You can enjoy your favorite caramel coconut girl scout cookies all year round with this copycat recipe for Homemade Samoa Cookies! They are so fun to make with a base layer of shortbread topped with sweet and salty coconut caramel and dark chocolate drizzle.
Samoa Cookies, also known as Caramel Delights are one of the most popular girl scout cookies, right up there with Thin Mints and Peanut Butter Patties (aka Tagalongs). These crisp shortbread cookies are topped with a chewy coconut caramel and coated partially with rich dark chocolate. It’s so hard to eat just one – and I’ve been known to polish off a whole box or batch of these girl scout cookies in a day or so myself!
Now, I love to support the Girl Scouts by purchasing cookies from them. The proceeds from girl scout cookie sales go towards programming, maintaining camps, and more!
But the thing is, girl scout cookie season only lasts for a few weeks per year, and when I run out of the boxes I bought from the girls in the community, I still want to enjoy the familiar flavor of Samoas – so this recipe is so nice to have in my back pocket.
If you like to make copycat cookie recipes, you should also try my recipe for Swig Sugar Cookies with their iconic pink icing. I have a whole list of Crumbl Copycat cookie recipes for you to make too!
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Samoas or Caramel Delights?
Did you know that there are two different bakeries that produce Girl Scout cookies? Due to licensing agreements, they can’t both use the same name for this recipe, so in some places you’ll see them called Samoas, and in others they are called Caramel Delights.
Both are very similar, but those in the know will tell you that they can tell the difference between the two. Your homemade caramel delights/samoas will probably be even better than both of them though, because you’re going to make them from scratch!
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
- For the Cookies: The base of homemade samoas is a simple egg-free sugar cookie made with flour, butter, sugar, salt, baking powder, milk and vanilla extract.
- For the Coconut Caramel Layer: Sweetened shredded coconut is toasted first, then stirred into a silky mixture of soft caramel candies (I love the Werther’s caramels for this recipe) and heavy cream.
- For the Chocolate Coating and Drizzle: Melted dark chocolate goes perfectly with the sweet caramel in this recipe. I prefer to use a chocolate bar rather than chocolate chips for the best texture and flavor.
How To Make Homemade Girl Scout Samoas
- Make the Cookie Dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the milk and vanilla and mix well. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 2-3 smaller additions, mixing well after each.
- Chill: Chill the sugar cookie dough for at least 1 hour before rolling it out.
- Get Ready to Bake: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Roll and Cut the Cookie Dough: Roll the chilled dough to ¼” thick. Use a 2-inch donut cutter to cut the dough, or use two different sized round cutters to get the same shape.
- Bake: Transfer the donut-shaped cookies to the prepared baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between them, and bake in the preheated oven for 7-9 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Cool completely before starting the next steps.
- Toast the Coconut: Toast the coconut in a dry large saute pan over medium heat until it is a light golden color, stirring frequently so it doesn’t burn; set aside.
- Melt the Caramel: In a separate pot, melt the caramel candies over medium-low heat until smooth. Add the heavy cream and stir again until smooth and combined.
- Combine: Remove the caramel from the heat and add the toasted coconut. Stir until the coconut is completely coated in the caramel sauce.
- Cover the Cookies with Caramel: Carefully spoon about 2 tablespoons of the caramel coconut filling over the cooled cookies, shaping it so that it covers each ring. Allow the caramel to cool and set.
- Dip in Chocolate: Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave, in 15-second intervals until smooth. Dip the bottom of each cookie into the melted chocolate and place onto parchment paper.
- Add the Drizzle: Drizzle the remaining melted chocolate over the tops of the cookies to create stripes.
Expert Baking Tips
- Don’t overmix the cookie dough. Overmixed dough is the main reason for dry, hard cookies.
- Chilling is important. If you don’t chill the dough before cutting and baking it, the cookies will spread too much and lose their shape.
- The fastest way to set the chocolate is to place the trays in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.
- If you don’t have a small donut cutter, you can just as easily make the donut shape with a 2 or 3 inch round cookie cutter. Use a tiny round cutter or the large side of a piping tip to cut out the center hole. Alternatively, you can make these cookies without holes in the center! They won’t look quite as authentic, but they will still be totally decious.
How to Store Homemade Samoas
Store these homemade Samoas in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Just like actual girl scout cookies in their purple boxes, you can store these in the freezer too! They’ll be good for at least three months, and can be thawed and enjoyed whenever you like.
Other Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
- Caramel Bear Paw Cookies
- Twix Thumbprint Cookies
- Harry Potter Butterbeer Cookies
- Shortbread Cookies with Icing
- Funfetti Cool Whip Cookies
Recipe FAQs
What is the difference between samoas and caramel delights?
Not much! Both of these are girl scout cookies topped with coconut caramel and chocolate, but since there are two different bakeries that make girl scout cookies. they are sold under two different names.
Do I have to toast the coconut?
Toasting the sweetened coconut gives it an entirely different flavor, and I don’t recommend skipping this step! Untoasted coconut won’t have that nutty, caramelized taste that you expect from Samoas.
These homemade girl scout cookies are going to be such a huge hit, you’ll wonder why you never thought to make them before. Now you can enjoy Samoas any time of the year, so be sure to Pin this recipe for the next time you have a craving for these caramel delights!
Samoa Cookies (Copycat Recipe)
Equipment
- Round Cookie Cutter Either a donut cutter or two round cutters
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 15 oz. soft caramels unwrapped
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 10 oz. dark chocolate melted
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Add the milk and vanilla and mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 2-3 smaller additions, mixing well after each.
- Chill the dough for at least 1 hour.
- preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), or 160°C if using a fan oven. line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside
- Roll the dough to ¼” thick and use a small 2-inch donut cutter or two round cutters to cut the dough. Transfer the donut shaped cookies to the prepared baking sheet 2” apart.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 7-9 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Cool completely.
- Toast the coconut in a large saute pan over medium heat until it is a light golden color, stirring frequently so it doesn’t burn; set aside.
- In a separate pot, melt the caramel over medium low heat until smooth. Add the heavy cream and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and add the toasted coconut. Stir until the coconut is completely coated in the caramel sauce.
- Carefully spoon about 2 tablespoons of the caramel coconut filling over the cooled cookies. Allow the caramel to set, then dip the bottom of each cookie into the melted dark chocolate. Drizzle remaining dark chocolate over the tops of the cookies.
- Place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, or until the chocolate is set.
Notes
- Don’t overmix the cookie dough. Overmixed dough is the main reason for dry, hard cookies.
- Chilling is important. If you don’t chill the dough before cutting and baking it, the cookies will spread too much and lose their shape.
- The fastest way to set the chocolate is to place the trays in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.
- If you don’t have a small donut cutter, you can just as easily make the donut shape with a 2 or 3 inch round cookie cutter. Use a tiny round cutter or the large side of a piping tip to cut out the center hole. Alternatively, you can make these cookies without holes in the center! They won’t look quite as authentic, but they will still be totally decious.
- Storage: Store these homemade Samoas in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Just like actual girl scout cookies, you can store these in the freezer too! They’ll be good for at least three months and can be thawed and enjoyed whenever you like.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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