How to Make Samoa Cookies

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How to Make Samoa Cookies

Better than the Girl Scouts

Angela Gladding

7.4k Views

Step 1 of 31

I was a girl scout back in the day, and I always loved these cookies. I wanted to send my boyfriend something awesome one day (woo LDR), so I decided to make my own version, and they're goood.

Step 2 of 31

Gather all the ingredients for the shortbread cookie base, these are listed (along with exact measurements) in the supplies.

Step 3 of 31

Put ROOM-TEMPERATURE butter into a bowl. This is very important. If it is cold you will have a very hard time creaming the butter and sugar together.

Step 4 of 31

Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract.

Step 5 of 31

Mix for about a minute until you get this. You will get the same result with a handheld mixer. It is also possible to cream butter and sugar by hand, but it will take a while.

Step 6 of 31

Fold the flour and salt into the butter mixture, once it's more incorporated feel free to mix with your hands.

Step 7 of 31

Eventually you will end up with dough, ball it up like this

Step 8 of 31

Take the dough out, flatten into a disk, wrap it up in something (parchment paper here), and let chill in fridge. This makes it more firm and much easier to roll out, as it gets sticky when warm.

Step 9 of 31

While the dough chills (about 30 minutes or so), clean your working surface...

Step 10 of 31

...line some baking sheets with parchment paper...

Step 11 of 31

and then flour your surface, along with your rolling pin, and whatever cookie cutter you are using. I have made hearts, circles, Christmas trees...feel free to use anything, have fun with them!

Step 12 of 31

Now we begin to roll out the dough. Here I'm using a fondant roller because I don't have a rolling pin, but I have used them every other time I've made this cookie and it works just the same.

Step 13 of 31

Cut some cookies! Don't forget to flour the rolling pin, cookie cutters, and your working surface every now and then to prevent the dough from sticking.

Step 14 of 31

Start lining up your cookies on the baking sheets with parchment paper. You will get about 33 cookies.

Step 15 of 31

Pop the cookies into the oven at 350, and bake for 8-10 minutes, until firm but not browned. Set aside to cool.

Step 16 of 31

Now for turning the shortbread into samoas!

Step 17 of 31

Take the unsweetened coconut and pour out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You will probably use about 3/4 of the bag.

Step 18 of 31

Bake it at 350 for a few minutes. Just watch it carefully, after it turns golden it can burn very easily.

Step 19 of 31

Here I'm using the double boiler method. You will use about 3/4 of a bag of chewy caramels. I melted them in small batches because I tend to make too much at times.

Step 20 of 31

Now start melting the caramel. Drop in caramel, a little milk, and a little butter into a glass bowl. Set bowl on pot of simmering water, and stir.

Step 21 of 31

Melt until the caramel begins to turn a little runny, if it is too thick add milk. If it is too thick it will be hard to work with. Fold in the toasted coconut. Make sure to keep this mixture warm.

Step 22 of 31

Spoon coconut caramel mixture onto cookies and spread it out. Cookie casualties occur most often in this stage, so be gentle.

Step 23 of 31

Almost done! Keep going until they're all covered.

Step 24 of 31

Melt chocolate using the double boiler method like the caramel, but NO milk and NO butter. Just make sure that you stir the chocolate often so you don't scorch it. Once melted start dipping!

Step 25 of 31

Eventually they will all look like this after their chocolate bath. I know the chocolate can get pretty hot so I hope you haven't burned your fingers.

Step 26 of 31

Now for the fun part! Take the leftover chocolate and place in a piping bag. Here I just took a ziplock bag and cut a very small hole in the tip.

Step 27 of 31

Drizzle!

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Keep going!

Step 29 of 31

After you're done, pop the cookies in the fridge so the chocolate can solidify again. They are also fine in the freezer and thaw out perfectly.

Step 30 of 31

These are time consuming since there are so many steps, but oh so worth it in the end. Not only because they're good, but because of the great reviews I receive from everyone who I've made them for.

Step 31 of 31

Hope you enjoy! Feel free to leave comments and suggestions.

You're Done

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Angela Gladding

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Supplies

Embed

John Roberts

Nick Lawson

Donna Wilde

Mel Glez

Jamie Love

Mallory Rutledge

Campbell River, British ...

Marco Giudice

Lili Munoz

Buena Park, California

Carolyn Contreras

Alisha Roberts

Indianapolis, Indiana

Gemma Capstick

Preston

Sara Rock

Baldock, Herts

Tina Kolovchevich

Blanche Sumner

Tabby Malloy

Oregon USA

Trine Greve

Odense, Denmark

Querida S

Mook Attakanwong

Cameron Young

Texas

A R

Lindsay Mirrione

Rane Body Decor

Knoxville, Tennessee

Natalie Anderson

Jenna Gregor

Vanessa V.

St.Louis County

For the Shortbread Cookie

3 Cups All-purpose Flour

1 Cup Unsalted Butter

½ Cups Powdered Sugar

1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

¼ Teaspoons Salt

For the Topping

8 Ounces Semisweet Chocolate

1 Bag Unsweetened Coconut Flakes

1 Bag of Chewy Caramels

Butter

Milk

ok thanks

Holly hannah MC LOVER 1 day ago

I suppose you could use honey, but I'm not sure they'd stop being sticky unless you freeze them. The flavor will not be the same either. There's really no substituting the caramel in a Samoa - otherwise you're pretty much making a different cookie. If you don't want to use caramel because you don't want to use the soft caramel candies, you can make your own caramel from scratch.

Angela Gladding (author) 1 day ago

what could I replace the caramel with?

