..

    1. Hi Kendall – Thanks for your comment! If it was difficult to distribute the coconut-caramel mixture, chances are the caramel had cooled too much. You can try reheating the mixture, which will soften it and make it pliable enough to stick to the cookies. Hope this helps!

  90. I just made these last night and literally just tried them. Omg so good! My Boyfriend and his brother love them just as much as I do. I don’t have a donut cutter and my circle cookie cutter was much too large so I ended up using a small coca-cola glass cup and the top of the vanilla bottle for the inside hole. Worked wonderfully! Can’t wait to try this recipe again, great job! Thank you for this post!

  91. I made these tonight. These are literally a pain in the butt to make. Very time consuming. They taste great but be prepared to spend way more than 2 hours on these cookies. Will not make these again.

  92. you should leave it to the girl scouts. its a fundraiser. theres a reason they are so special

  93. I’ve made a lot of your foods and all up til now have been low maintenance nd easy! This was good, but there were so many steps! Very high maintenance. I won’t think twice before buying the girl scout version of these cookies! I will be thankful that I didn’t have to make them! But..good idea! :)

  94. So sorry I found this! Now I’ll get to eat Samoa’s year round…LOL! I always bought 2 boxes of each kind of girl scout cookies. Extra boxes go into the freezer and I try to keep them for special times…doesn”t work! I don’t mind the price of GIRL SCOUT cookies. It’s not about where the money goes! It’s about the girls! As a former leader and single parent, I could see the growth in each of the girls that sold cookies, their pride, ability to meet people, eagerness to add to the troop treasury for activities, etc (and yes the staff, office and stuff). I just considered the cost was a donation contributing to societies’ future and I got a cookie as a guarantee toward that goal. Folks, you don’t know how much that can mean in a child’s life and you can’t tell by looking at him/her. Cookie sales filled holes in my childrens lives that I couldn’t fill and they were busy at something productive! Not roaming the streets!

  95. We ate 2 boxes of Samoas in 2 days, so when I came across your recipe, I had to make them. I am so glad I did, they were delicious. I decided as I enjoy my snow day (YAY!) I am going to make them again. So good!

  96. I made these cookies and they were amazing! Love your blog! What would be the cooking time of the shortbread if I wanted to make these as bar cookies? Thanks so much :)

    1. Thanks Bridget! I’ve never tried this exact recipe in bar form, so I can’t say how long they should bake.

  97. When I found out Girl scouts supported a TON of organizations that I actively am against I started searching for another way to get the tasty cookies then helping fund groups I don’t support. (lets face it, they do more with that money then go camping and on trips… obviously) these looks so amazing and I’m so excited I can have them again without supporting those causes! :D

  98. I love GS cookies – I make the copycats year round, but still buy from a Scout when they’re available, just not as many boxes as I used to because I can’t afford 10 boxes at $4 a box! However, you are very wrong – you can love BOTH samoas & thin mints. I am living proof of that!

  99. I didn’t like this recipe at all. It took FOREVER to make and I think the overall product of just purchasing the cookies is much better. I would not recommend making this.

    1. Hi Michelle – Thanks so much for your comment. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe. It definitely does require a bit of time, but I feel that making the cookies from scratch tastes much better than the processed version, which makes homemade Samoas welll worth the time!

  100. Made these cookies today with my daughter, because she wanted to give her dad a Christmas gift of his favorite cookies. Good thing we had all day! If we weren’t on a specific mission, we may have bailed, but the results are delicious and will make for a special Christmas present tomorrow! The pictures and instructions were great. A few lessons learned: 1) After rolling out and cutting the cookies, cool them in the freezer for a few minutes before transferring them to the baking sheet so they hold their shape better. 2) Press the hot coconut mixture between sheets of wax paper and cut it into thin strips with a knife to make it easier to lay onto the cookies. 3) Add a little hot water to the chocolate to get the right consistency for drizzling. The fork thing didn’t work for me at all, but a narrow spoon worked fine. Thank you for this recipe!

  101. These are a definite must to make. After church tomorrow will head to the store for supplies. Thank you. Thank you.

  102. May I also interject that upon looking at the ingredient list on a box of samosas, this recipe will not only taste better, it will be so much better for you too!

  103. congrats…these are the best looking homemade version i have ever seen. i know a lot of work must have gone into these fine specimens, but i bet the reward was worth it.

  104. I never buy Girl Scouts cookies because they have partially hydrogenated oils in them, so you are officially MY HERO! Thank you for sharing this! I will definitely be making these. :-) Pinning it now!

  105. As a former Girl Scout Leader I totally approve!! The ingredients in real GS cookies leave a lot to be desired… these look fabulous!!

