Description
Homemade Samoas Cookies are a delightful treat featuring buttery, thin cookies topped with toasted sweetened coconut and a rich caramel layer, finished with a luscious coating of dark chocolate. This recipe offers a perfect balance of textures and flavors reminiscent of the classic Samoa cookie, crafted from scratch for a fresh and indulgent taste experience.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the cookies:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at 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:
- 3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
- 15 ounces store-bought or homemade soft caramels
- 3 Tablespoons whole milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces dark chocolate
Instructions
- Make the cookies: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy to create a smooth base for the dough.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt to evenly distribute the leavening and seasoning.
- Combine dough: Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter in three increments, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides to ensure even incorporation. Then add the milk and vanilla extract, blending until the dough begins to come together in large pieces.
- Chill dough: Divide the dough in half, compact each half into disks, wrap securely in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 1 hour until firm to make it easier to roll out.
- Preheat oven: Heat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC) to prepare for baking.
- Roll and cut cookies: Roll out each chilled disk on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Use a doughnut-shaped cutter to cut out cookies, placing them on a Silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake cookies: Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until the cookies are pale golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
- Toast coconut: Spread coconut flakes on a parchment-lined baking sheet and toast in the 350ºF oven for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning until golden and fragrant. Remove and set aside.
- Melt caramel: Using a double boiler, melt caramels with milk and salt, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat.
- Combine caramel and coconut: Mix 3/4 of the melted caramel with the toasted coconut in a large bowl.
- Assemble topping on cookies: Spread the remaining 1/4 of caramel onto the cooled cookies, then press the caramel-coconut mixture onto each. Let cookies cool for 30 minutes to set. Warm the caramel-coconut mixture as needed to keep it spreadable.
- Melt chocolate: Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler or microwave until smooth.
- Chocolate coat and drizzle: Dip the bottoms of the caramel-topped cookies in the melted chocolate and place on wax paper. Use a fork to drizzle the tops with chocolate.
- Set chocolate: Allow the chocolate to harden fully before serving or storing.
Notes
- For cutting cookies, if you don’t have a doughnut-shaped cutter, you can use two different sizes of round cookie cutters or improvise with a small bottle cap for the center hole.
- Be careful not to over-toast the coconut as it can quickly burn; stirring frequently is key.
- If the caramel-coconut mixture becomes too thick to spread, gently warm it again using the double boiler method until pliable.
- Dark chocolate is recommended for dipping and drizzling to balance the sweetness, but semi-sweet can also be used as an alternative.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 55mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 18g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 1.5g
- Cholesterol: 20mg
