Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies

Go ahead, slap me on the wrist. I realize that girl scout cookies tend to be a weakness for some and I am not helping the cause by sharing my new found LOVE- Homemade Samoas. Blame it on the little girl next door. It’s all her fault. If only I hadn’t been at home the day she stopped by or if she would have had 3 boxes of Samoas left instead of only 1 then we probably wouldn’t be here today.

I think we can all agree that 1 lonely sad box of Girl Scout Samoa Cookies is not enough. If your gonna sell cookies little girls, you must always have at all times an ample supply of Samoas. Well, at least if your coming by my house! Besides my all-time favorite dessert ever, Chocolate Chip Cookies, these come in a close second and well, I will go ahead and say it- Hi my name is Jessica and I am a cookie-holic.

Did you know that there is a homemade recipe for almost any girl scout cookie you would want to make just hanging out there in web space? Tagalongs, Samoas, Thin Mints, Lemonades, you name it. I did not know about this grand secret of homemade girl scout cookies so I was thoroughly impressed to find a staggering number of recipes to chose from. After much consideration I opted to use my own shortbread version for the cookie part and baking bites recipe for the coating. A perfect and wonderful combo indeed!

I realize bathing suit season is approaching but you can have a little treat every once in a while. So whip up these cookies and stash them in the freezer for that much needed “happy” at the end of a long day!

P.S. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the necessary tools. For instance, I used a small round glass bowl (typically used for spices) to cut out my cookies from the dough and then I used the end of my son’s medicine dropper to make the small holes in the middle of the cookies!  I know I know, crazy but it worked and yes I throw away the medicine dropper afterwards! LOL!

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Homemade Girl Scout Samoas (topping adapted from Baking Bites)

Ingredients:

Cookie:

  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • up to 2 tbsp milk

Topping:

  • 3 cups shredded coconut
  • 12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • 8 oz. emisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder, set aside. In another medium bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and smooth. Add the egg, beat, then the vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just blended, about 30 seconds. Roll out the dough until 1/2 inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter cut out the cookies and place on a baking sheet. To make the small circle in the middle use a clean top from a tube of toothpaste or do what  I did and I used the end of my son’s medicine dropper! (Don’t worry I throw it away afterwards).  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes until golden brow. Set aside to cool completely.

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden.  Set aside. Meanwhile, 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 the spatula spread topping on cooled cookies (reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with). 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.

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29 comments

  1. Lindsay

    gee, thanks! you do realize that i gave up all sweets for lent and samoas happen to be my favorite girl scout cookie ever!
    i know what i will be making easter weekend! 🙂

  2. Jenn L @ Peas and Crayons

    GENIUS and totally DANGEROUS! I love it! My husband will have to make these for us — my baking skills are lacking mucho. I’m so sad I didn’t have the mixer to make those pretzels!!!!!

  3. Katie

    you are evil!! this looks glorious.

  4. I Do Declare

    Oh my…..These look SO good!

  5. Erica

    Wow! These look perfect- so close to the original! I ended up buying tons of girl scout cookies too- I can’t say no. My husband took most of them into work and we have a couple in the fridge/freezer. I am strangely not much for chocolate…so I never feel tempted. I gave away the one box I knew I’d chow down on – the lemonade cookies!!

  6. Ashlee

    WOW! I love Samoas 🙂 Thank you for sharing!!

  7. Denine Anderson-Regan

    These are too good! My brother is a Samoa-addict and I will happily make some of these for him!

  8. Angie Ward

    Samoas are my husbands favorite girl scout cookie so I will be making some of these for him soon! Thanks!

  9. Maria @ Scandifoodie

    They look fantastic!! I don’t think I’ve ever tried these cookies!

  10. Kori

    Wow these look amazing! Have a great day honey!

    Did you hear about my good news? Kori xoxo

    blondeepisodes.com

  11. Rachel

    oh my Lord! I am holding you entirely responsible for my inability to be seen in public in a bathing suit! hee hee!

    Those look AMAZING!

  12. Alli

    Ahhhhh Samoas have always been my favorite. I am banning all girl scout purchases until my daughter is a daisy bc i have no control around cookies but, goodness these look like a must make!

  13. cool gal

    You have got to be kidding me??? I LOVE Samoas and had no idea you could make them homemade! You are a genius.

    Thank you so much!! I will give them a try and let you know how they turn out.

    My family thanks you in advance! 🙂

  14. Sharlene

    You’re so resourceful with the medicine dropper! These cookies look too good to resist even with swimsuit season creeping up on us. I can’t imagine they’re anything less than delicious!

  15. sara@domesticallychallenged

    Yes! Like you said, there is NO food that is off limits, so why not!?

  16. Joanne

    Well, since I’ve yet to see a single girl scout ANYWHERE in my hood, I’m so glad you posted these! They look more delicious than the original!

  17. Kelly

    This is dangerous for me.. usually I only have them once a year and now you’re telling me I can have fresh ones anytime?! lol

  18. Sara

    I think that you posting this recipe means I officially love you…. Not in a creppy stalker-like way, just in a very, very grateful way 🙂

  19. Angela

    Love these Girl Scount Cookies. I have to make them!!

  20. Betty @ scrambled hen fruit

    These look like the real thing, only better! My favorite GS cookies are thin mints, but samoas run a close second. I’m afraid that if I make these I’ll do the same thing as if I had a box of them- I’d eat every one!

  21. Liesl

    This is too cool! Growing up and back when I was a Girl Scout, the Samoas were one of my favorites with the Thin Mints…YUM! I think I just must try this!

    Liesl 🙂

  22. Annie S

    WOW….these look amazing! My fav GS cookie of all time! YUM.

  23. Allison @ Alli n Son

    These look amazing! I’m not a fan of coconut but my husband is. And now I’m off to google recipes for thin mints.

    P. S. Did you stop by and link up today?

  24. SharleneT.

    You are now my favorite sinner! Samoas — and, they only give us a dozen… mean Girl Scouts; good KBelle… Thanks for sharing. Come visit when you can.

  25. carolinaheartstrings

    Okay, these are my new favorite cookie. Look fantastic.

  26. Suzy

    3 words…Num Num Num!

  27. Tessa

    Samoas have to be the best Girl Scout cookie! They look delicious!

  28. Sweet Tooth Favorites

    […] Homemade Samoas by Kitchen Belleicious […]

  29. Girl Scout

    This is not fair I know that everyone enjoys the cookies but it takes away SOOO much profit from the girl scouts i’ve had almost 30 people say they wont buy them cause they can make them themselves or buy them for only $2. It really makes it a lot harder to sell as many as we have in the past and also in this economy ITS EVEN HARDER!

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