  106. I made these cookies yesterday and they turned out fabulously! They look – and taste – just like the real thing, except everything is a little better; the shortbread is a little moister, the caramel is a little richer, and the chocolate (I used Ghiradelli) is a little darker. I made your Salted Caramel recipe and simply used the liquid caramel after boiling it to 245F, just a few degrees shy of the full temperature. I did have to make the caramel twice, however, because the first time I wasn’t sure if I should stir it or not while boiling it after adding the cream, since the recipe didn’t say – and needless to say, the scorched cream caused it to turn to a burned mess. But my second, stirred caramel was quite a success, and incredibly yummy :). My family has been devouring these cookies nonstop since yesterday – thanks for a new favorite recipe!!

    1. Thanks so much for your comment, Emily! I’m going to update the caramel recipe to make sure everyone knows to stir after adding the heavy cream. Enjoy the cookies!

  107. I just made these and it will be my last time lol.. they are good. But the work I had to put into these was insane… I ended up having to get my boyfriend to run back to the store in the middle of it to get me more caramel cuz the recipe was short by a lot. it was sticky and hot and I got burned A LOT! lol maybe its just me.. but I didnt have fun. they are good though. Ended up having about 20 cookies left over that i just refused to top which is fine cuz everyone loves them to. they are good though… just a ton of work for me.

  108. Sooooo glad to find this recipe, always crave them but once a year is never enough! and they never last nearly long enough.
    It was an easy recipe but ended up taking a long tine; waiting for dough, waiting to cool, melting stuff, etc. but well, well worth the wait!

  109. I finished the cookie portion of this recipe this afternoon and I would definitely recommend adding more flour to the dough. I followed the recipe exactly, and after mixing the ingredients I thought the consistency of the dough was more like what you’d have when making a drop cookie rather than a cut out. I tried making some cookies with the original recipe and then some after adding more flour. I found that the cookies made with the original recipe were MUCH more crumbly than they were after adding more flour. When I tried taking the original recipe cookies off of the cookie sheet I had some immediately break apart.

    Some who responded saying that these cookies took a lot of time–although I haven’t made the coconut/caramel mixture yet, I can’t see it being too difficult (I’m made cookies with far more steps.) I feel that if the cookie portion went a little smoother than this recipe would take far less time.

  110. Hi!i had been dreaming of these cookies and since moving to Dubai always thought of ways to get them shipped to me! Thanks for the recipe. Spent many hours getting them done and then had a problem I am hoping someone can help me with. I made my own caramels (first time and no thermometer)and everything was perfect until they cooled and I had to reheat them so I can spread them on cookie (microwaved a few times). After everything was done the caramel became grainy and soooo sweet! Is it because I had reheated them?? So depressed because I made a lot and want them to be perfect! Advise for next time? Thanks in advance!

  111. Just made these tonight. Read the reviews and worried that they would not turn out. THEY ARE AMAZING!!!!!! I have had these from bakeries but never as good as these. They are also well worth the effort….took about two hours but the results were worth it. I am going to serve them for Mothers Day and will definitely make them again and again. Thanks for a keeper recipe! :-)

  112. Thank you so much!!!!!!! I made them and they are amazing. I cut the recipe in half and it worked perfectly. Also my kitchen is very small and I managed not to make a mess. Whoever said that these weren’t worth it did something wrong. Thanks again :)

  113. Well, first off, I made these because of all the great reviews. But here is my take on these cookies. They are very labor intensive to make, so out of 5 stars, I would give them 3 for taste. 1 star for appearance, unless you want to spend the whole day trying to get them to look like the picture. And I would give them -5 stars for the mess they create in your kitchen. My verdict, wait for the Girl Scouts to come knocking.

    1. Thanks for your comment, Debbie! The cookies definitely are labor intensive, but I think their taste (and the fact you know exactly what goes into them) makes them worth the effort!

  114. I just made these and they are SOOO GOOD!!! They are actually wayyy better than the original! Plus they are fun to make since they require a bit of work! I’ll probably go gain 10 pounds now…and it will be worth it! ha :)

  115. So I thought the recipe that I found last night for Pregnant safe cookie dough was going to be my hero in these last 6 weeks, but this definitely takes it. Thank you so much!

  116. How long will these keep in an airtight container on the counter??

    Looks delicious. I will be making them for my house warming party :)

  117. Sadly, I span BOTH groups — I’ll happily eat Thin Mints, particularly if no Samoas are available. If I had to choose only one, it would be Samoas. Quite possibly Scouting’s Perfect Food! (I was a G.S. when these were first introduced, as Caramel deLites…that shows my age, but I was an early fan, too. : ) I can not WAIT to try this recipe – thank you for sharing!

