No bake samoa cookies, with a chewy buttery base, caramel coconut topping, and rich chocolate coating, are a delicious Girl Scout copycat cookie with only 5 ingredients, a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
These samoa cookies are delicious with a buttery shortbread base, melted chocolate base and drizzle and fresh coconut caramel topping. These no bake cookies are gluten free and dairy free, and easy to make precisely because you don't have to use the oven. They are made quickly with just wholesome ingredients including dates, coconut, peanut butter and chocolate.
These homemade samoa cookies are only one of a long list of Girl Scout copycat cookies as well as more commercial brands that I offer as recipes on my blog. I have a healthy recipe of delicious Entenmann's small applesauce chocolate chip cookies. I also have a recipe for milano cookies , sprinkle cookie sticks, and Girl Scout copycat thin mint cookies.
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Ingredients
Dates: Full of iron and fiber, as well as add sweet flavor and binding. I used Medjool, but you can use the kind you can find. Look in your grocer's produce area for packaged dates, not dried.
Maple Syrup: A sweetener with a healthier panel than sugar so we can use less brown sugar.
Peanut Butter: This ingredient is important as a binder and instead of processed oil. Any nut butter flavor works.
Shredded coconut: Use shredded coconut that is unsweetened and as fresh as you can buy it.
Chocolate: I use chocolate chips but you can also chop chocolate. I use Enjoylife chips for their clean ingredient panel, or HU gems.
See the recipe card at the bottom for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
For more detail, visit the complete and printable recipe at the bottom of this post, but here are general steps.
Step 1: Bake the shredded coconut for 5 minutes until brown. Drop the dates in just boiled water for 3 minutes to soften enough to pit them.
Step 2: Make the cookies by processing the browned shredded coconut and dates into a sticky mixture. I used a food processor but a blender will also work.
Step 3: Press the mixture into a mold or the bottom of a cupcake pan. Chill while you make the caramel center.
Step 4: Put the peanut butter and maple syrup in a pyrex measuring cup and microwave for 15 seconds, stir until smooth. Pour on chilled cookies.
Step 5: Sprinkle more browned coconut on cookies and drizzle with chocolate.
Step 6: Store Cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for 4 days or freeze for three months.
Recipe Tips
Tip #1: Make sure the Medjool dates are fresh and soft. Find them packaged in the produce section of the grocery store, and always check the date. Before use in this recipe, drop them into just-boiled water for 5 minutes to soften them up, then pit.
Tip #2: Make sure the shredded coconut is fresh for best flavor, and from a reputable company.
Tip #3: To produce the classic iconic flat chocolate base found on the original Samoa cookie, dip and place the cookie immediately on wax paper. Parchment paper might work but I find wax works better. Once the chocolate is set, peel the cookie off the paper.
Substitutions
Replace the dates. Dates are pretty crucial to this recipe for binding the coconut and chewy sweet flavor. But if you can't access dates, you can replace them with rolled oats and maple syrup.
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Instead of dates, stir 5 tablespoon of rolled oats and 3 tablespoon of maple syrup together in a bowl, and fold in the toasted shredded coconut as you would the dates. You don't need a food processor for this though if you use oats, just bring the mixture together in a bowl.
Maple syrup. Instead of maple syrup in the caramel layer, you can use date paste or date syrup, or even monksyrup.
The shredded coconut and chocolate can't be substituted, but any type of chocolate bar or chips can be used.
FAQS
Homemade samoa cookies are relatively healthy as cookies go with 2 grams of protein and fiber each, and only 4 grams of sugar.
The Girl Scout's recently had to change the name to Caramel Delites because the Girl Scouts switched manufacturers, and the original manufacturer of Samoa cookies had a federal trademark on the name.
Sure, just add ½ teaspoon of mint extract to the batter, and the chocolate coating.
More Copycat Dessert Recipes
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📖 Recipe
No Bake Samoa Cookies (Girl Scout Copycat)
Equipment
- bowl, spoon
- baking tray
Ingredients
Cookie base
- 8 dates* soaked and pitted
- ¾ cup shredded coconut unsweetened
Caramel filling
- 4 tablespoon nut butter or sunflower seed butter to make nut-free
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Coconut sprinkles
- ¼ cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
Chocolate coating
- 1 cup chocolate chips melted
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
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Instructions
Prep
- Preheat your oven to 375 F.
- Line quarter cookie sheet with parchment paper
- Drop the dates in just boiled water for 3 minutes to soften enough to pit them.
Make Cookie base
- Toast coconut by spreading 1 cup on to the parchment paper and bake for 5 minutes or until browned.¾ cup shredded coconut
- Add ¾ cup toasted shredded coconut and pitted dates to a food processor and process mixture until sticky.8 dates*, ¾ cup shredded coconut
- Press 1 tablespoon per well into a mini donut mold. If you don't have a mold, press into a paper-lined cupcake pan.
- Freeze while you make caramel center
Make Caramel Center
- Mix the nut butter (or sunflower seed butter) and maple syrup in a pyrex measuring cup, microwaving for 15 seconds to make it smooth.4 tablespoon nut butter, 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- Spread over the cooled cookies while still in the mold (or cupcake pan).
- Sprinkle tops with fresh shredded coconut.¼ cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
- Place the mold (or cupcake pan) in the freezer for 30 minutes to allow the caramel to set.
Dip the Cookies
- Remove the cookies from molds.
- Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave for 1 minute.1 cup chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- Dip the cookies bottoms until coated. Because they are frozen, the chocolate should set fast but set them on a cooling rack up side down until that chocolate bottom is set.
Drizzle the tops
- When the bottoms are set, drizzle the tops with melted chocolate. I use a frosting bag with the tip cut off but you can use a ziplock sandwich bag as well with the tip cut off.
Store Cookies
- Store in a sealed container at room temperature for 4 days or freeze for three months.
Peter Angles says
No bake and the ingredients are so healthy and delicious!
Dee Dine says
Thank you!
Rochelle Joanne Gettings says
Hello I am going to make Samoa Cookies . Can you advise of the type of baking mould you have used please?
Dee Dine says
I used a mini donut mold, linked in my ingredients and here .