Homemade Samoas Cookies
These Homemade Samoas Cookies have a gooey caramel top, smooth milk chocolate drizzle, flaky coconut and a crunchy cookie layer. This divine cookie is what everyone craves year-round but can normally only find in February. Until now.
If you've ever bitten into a classic crunchy cookie with the flavors of coconut, chocolate, and caramel and wondered to yourself if you could make these extremely popular Girl Scout Cookies at home, the answer is yes. Our Homemade Samoas Cookies recipe is exactly what you are looking for.
Ingredients for Homemade Samoas Cookies
You may have been craving these cookies for a long time and already have all of the ingredients you need to make them in your pantry. Here it is March and Girl Scout cookie season is over, so it's time to try our Samoas copycat recipe!
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all ingredients and quantities.
Ingredients for the Cookie Dough
- Butter - The real deal.
- Granulated Sugar - White sugar. This is a crunchy cookie layer so white sugar is perfect.
- All-Purpose Flour - Regular or Gluten-Free one-for-one all purpose flour will both work.
- Whole Milk -The fat in whole milk keeps this cookie from drying out.
- Baking Powder - Gives height to the cookie so it's not flat like a cracker.
- Salt - To enhance the flavor.
Toppings for the Samoas Cookies
- Thick Caramel Sauce - Store-bought or homemade.
- Vanilla Extract - I linked to my favorite brand but you can use whatever is in your cabinet as long as it is real vanilla and not imitation.
- Unsweetened Coconut - Instructions for toasting the coconut flakes are included in the recipe.
- Chocolate Almond Bark - Perfect for melting and drizzling.
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Substitutions and Variations
- You can use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe. If you opt for salted butter, you can reduce the salt in the recipe.
- You can use sweetened shredded coconut instead of unsweetened if that's what you have on hand.
- You can use dulce de leche instead of a thick caramel sauce.
- You can substitute the almond bark for chocolate chips if you don't mind the chocolate taking longer to firm up.
NOTE: This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations
How to Make Samoas Cookies
Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line your cookie sheet with parchment paper. That's the start of most great cookie recipes!
Step 1 - Next, cream the butter and sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
Step 2 - Add the flour, milk, baking powder, and salt to the wet ingredients. Mix on medium speed until the dough comes together. This is your basic cookie dough and it needs refrigerated so that it is chilled when it gets baked.
Step 3 - While the dough is chilling, toast your coconut. Place your coconut on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 5 to 8 minutes, keeping a close eye on the coconut to make sure it doesn't burn.
Step 4 - Place the toasted coconut in a medium mixing bowl.
Step 5 and 6 - Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper to ¼" thickness.
Step 7 - Use a donut cutter to cut out the base of your homemade samoas cookies.
Step 8 - Bake the cookies and cool them completely.
Step 9 - While the cookies are cooling, mix the caramel and the coconut and set that aside for later. Finishing off your homemade samoas is simple if you follow our step-by-step instructions on the recipe card.
Step 10 and 11 - First, melt the almond bark using the microwave method and dip the bottom of each cookie into the melted chocolate. Let that set up. Spread some caramel on the top of the cookie to act as a glue. Next, add the caramel/coconut mixture on top and spread it with a spoon.
Chill the cookies for twenty minutes in the refrigerator. Then, drizzle the cookies with the remaining chocolate almond bark using a piping bag. Once the chocolate drizzle has set, the cookies are ready to eat!
Tips for Best Results
To microwave almond bark, place the amount you need in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval. Repeat the 30 second intervals and stirring until the chocolate almond bark is completely smooth.
To toast the coconut, place it on a parchment lined baking sheet and toast the coconut for 5 minutes in the preheated oven. Stir on the tray and spread back out. Place it back in the oven and continue toasting for 5 more minutes. If you would like it more golden brown, stir and spread out and bake for an additional 2 to 4 minutes. Allow to cool.
If the almond bark has hardened while your cookies are chilling before the last step, place it back in the microwave again and microwave it in 30 second intervals and stirring after each interval until completely melted again. You cannot do this with chocolate chips, but you can with chocolate almond bark.
To drizzle cookies with chocolate, place it in a plastic storage bag. Cut a small hole in the tip of the bag or corner of the storage bag and drizzle the chocolate on top of the cookies.
If the cookie is rolled too thin, the cookie will either crumble under the pressure of the topping or from adding the chocolate to the bottom.
Make sure the edges of the cookies are golden brown otherwise the cookie will be too soft to dip in the chocolate.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. However, it does not have the same melting properties as almond bark and will not be as forgiving. The two ingredients are similar but different.
Chocolate chips also take a much longer time to set up.
A few possibilities. One is that you cooked the chocolate for too long. If you don't stir the chocolate after each thirty seconds, you won't know when it is completely melted because it holds its shape even after melting. A second possibility is that your almond bark is past its expiration date. A third possibility is that you had water or some other liquid in the bowl which made the chocolate bark sieze.
Either you rolled out the dough too thin before cutting the cookies or you did not quite bake the cookies long enough.
A couple of things can play into this. One is nostalgia. Let's just admit that we all have fond memories of the cookies that come in the box. The second is quality of the toppings. If the flavor just isn't quite there, invest in better caramel sauce, better coconut, and higher quality chocolate. Your tastebuds will thank you.
More Great Cookie Recipes
- Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cut Out Cookies
- Apple Pie Stuffed Snickerdoodles
- Four Chocolate Chip Cookies One Dough
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Homemade Samoas Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup of all purpose flour scooped and leveled
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Topping
- 1 ½ cups thick caramel sauce store-bought or homemade
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups unsweetened coconut toasted
- 1 cup chocolate almond bark chopped
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add in the butter and sugar. Beat using a hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
- Add the flour, milk, baking powder, and salt to the wet ingredients. Mix on medium speed until the dough comes together.
- Cover the dough and place in the fridge to chill 30 to 45 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, place the coconut on a parchment lined baking sheet and toast the coconut for 5 minutes in the preheated oven. Stir on the tray and spread back out. Place it back in the oven and continue toasting for 5 more minutes. If you would like it more golden brown, stir and spread out and bake for an additional 2 to 4 minutes. Allow to cool.
- Once the dough is chilled, place it between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll the dough out to a ¼ inch thickness.
- Using a donut cutter, mine was a 3 inch cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible and place on the prepared cookie sheet. I got 12 cookies in total.
- Place the cookies in the preheated oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring them top side down onto a wire rack or paper towel to cool completely and flatten the tops at the same time.
Topping
- In a medium bowl, add the caramel sauce and toasted coconut. Stir until the coconut is coated with caramel and set aside.
Assemble
- Place the chopped almond bark in a microwave-safe bowl.Place in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval. Repeat the 30 second intervals and stirring until the chocolate almond bark is completely smooth.
- Dip the bottom of the cookies in the almond bark and place on a piece of parchment paper chocolate side down to set. It will take about 15 minutes at room temperature or you can slide a cookie sheet under the parchment paper and transfer them to the fridge for 5 to 10 minutes to speed up the process.
- Spread about ½ teaspoon of caramel on the top of the cookie to serve as the glue for the topping.
- Add the coconut caramel topping to each cookie. Use a spoon to shape the coconut.
- Place the cookies in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
- If the almond bark has hardened, place back in the microwave and microwave in 30 second intervals and stirring after each interval until completely melted again.
- Add the remaining almond bark into a piping bag or storage bag. Cut a small hole in the tip of the bag or corner of the storage bag and drizzle the chocolate on top of the cookies. Let the chocolate set up for 15 minutes at room temperature or 5 to 10 minutes in the fridge.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)