  118. Yes that did happen! Dough was good by itself, (taste testing hehe) but otherwise not worth the effort. I actually just finished the entire process, took so long! I dont think I will EVER venture into this again. haha The caramel came out semi okay, but there was definitely not enough to paste the cookies, and the coconut & caramel mix was just not fun. Too sticky, then too greasy.. not sure. I mean, could all be on my part, but this was not fun. :( I actually ended up saving probably half of the cookie dough, and put it in the freezer. Going to try something else with it. (dont want to waste it either!) It was a good effort. And i dont even like samoas! lol

  119. I just made these cookies, they are in the fridge now, i did notice, definitely not enough flour. Too sticky to handle. Had to add a lot more, and even more just to press into discs!! Might want to change that!!! :)

    1. Hi Tasha. I’ve tested this shortbread recipe numerous times, and I would not recommend adding more flour, as the dough will become too dry and crumbly.

  120. Ps, Have you thought of making “Tagalongs” with the cookie recipe, just adding peanutbutter over the top& middle of cooled cookie, cooling in fridge, til peanutbutter is a little firm, then coating with same chocolate, and cooled again?
    I think i might try that with any extra cookie i might come up with.. or i’ll just make more.. haha not sure yet, but I’ll definitely try them both!! :)

  121. Personally, I think these look absolutely amazing! (But of course, you already know this!) I think they definitely look better than the actual gs cookies, because these are HOMEMADE, not processed, and boxed and sold, for too much at such a low quantity. I remember years ago, you could buy a box of GS cookies and it had so many cookies(of course they never last long enough haha) but now, Its just not worth buying for such a horrible price, to get 5 darn cookies. Dont get me wrong, I will always love them, but I like the idea of making my own, and knowing whats actually in them! (As for some comments on buying popcorn for 15 dollars?, that is just plain stupid!!!! You can make your own pop corn for literally, a dollar, if not $5 at most! Come on!! lol)
    Thanks again for sharing these! Im about to go make them now that i bought everything for them today!! :) So excited!

    1. Hi Susan, This recipe won’t work if you sub oil for butter, as the fat content and consistency will be different.

  122. I had such high hopes for these. My stupidity for only ordering one box of samoas this year led me on a hunt for a recipe. Your photos enticed me and all the comments convinced me. There are a few problems. There is not enough caramel to “paste” the cookies with. Make more. My other problem is the logistics of it. They are extremely difficult to construct. It is messy and time consuming. I am currently drinking a glass of wine to calm my anxiety. Then I will enjoy one of these to see if the effort was worth it. Thank you for a base to my Samoa hunt. I’m thinking about using this recipe but making bars instead of cut outs.

  123. Well we found these to take not 2 hours but 4 1/2 hours! The end results was terrible and so we just made a cookie crumble out of it cause we didn’t want to waste the food. We were very upset by the results and the original GS cookies are way better. Save your time and money and just don’t make them.

  124. I bought the caramel dip by accident. DO you think I can use this in place of the caramels, milk and vanilla? Can’t wait to try these.

    1. Hi Darcy! Caramel dip should work for these, but you’ll want to warm it to thin it slightly, and so that it’s easier to stir in the toasted coconut. Enjoy!

  125. Please don’t take this the wrong way, i’m happily married. But I LOVE YOU!!!! My goodness thank you for sharing that!!

  126. I am soooo excited to have he found this recipe! I made it today and they turned out beautifully, although i had to add about a cup of extra flour so that the dough was firm enough to work with. That may also be because they dont have all-purpose flour in Germany. Either way…the recipe is just plain awesome and the cookies are delicious. Feels like home :)

  127. I made these! Delicious but so fussy! Mine came out so messy. I basically just slapped all the ingredients on the cookie after the first one… I’m not the best at decorating. :) They are delicious though! The store bought are so expensive. :(

  128. I found this recipe on Pinterest. I always worry that the things I try off Pinterest will end up on Pinterest Fail. I whipped up a batch this morning, they are spectacular to say the least! Your instructions were easy to follow…and your photography amazing!! Thanks so much for sharing this!!

  129. I stunned by how easy these look! I’ve always steered clear of trying these before because they seemed like a lot of work. Your photography is gorgeous!

  130. I totally agree! I am team Samoas hands down, but my boyfriend is team thin mint…which actually works out quite well since he won’t eat MY cookies! :) Love this! Thanks!

    1. Hi Amy! Yes, you can make the dough a night in advance, but you’ll need to let it rest outside the fridge for at least 20 minutes (depending on your room temp) when it comes time to roll it, otherwise it’ll be too firm to roll. Enjoy!

