 |
| Homemade girl scout samoas |
Who needs to wait for girl scout cookies when you can make these at home. Homemade samoas, also called caramel de-lites. Shortbread cookies, dipped in chocolate, covered in a caramel coconut topping, and drizzled with even more chocolate. These were incredible. So much better than a scout-bought Samoa. Not that we shouldn’t support the girl scouts, so if you love samoas, you can make these for the other 9 months of the year!
This was a laborious, time consuming cookie, but it was so worth it. If you’re really into Girl Scout Cookies, also see my Homemade Thin Mints, Homemade Tagalongs, and Homemade Do Si Dos
Adapted from In Katrina’s Kitchen
Cookies
1 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (I used sweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok) OR 2 containers of Dolci dipping chocolate (I used Dolci)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.
Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a baking sheet and cut a smaller center hole (I used a pastry tip). Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Toast coconut over medium heat on your stove top until golden. Cool, stirring occasionally. Be careful, coconut burns easily! Set aside.
Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
Using a small offset spatula or spoon, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with. This was the hardest part, because the mixture is so sticky. I sort of set each teaspoon on the cookie and then used a small spoon which I kept swiping on soft butter to press it down.
While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
Rumbly in my Tumbly 
OMG! SAMOAS ARE MY FAVORITE!!! THANK YOU FOR SHARING!
these look and sound ABSOLUTELY amazing! i can't wait to try them, my brother is a big somosa fan…okay and me too 🙂
Those look positively delicious!! Katrina is a gem, you certainly picked the right recipe to use!
I am making these as I type and I cannot wait to try them!!! It is very labor intensive though.
It IS labor intensive, probably the most laborious cookie I've ever made, but so worth it! How did yours turn out?
I just discovered this site…It's amazing…Thank You!
Thank you so much for visiting!
omg drooling!!!!!
They are yummy! Thanks for visiting!
Can these be made on premade sugar cookie dough? I'm not liking all the "work" from previous comments!!
Papa will love these!!!
These were VERY labor intensive and they are ok. I do not support GS organization for personal reasons, however I ❤ their caramel delight cookies. I guess I'll just have to go without as I will not be making these again. Took about 2 hours..which is not what I expected.
Yes, there is a reason that I describe them in my post as "laborious and labor intensive." They are a lot of work. However, the batches I have made of these always get loads of rave reviews about how much better they are than the scout-bought version. I'm sorry you felt they were just "ok." To answer the above question about store bought sugar cookie dough, No, I don't think that would work, as the base of this cookie is shortbread, not sugar cookie. If you want to get rid of the work, I have had some readers say that they bought store bought fudge striped cookies and topped them with the caramel/coconut mixture. I haven't tried that myself but I am guessing it would be close to the girl scout version.Thanks to all for your comments and for visiting my blog. 🙂
Do you think you could skip the work and make them into bars? someone try it and let me know. 🙂
I know for a fact these can be made into bars. 🙂 They are on my list of things to try! Thanks for visiting!
A quick version use the store bought chocolate dipped shortbread cookies a jar of caramel coconut frosting and melted chocolate chips these do not store well because the caramel does not harden but they are tasty. You could use the cookies and then make just the caramel topping homemade. that would be great too.
For someone who has never baked before, and is dying to attempt this – would it be too ambitious??
No! Try it! This is a time consuming cookie, but it isn't hard. Just take your time and follow the directions carefully! Good luck!
I melted the caramel in a double boiler, added the toasted coconut and kept it on very low heat. The topping went on like a frosting. I did the same with the chocolate.
I'll have to try it in my double broiler. Thanks for the tip!
Thanks for the recipe. I tried these a month ago! They tasted just like the GS ones! I had my dad help me. Four hands instead of two made the process a little easier. I had to keep my cookies in the refrigerator because the chocolate kept melting. Did anyone else have that problem? Any advice? http://mariekeefe.blogspot.com/2012/02/homemade-girl-scout-samoas.html
Hi Marie:Thanks for visiting my blog! I did not have that problem, but my advice would be to try a dipping chocolate next time. Wilton or Dolci both have great brands and they don't melt as easily when handled. Good luck and I'm glad you liked them!
I've tried a similar recipie that used bars instead of cookies. It wasn't worth it. You cut the pan into squares and dip the bottom in chocolate, but the problem was that the shortbread was WAT TOO CRUMBLY to dip in the chocolate successfuly. If was too frusterating and I ended up using way more chocolate than called for. I want to do it again but I'll be rolling it out as cookies this time for sure. Don't try to skip this step, it really doesn't save time!
Thanks for the heads up!
These are not for beginners!!! So difficult. Beware of burnt coconut!
How many cookies does this make?
It depends what size cookies you make. Mine were about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, and it made between 3-4 dozen cookies.
I made these last year and they were amazing and difficult. At least I could gift it and say, “why yes these were quite difficult 😁” it’s great when you have a recipe that impresses people and they can’t just run off with your recipe and show you how easy it is.