How to Make Girl Scout Samoas Cookies at Home

There's no better time of the year than Girl Scout cookie season, right? But those boxes only last for so long . . . even if you freeze them. Well thank heavens we have an easy homemade version that can keep you snacking happy all year long.

Homemade Samoas Cookies
From Just a Taste

INGREDIENTS

For the cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the coconut topping:
15 ounces soft caramels
3 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded sweetened coconut, toasted
8 ounces dark chocolate

DIRECTIONS

Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In the bowl of a stand-up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter in thirds, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Once incorporated, add the milk and vanilla extract, and mix until the dough comes together.

Flatten out the dough and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 1 hour or until the dough is firm.

Once the dough has chilled, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8 inch thick. Use a doughnut-shaped cookie cutter or two biscuit cutters to cut out cookies. Place cookies on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet using a spatula, and keep going until you have used up all of the dough.

Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until the cookies are a pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Make the coconut topping: Melt the caramels, milk, and salt in a double boiler by placing the caramels in a medium saucepot set over a large saucepot of simmering water. Cook until the caramels are fully melted. Remove the saucepot from the heat and pour 3/4 of the melted caramel over the toasted caramel in a large bowl.
Carefully spread the remaining caramel on top of the cooled cookies and then press on the coconut caramel mixture on top of each cookie. Let the cookies cool for 30 minutes. If the caramel-coconut mixture thickens too much or the caramel sets, return it to the double boiler and warm it up until it is spreadable again.
Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave. Dip the bottom of each cookie in the chocolate and place it on a wax-paper-lined baking sheet. Use a fork to drizzle chocolate on top of each cookie in a zigzaggy pattern. Let cookies sit until chocolate hardens.

Yield 48 cookies
Cook Time 2 hours

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