Homemade Girl Scout Cookies: Samoas Bars
- February 2, 2009
- Chocolate, Cookies - Bar Cookies and Brownies, Recipes
- 212 comments
I love the look of the original Samoas Girl Scout Cookies, but making them from scratch can be a little bit time consuming. This is largely because the dough must be rolled out, cut out and then each of the cookies has to be handled individually for topping. The results are well worth it, in my opinion, but we don’t always have time to make a labor-intensive recipe – no matter how bad a craving for Girl Scout cookies gets.
Bar cookies are the perfect solution.
This is basically a shortcut recipe that still delivers all the great samoas flavor without some of the more tedious parts of cooking making. These bars have a buttery shortbread base that is topped with the caramel-coconut samoas topping and chocolate. It is made in three stages. First, the shortbread is baked and cooled. Then, the coconut topping is applied. Put the coconut on while it is hot, so it will be fairly easy to push it around. It’s a thick mixture, but a spatula is all you need to press it into an even layer. The bars should be cut after the topping has been applied, and even though the shortbread has a melt-in-your mouth quality to it, the topping holds the bars together well. I recommend using a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice up the bars easily and neatly; small knives don’t work quite as well.
The final step is to dip these in chocolate once the topping has set. Since samoas have chocolate on the bottom and a chocolate drizzle on top, I kept that same look for my bar cookies. If you want something a bit simpler, just dip half that bars in chocolate – or skip the dipping in favor of a drizzle. The important thing is that all the flavors get into the batch. And that you have some friends to share these with, because they can be quite addictive.
Homemade Samoas Bars
Cookie Base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
First, make the crust.
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.
Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)
Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.
When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).
Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.
Makes 30 bar cookies.
Note: You can simply drizzle chocolate on top of the bars before slicing them up if you’re looking for yet an easier way to finish these off. You won’t need quite as much chocolate as noted above, and you won’t quite get the Samoas look, but the results will still be tasty.
212 Comments
Thank you so much for posting all the GS Cookie recipes- they all look WONERFUL and I definitely want to try these bars!! You do a wonderful job- love your blog.
I “googled” samoas to find a recipe and this is the first one I looked at. Made them tonight, have not tasted them yet, waiting for the caramel to cool so I can do the final part, but I can tell already that I am going to love them. Thanks very much, my brother is going to love these.
I was all set to love these and want to make them again and again. I did make them this weekend and was not as impressed as I thought I would be. They were too thick and chewy. I love to bake and usually bake once a week, but this recipe took way too long, took too many ingredients and made too many dirty dishes. I think I will just buy one box of the real thing a year and enjoy them that way. I really wanted to love these, but I didn’t.
I made these yesterday for a dinner party & everyone went NUTS! Thank you for creating this recipe! I thought they were fabulous & just sent my husband back out to buy more carmel & coconut to make more!
OH MY GOD!!!! Those look AMAZING!
You should win a prize for these cookies that looks so fantastic and I’ll bet taste even better. I’m sure I would eat the whole batch if I made these.
these are my favorite girl scout cookies too. I’m so glad you made these…and I am saving them!
Found your Samoas cookie recipe a while back but I’m glad I procrastinated because easy bars are even better! I wrote a post about Samoas on my blog, used two of your photos (loaded onto my photosharing site), attributed them to you, and also linked to your recipes – this one and the cookie version. If that’s not OK, please let me know. : )
By the way, LOVE these! So glad I have a recipe to make my own. Only thing I will do differently next time is to try milk chocolate instead of dark or semi-sweet; mine seemed a little too cocoa-y compared to the Girl Scout ones. (But still delicious, regardless of chocolate used.)
This actually looks very easy to make. I think I will give it a try as I have all the ingredients already.
I did the bars and like someone else above, my shortbread was way way too crumbly (one section even separated, half stayed on my pan, half came up with the caramel), and if it weren’t for the chocolate would be too fragile to support the caramel layer during a bite. I think I’ll try again with another egg added. Do you think that will change anything?
