Guys. These are crack. I just knew that there was a way to make a homemade samoa's - which, are single-handedly the greatest girl scout cookie of all time. But seriously, don't even argue otherwise with me. There is something about the coconut and chocolate OH and the CARAMEL. Its all just so good together, that I knew I had to just try to make them on my own, and boy they came out great.
In my husband's words "babe, YOU KILLED IT."
Now you know that means they must be good.
I initially tried to make the caramel sauce with coconut milk - and while I love using it in curries or smoothie recipes, I have now learned that I do not like it as caramel. The texture isn't right (or at least I couldn't get it right) and the flavor was not much like caramel to me. So I tossed that batch and tried again.
But before we get to the caramel, lets talk about the cookie. These are a pretty simple cookie - I like to have something a little less sweet because there is a lot of sweetness going on top. Its based in oat and coconut flour - so you still get that hint of coconut flavor even through your having a pretty simple cookie. Pretty quickly just blend together all the ingredients: all the dry first then add in all the wet. Oat flour, coconut flour, flax and salt, then add in melted ghee or butter (or coconut oil!), maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla. It should make a pretty stiff dough - once its totally blended, roll into a ball and let it sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes, this will make it easier to roll.
Once cold - roll out to about a quarter of an inch thick and using cookie cutters (or a glass) cut out your donut shaped cookies. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown. Remove them from the oven and let cool completely before starting the next step.
Making the caramel is going to blow your mind - it is so easy. No candy thermometer, no white sugar, and literally 2 minutes tops. In a microwave safe bowl, add ghee or coconut oil and maple syrup. Microwave for 30 seconds and then add in the nut butter, vanilla and salt. Whisk thoroughly - microwave for another 30 seconds. Give it a good stir. I find that placing it then in the fridge for about 5 minutes allows it to cool to that sticky tacky texture, perfect for dunking. Dunk the cookie into the caramel and place on a parchment lined sheet. Once all the cookies have been dunked, set them in the fridge for another 15 minutes to allow the caramel to harden just a little.
The one trick that my husband noticed about the original girl scout cookies - the coconut on top is TOASTED. So, thanks to his genius thoughts, I toasted about a half a cup of coconut until golden. Set aside and let it cool.
After 15 minutes, remove the cookies from the fridge. Then, in another microwave safe bowl, melt down your coconut - I like to use Enjoy Life Foods as its free from the eight major allergens. Then carefully dunk each bottom of the cookie (the opposite side of the caramel) into the chocolate and place back on the parchment lined pan. I heavily sprinkle the toasted coconut into the caramel. Once all have been dunked and coated with coconut, use the remaining chocolate and drizzle over the top. I always place these back into the fridge - and store them there as well - as they keep best when slightly cold.
These barely lasted a week so I can't say if they will last longer than that in the fridge :D - that said, while these do have a few more steps than my everyday recipes, they are certainly worth the effort. Fortunately enough, all of these items are most things that you will have in your pantry and on hand nine out of ten times.
Good luck and enjoy!
Homemade Samoa's (GF/can be made DF)
Prep Time: 45-60 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
Cookies:
2 cups oat flour (I use Bob's)
½ cup coconut flour (I use Bob's)
1 tablespoon ground flax (I use Bob's)
3 tablespoons melted ghee (FarmTrue!)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons almond milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Caramel:
2 tablespoons ghee or coconut oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons almond butter
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
Extras:
1 cup melted chocolate (I use Enjoy Life Foods)
¼ cup toasted unsweetened coconut
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together all dry cookie ingredients. Then add in the wet and combine thoroughly. Roll into a ball and place in bowl in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Remove dough from fridge and roll out to about 1/4 of an inch. Using cookie cutters or a glass, cut out cookie shapes - and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake cookies for 20 minutes until golden brown. Let cookies cool completely before completing next steps.
In a small microwave safe bowl, combine ghee and maple syrup for caramel. Microwave for 30 seconds. Whisk in almond butter, vanilla and salt. Microwave for another 30 seconds. Give a quick stir then place in the fridge for 15 more minutes to allow it to thicken and get tacky.
Dunk cookies into the caramel and set on a parchment lined baking sheet. Once all cookies are covered in caramel, place back in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Now you can toast the unsweetened coconut - in a small saute pan over medium heat, stirring until golden brown. Remove from heat and let cool.
In another microwave safe bowl, melt down chocolate in 30 second increments (takes me about 1 minute total) and then remove cookies from fridge. Dunk the opposite side of cookie, the non-caramel side into the chocolate and put back onto the parchment lined sheet.
Sprinkle heavily with coconut and then using the remaining chocolate, drizzle all over the top of the cookies.
Place them back into the fridge to store and allow to harden back up for at least 15 minutes before eating.
xx
Rita