  131. I play for both teams. Thin Mint AND Samoa’s. And I sometimes cheat with a Tagalong too. There is room in my heart for everycookie.

  132. oh sweet sarah!
    i just posted these to my VSB FB wall, so you might get slammed.
    AND I just printed them out.
    I better have a darn donut cutter in my drawer–I am so making these!

  133. These look so much better than the original! Samoas are my second favorite Girl Scout cookie, so I’m sure I’ll get around to trying them soon.

  134. I pinned these and hope that I make them one day b/c they are my faves! I have always been put off by the rolling, shaping, cutting, dipping, spreading, etc but for these….oh my, they look worth every ounce of effort. And they are So.Authentic. looking. Stunning photography, as always, Kelly!

  135. It helps when “drizzling” the chocolate, by putting the chocolate in a ziplock bag and cutting a small piece of the corner… easy to squeeze out. Also, I wanted to cut out some time and I used pre-made sugar cookie dough, worked great!

    1. Hi Jenny. It shouldn’t be rock-solid, as you’ll be rolling it out. The refrigeration is just to help solidify the butter. Hope this helps!

  136. I am so not a “kid” person so seeing this recipe makes me happy to know I don’t have to awkwardly approach girl scouts any longer to buy overpriced cookies that seem to shrink smaller every year.

  137. I woke up yesterday asking my husband if anyone was still selling girl scout cookies where he works because of a serious 8 a.m. samoa craving! I am solidly in the Samoa camp! Will HAVE to try these!

    Beautiful blog…loving the look of your recipes as I breeze through them!

  138. Has anyone tried these as a bar cookie in a 9×13 pan? I don’t care a whole lot about how they look just how they taste! These look super time consuming.

  139. Hi Kelly, I never heard of Samoas Girl Scout Cookies as I’m Malaysian. Saw so many ladies were so excited & happy to see this recipe of yours. I wonder is it very sweet as I don’t like to eat too sweet cake or cookies. All my recipes I reduced the sugar !! These cookies really looks yummy and pretty, wanted to try. Thanks

  140. Do I still have to add the milk and salt to the caramel if I boiled a can of sweetened condensed milk for the Carmel? Thanks

  141. I beg to differ! I was a top-selling cookie scout all the way up to Cadet and one can be a Thin Mint AND Samoa lover… and Dosido’s, too! I love them all, buy up and freeze them all… however, now that I know how to make Samoas thanks to ya… I shall be buying only the other two :D Thanks a bunch!

  142. OMG…I have always been a Samoas girl! This looks too dangerous for me, but I am saving the recipe too my Pinterest board….

  143. These look so yummy!!! Thank you for sharing this! Hoping to make them gluten free since I love the original samoas! And side note, we would buy Girl Scout cookies if they had real ingredients and not so much junk. Now I would rather just give a donation. Same with the popcorn. I give a donation. Can’t wait to start baking!

  144. They look yummy. I think I’ll try them without cutting out the center hole – hey, more cookie to love that way. And, just to let you know, I love both Samoas and thin mints. Those are the only two I buy!!!

  145. I just made these today- absolutely delicious! The only thing I would change next time is adding more caramel- I wish I had a little more to line the cookies. Thanks for the recipe!

    1. Love that idea, Jeanette! And doughnuts are my absolute favorite food, so I can only imagine how incredible those would be!

  146. As a Girlscout starting at daisies and now a senior, seeing everyone bash Girlscout cookies breaks my heart. When you buy a box of GS cookies the money goes towards great things and the cookies are a classic. We have people that wait all year to buy cookies and they have never complained of the taste. Besides, $15 for popcorn is insane!

  147. The recipe sounds just wonderful! I am a GS Leader for over 20 years and understand how the cookies are really a donation to the local council to run camps and programs as well as profit to the girls. I hope you enjoy the recipe. Yet it makes me sad that nobody complains about the cost do the Boy Scout Popcorn which I paid $ 15 for last fall. Clearly popcorn is not that expensive. Please still buy the cookies from a Girl Scout which will help her troop and other girls. Girl Scouts will celebrate their 101st birthday in March. The cookies are the way the organization moves forward and serves girls. Your cookie purchase is a critical donation, you are not just buying a box of cookies!

  148. I made this cookies and they are WAY better than the Girl Scouts cookies. I made the homemade carmel. These incredible cookies soak up a lotta time, but in the end…with a glass of milk…they are sooo worth it. Thanks for this recipe :0)

  149. Apparently I’ve led a sheltered life…I’ve never heard of Samoas :(

    Maybe it’s because we don’t have Girl Scouts in Canada. We have a girls’ organization called Girl Guides who also sell cookies, but not samoas. They only sell mint and chocolate/vanilla layer cookies. But these Samoa cookies look amazing!!