Hi,
I absolutely love your blog!I made these on Sunday and they were so good! I will tweek the recipe to my family’s taste (less chocolaty) and will also try the chocolate layer instead of dipped in it. I couldn’t handle the mess of dipping it, lol.
Keep sharing your delicious recipes
I’m linking to these and wishing for Taste A Vision:)
I tried making these last night–unfortunately, my cookie layer fell apart when trying to cut the bars, and the topping just wouldn’t stick. The cookie layer seemed too thick to me, too…I’d love to try making them again if someone can fix these issues!
WHOEVER MADE/POSTED THIS…OH MY GOD YOU ARE MY SAVIOR. LOL i love love loove samoas and being that they are seasonal im always bummed when i ram through the box that day…i mean i’m only 18 and being a college student this sounds like the best munchies everr..haha i am trying these out tomorrow! this is awesome!
OMG! I think i just creamed my pants!
Me too, Shane! =]
What caramels do you use?
Made these this morning/afternoon. They were great, but I have to agree with some of the comments. Next time I will make the cookie part thinner (that shortbread tasted awesome though). Also, I would highly suggest some other chocolate for drizzling and dipping – I used the Nestle Tollhouse Semi-Sweet Morsels and I too had a problem with the chocolate not hardening. There’s a chocolate in a paper tub that is specifically for dipping things & hardening (it has pictures of bananas & strawberries) – it’s usually in the produce section at Ralphs. That has always worked great for anything that I’ve needed hardened chocolate for. Hmm… I just may try this with white chocolate next time!
I made these last nite for friends and we liked them. BUT i wanted to LOVE them, especially after all that work!!
The topping of caramel and coconut was definitely the best part although it did not want to stick to the shortbread base. I solved this by greasing up my fingers and spatula with shortening and pressing it into the cookies. My friend ended up just picking the caramel/coconut topping off the cookie and eating that straight. The shortbread was not very flavorful and too crumbly. The cookie bits fell into the chocolate as i was dipping the bottoms of the bars. I think next time i will make butter cookies and put the topping on that or just make the topping and eat that like candy.
WOW! These stopped me dead in my tracks. Bummer my corner grocer is closed right now. Found you on stumbleupon and so glad I did. Thanks for sharing, saves me more money for buying the tagalongs and thin mints…he he
I made these and didn’t have time to dip the base of the bar in chocolate and instead just drizzled the chocolate over the top. They were so tasty. Thanks! I posted about them on my blog with a link to you.
My daughter is with the girl scouts and this would be a nice spin to put on a popular cookie. Although girl scout cookies are great, you can get tired of the same flavors after awhile!
Just made these last week! Took a long time to make but worth it! Make sure you don’t over mix the dough for the shortbread. My first attempt did not look like “wet sand” and when I baked it it looked spongy. I also used only 2 cups of the toasted coconut and spread the melted chocolate on the base of the cookies with a knife instead of dipping them. This was less messy and I had more control of how much I put on. I put them in the fridge after topping them with the coconut/caramel topping for a few minutes just to set then after spreading them with chocolate I put them in there for another few minutes. Then drizzled them with chocolate. My husband loved them! He said they definitely taste better at room temperature. They remind me a little of a Twix bar because of the caramel and the cookie part. Going to try to make the Thin Mints next. Thanks Nicole!!!
I made these yesterday and they were absolutely delicious! My nieces loved them. I must say that I think they are better than the Samoa cookies because you get a lot more caramel and chocolate. Thanks for the great recipe.
I just made these yesterday and they were FABULOUS. I did what was suggested earlier and put the layer of melted chocolate on the shortbread instead of dipping, and also so the coconut would adhere better. Also, my grocery store didn’t have caramels, so I used a jar of smuckers caramel sauce/ice cream topping, and it worked very well. Thanks for such a great recipe! I’ll definitely make these again!
Did you happen to use sweetened or unsweetened coconut?
me too!
I made these yesterday and they were absolutely delicious!
I LOVE your website. I come here all the time when I want a good homemade recipe for something. I’ve used lots and they’ve been fantastic every time. I’ll be back!
wow. nice looking, thanks for sharing, we will try it a.s.a.p.
his recipe was great. I omitted the cocoa powder, as the cookies I sold in the 80’s were white on the inside. Dough sliced easily. I added more extract to the dough, and added extract to the melted chocolate. Served at a party last night and they disappeared within minutes.
