Samoa Cookies, with a chewy butter base and rich chocolate coating, are a delicious no bake copycat with only 5 ingredients, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture, and surprisingly nutritious, full of fiber and iron.
These no bake samoa cookies are delicious with a buttery shortbread base, melted chocolate coating and fresh coconut. They are easy to make, gluten free, vegan and dairy-free, and use only a few ingredients and are full of healthy benefits. If you like healthy homemade versions of popular cookies like my milano cookies and my thin mint cookies, than you'll love these Samoas! I make them in a mini donut pan mold but you can also make them without the hole in a cupcake pan.
What Is a Samoa Cookie?
A Samoa cookie is a round, buttery shortbread base topped with a creamy caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut and dipped and drizzled with dark chocolate. The cookie was made famous in 1970s by the Girl Scouts, a youth girls organization, when they included the cookie during their annual food drive.
Main 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.
Nut Butter: This ingredient is important as a binder and instead of processed oil. I have made these with cashew butter but any 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 made with maple syrup as the sweetener.
How to Make
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 nut 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 dates are fresh and soft. I buy them packaged in the produce section of the grocery store, and always check the date. But at home, before use, I drop them in boiled water to soften them up, then pit.
Tip #2: Make sure the shredded coconut is fresh and from a reputable company. If it's not fresh, the taste will reflect a stale quality. Bob's Red Mill and Let's Do Organic are good brands.
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.
FAQS
How Healthy Are Homemade Samoa Cookies
Samoa cookies are relatively healthy as cookies go with 2 grams of protein and fiber each, and only 4 grams of sugar. The sweet flavor and texture of the cookie comes primarily from fresh dates which have a highly nutritious composition, including potassium and iron, and antioxidants which fight off disease. [source]
The other prominent ingredient in samoa cookies is shredded coconut. The shredded nature helps the cookie bind the dates into the soft chewy texture found identical to the processed commercial version. And raw coconut brings an extraordinarily nutritious profile to the cookie, including cholesterol control, weight loss support, digestion help and blood sugar stablization. [source]
Why did they change the name of Samoa cookies?
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.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Vegan Brownie Cookies
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Vegan Spicy Hermits
- Vegan Thin Mints
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📖 Recipe
Samoa Cookies
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
Equipment
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 browned 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
No bake and the ingredients are so healthy and delicious!
Dee Dine
Thank you!
Rochelle Joanne Gettings
Hello I am going to make Samoa Cookies . Can you advise of the type of baking mould you have used please?
Dee Dine
I used a mini donut mold, linked in my ingredients and here .