  150. I just love that some women have this fantastic imagination to explore with recipes and be confident enough to do what you do! Please, never stop doing what you do!
    From a woman to another!

  151. I am totally on both teams! I order one box of each per year! These look amazing, and I will definitely be making them. Thanks!

  152. Samoas are hands down me and my husband’s FAV girl scout cookies! I can’t wait to make these!! Sounds like a fun way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon ;)

  153. My son & his best friend love these cookies. Their favorite! They were so excited I found the recipe to make them. Thanks.

  154. This is very impressive :) I’ve only managed to master the DIY Thin Mint so far, I really need to conquer the Samoa now, thanks!

  155. I’ve seen a lot of homemade samoas on blogs, but these are hands-down the most beautiful, perfect-looking ones I’ve ever seen. They look AMAZING!

  156. These are absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! I can’t even tell they’re homemade, that’s how perfect they are. :)

  157. Thank you so much. I live in New Zealand and have two kids. Every year at Girl Scout cookie time I have boxes of thin mints and samoas shipped over by friends and family (I love them equally as each is appropriate for different culinary occasions). The problem is, when boxes arrive, the kids love to open them and then I have to share my cookies with the kids. I know, mean mommy not wanting to share… Anyway now I can share AND bake with my kids! Yay! No more mean mommy.

  158. I’m so impressed at your patience! These look beautiful. Like the woman who commented above me, I’m afraid I literally am BOTH! I have been asked to pick a favorite and just couldn’t do it. My freezer has green AND purple boxes in it! I can’t have one without the other :)
    But, I can’t wait to make these. I think if I made them for my mom, she’d cry.

  159. Those look awesome! I am definitely a samoa type of gal and I WILL be trying these… perhaps I would have been better off NOT knowing this… NAH !!!

  160. Thanks for the recipe! Major mistake at the beginning– I AM A SAMOA AND THIN MINT PERSON! (This being an intensely important issue, you’ll have to forgive the yelling.) It is possible to be both, though maybe it’s most likely in the last week of pregnancy? :D

  161. I was searching to see if the GS made a sugar free cookie and found this page by accident. My mouth is watering just looking at them. Bookmarking the page. Now to figure out how to make them sugar free, if I want to eat them.

  162. These look absolutely delicious! I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this recipe… I will have to give it a try… As for the Samoa/Thin Mint debate, those are always the only two types of Girl Scout cookies I buy… Love them both equally!

  163. YAY I hope I can make these sometime soon! And I must disagree with you on the samoa/thin mint debate…i love them both!

    -AJ
    FitTravelerAJ.blogspot.com

  164. You’re killing me with this one! Those look amazing. Who needs Girl Scouts cookies, anyways?? ;)

  165. I have to say I am a fan of both samoas and thin mints — actually it’s the only 2 boxes I bought this year! I have a feeling once they run out, though, I will be making these! Thanks for sharing :)

  166. oh man… my husband is going to die when he finds out that he could have samoas year round! Not sure if I want to tell him! lol. ;) the look fab!

  167. Out of all the girl scout cookies samoas are my favorite. You make these look better than the actual girl scout cookie! Yummy!

  168. Can’t beat Samoas :) I came up with about 5 different Samoa-inspired recipes yesterday, but I think I need to make the classic! These look so good, and easier than my homemade samoa recipe, haha. Phenomenal pics as well. Pinned!

  169. WOW! As and ex-girl scout leader these are amazing. And in my neck of the woods they’re called Caramel De-Lites, but have always been my fave. You rock, Kelly!

  170. These look AMAZING!! Although I do like Thin Mints and Tagalongs, Samoas are my number one favorite! I will definitely be trying these. :)

  171. tagalongs are my fave!! but i also like samoas, and thin mints are okay (those are my husband’s fave). annnnnnd today at work i will receive my order from a co-worker’s daughter. can’t wait! but these cookies look absolutely awesome!

  172. I’m a Tagalong lover <3

    But I also love Thin Mints AND Samoas!

    These look JUST like the originals, so amazing, so delicious!

  173. I used to be thin mint person and then I discovered the amazingness that is a Samoa! They are the only way to go when those Girl Scouts come along.. These look just like the real thing, probably taste better though :) I have to try it out!

  174. Kelly, your Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies look FAB! Nom, nom!! Your food photography is stunningly beautiful. :) Pinning! xo

  175. These are GORGEOUS! They look JUST like the regular ones, except they look like they are even better tasting.