Holly hannah MC LOVER 1 day ago

When I saw the picture I thought it was a homemade common german chocolate cake icing I had used before, which is so good. The recipe contains condense milk and from looking at your guide, I think you could add condense milk in place of the butter and awesome horizon milk! I'm gonna try it out and I'll let you know how that goes. When I made the German chocolate cake filling, I wanted to eat the entire bowl it was so good, so I think it would be great on these cookies.

Sherry Williams 5 days ago

Non mi ispira :P

Damiano S 🇮🇹 3 months ago

Perché :( ?

Angela Gladding (author) 3 months ago

:( :o

Damiano S 🇮🇹 3 months ago

Thanks! Hope you try them!

Angela Gladding (author) 5 months ago

Love It!!!

Kerry F 5 months ago

When you open the guide, there is a supplies tab on the bottom. Pull that up and you will have measurements and ingredients.

Angela Gladding (author) 10 months ago

On the bottom of each picture is a small black tab just pull it up and it should give you all the indredients!:) and these cookies look delicous!! Can't wait to try them

Ashley Wagoner 10 months ago

New to this - where are the ingredients and amounts required on this site? Is there a separate area? Cheers

Juliet Bryant 10 months ago

Wow they sound fabulous! I like a more challenging recipe like this...the more steps, the more pride I feel when they're done! Also, I'm glad to see the rude comments have been removed. Thanks!

Andrea K💋 10 months ago

Awesome. Came out perfect the first time but I can cook unlike Taylor lol. They were way better then the girl scout ones. Which I love. Thank you.

Rob Artz 10 months ago

Looks amazing

Jens Carlander 10 months ago

Thank you everyone, hope you try them and they turn out well for you!

Angela Gladding (author) 10 months ago

Omg I love you..I am going to be in so much trouble now, LOL but thank you for this recipe!

Bridget Emery 10 months ago

Look very nice

Annie Mui 10 months ago

These look amazing!! Can't wait to try making them!

Cat Thrasher 10 months ago

I'm intrigued, so I'm going to try these. I love all of these ingredients and also love homemade cookies! Thank you!!

Colleen Carpenter 10 months ago

I am glad these cookies are featured, they were delicious and I wish I had more :)

Aapls Ali 10 months ago

I think they look delicious and can't wait to try them.

Priscilla Rivera 10 months ago

The first time I made these I used less flour in the shortbread and they wouldn't turn into dough I could work with. Then I added more, baked them, and they were rock hard. So I changed the recipe to make it work for me, and that's what I shared since it has never failed me. No need to be rude and say that the recipe is "horrible" and that they are a "pain." The first time I made them they did not turn out perfectly. There are many factors as to why something won't work for you, like Faith has said. Baking is a lot of trial and error, but I find the experimentation fun, and that's how it should be.

Angela Gladding (author) 10 months ago

First off, I would like to say that I never claimed these were just like the girl scout cookie, and in the description I have said "better than the Girl Scouts" because it does not contain so many fake, processed ingredients. Clearly this is an opinion, so you misunderstood. Most recipes for this cookie, which I'm sure a Google search will lead you to, are similar to this one. These are not easy cookies, which I have inferred in my guide. My shortbread doesn't work for you? Try a different one. There are millions of recipes for a single thing, you need to find one you like.

Angela Gladding (author) 10 months ago

just because of one bad experience does t mean you shouldn't make them again.. I've had many, but I always try them again. sometimes it's the recipe and sometimes it the climate and sometimes it the person who messages it up. but "if you first don't succeed, try try again!!''

faith carlson 10 months ago

Don't apologize to her. If she doesn't like your recipe then she can keep her negative comments to herself and just not bake them anymore.

John Roberts 10 months ago

@taylor we made these cookies and they were gooey, crunchy and chewy and everything was REAL. Girl scout cookies are fake and processed. Although they are both good, these are what real samoa's should be.

Aapls Ali 10 months ago

Sorry you had a bad experience, I've been making them for a couple years and have never had any issues with them. Obviously they won't taste exactly like girl scout samoas because they aren't commercially made. Hope you can find another recipe that works for you.

Angela Gladding (author) 10 months ago

@Keriann Well margarine has less fat than butter and it's salty, so it won't give the cookie quite the same flavor. It will also change the consistency, making it more cake-like instead of flaky. So it will change the cookie quite a bit since butter is basically the number one ingredient in the shortbread. You can give it a try and let me know how it goes though.

Angela Gladding (author) 10 months ago

Looks delicious.

Pam Smith 10 months ago

I liked it :)

Abhishek Singh 10 months ago

Can u use margin ?

Keriann M 10 months ago

Super!

Fabricio Lodi 10 months ago

Thank you!!! I know wot I'll be havin for my birthday!!!!! xxx :)

Sara Rock 10 months ago

You're welcome, hope they turn out well!

Angela Gladding (author) 10 months ago

Try using some dried chopped fruit or chopped pecans.

Angela Gladding (author) 10 months ago

Do u kno a substitute for coconut??? These sound sooooo nice but i HATE coconut!!!!

Sara Rock 10 months ago

Ah! Great advice!!! Thank you!

Athena M 10 months ago

They hold up well in shipping! Usually I put the cookies in Tupperware and put parchment paper in there. You can stack cookies on top of each other as long as they have parchment or wax paper in between cause they WILL stick together. Then stick them in a box and fill it with something so that the Tupperware doesn't move around in the box.

Angela Gladding (author) 10 months ago

Woo! I'm in one too!!! (P.S: this sounds so delish to send to my boyfriend! Thank you for the idea!!!)

Athena M 10 months ago

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Thank you! :)

Angela Gladding (author) 5 months ago

Nice manicured nails :)

Maria Daniels 5 months ago

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As long as the caramel doesn't completely solidify and turn hard when cooled, absolutely! I have wanted to try that but have not gotten around to it yet.

Angela Gladding (author) 9 months ago