I made these and they were the bomb.
I love the shortbread/caramel/coconut combo, these were a definite hit.
I’m making these with my sister on thanksgiving, thanks. That’s a good tip about drizzling the chocolate on top of the bars before slicing them up. Great looking recipe … can’t wait!
Wow… such a good idea! And I guess I’m in the minority, but tagalongs are totally my favorite!
Love this recipe but found the dipping to be time consuming and the cookie layer didn’t take the handling too well. My solution? As soon as you take the shortbread out of the oven, spread the chocolote bits over the entire surface and allow it to melt. Cut into bars and allow to chocolate to set. Once chocolate has set, remove bars and place together tightly- CHOCOLATE SIDE DOWN from pan and top with the carmel/coconut mixture.
hose Samoa bars look even better than their Girl Scout counterparts–and I love their Girl Scout counterparts. Your blog is just wonderful, and I always look forward to seeing your new posts! Cannot wait to make these little treasures.
These are beautiful. Thank you so much for your effort to provide two wondrous recipes that satisfy our Girl Scout cookie cravings all year long. The photos are brilliant BTW. Thanks again! I think this recipe can smooth over even the worst of family disputes. My son is SO excited!
Update on the yummy bars: I cut them up into even smaller squares and packed them up for my hubby to take to work. They have gotten amazing reviews. About 50 web designers are going to be on your website this weekend digging up the recipe. Thanks so much!
I just tried these, and mine didn’t turn out right. They LOOK like yours, but they taste horrible. The caramel was, too salty, and even w/out that, it still wouldn’t have tasted right. I think I should have used sweet chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet (disgusting). Tears
Maybe one day I will learn how to bake/cook…lol Thanks for the recipe though, I will get a more SEASONED baker to try to fix these for me
lo que yo queria, gracias
I have a questions…I loved this recipe, but everytime that I try and bake something that I have to dip in chocolate, the chocolate ends up being to heavy and thick to make it work. For example, when I made the Samoa Bars and dipped them, the shortbread part fell apart in the chocolate and it looked ugly, so I just put a little chocolate on top. Another time I tried to make cake pops and once I added the chocolate the cake part slid off the pop. What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions?
The picture makes it look soooo goooood.
Your girl Mary
these need some tweaking. i tried the recipe and will not be making again. thanks for your hard work but I think the real thing is worth the $$.
I was thrilled to try these. I thought the cookie part was a bit cakey, not crisp like I’d hoped, and too thick. My solution; next time I’ll just split the dough between two pans so I have a thinner cookie, and twice as many! I’m too lazy to do all the cutting and spreading to make the cookies, but they probably do end up tasting much more like the samoas. Someone asked about the caramel sticking; mine was coming up as I spread it, too, but it stuck when it cooled.
They are quite delicious, just not as much like the samoas as I hoped. But I’m sure they will be better next try.
Thanks! It’s girl scout cookie time. I bought 2 boxes of samoas knowing it’d be quite dangerous. I ate the whole box in no time, and my boyfriend the other. So I promised I’d try and bake them. Found this and voila they are amazing! I’m scared they may not make it til he gets home from work though haha!
I agree with the reviews that said the cookie part was too thick and crumbly. Didn’t really taste like the crisp girl scout samoas at all. I noticed the samoa cookie recipe is exactly the same except for having more butter. I wonder if that would work better for the bars as well? The topping was wonderful though–Just like the real girl scout cookies if not better.
I made this for Easter using homemade caramel though. My cookie base wasn’t crumbly like it was suppose to but it worked out perfectly. They are so delicious!! Thank you for this recipe.
That sound s good.I will try.And I am trying to search
I’ve never eaten Samoas in bar form before! They taste great! Thanks so much for the recipe this is definitely a keeper.
I can’t wait to try it! The picture itself makes the cookies look so tasty. I’m drooling already. I bet my sisters will go crazy over this.