Copycat girl scout cookies but healthier! This vegan samoas recipe has a grain-free shortbread, caramel coconut layer, and dark chocolate drizzle!
I don’t know if the smell and taste of toasted coconut and the magic of watching it turn from snowy white to toasty gold brings you as much joy as it does me…but if not we have caramel and chocolate happening here too to guarantee JOY will be brought to all by these marvelous little cookies.
Homemade Vegan Grain-Free Samoas
You know samoas. You (hopefully) love samoas. But you may not know this side of them yet. This DIY side with a crispy homemade grain-free shortbread cookie and a sticky sweet 3-ingredient dairy-free caramel and as many chocolate drizzles as your heart desires. There are many perks to making your own (hello healthier ingredients!) but overdoing the chocolate drizzles is definitely my favorite perk.
Ingredients In This Samoas Recipe
Don’t let the whole three different layers part scare you away, this is still a pretty simple recipe. The most time consuming part is shaping them into rings, but luckily shape doesn’t affect flavor so baking as bars is a lazy but just as delicious option.
Shortbread Cookie
This is my go-to vegan paleo shortbread cookie, its snappy and subtly sweet and buttery and EASY too. You will need…
- Almond flour
- Coconut flour
- Maple syrup (or honey or agave)
- Coconut oil (or coconut butter if you want to make them oil-free, but you may need slightly more of it)
- Pinch of salt
Caramel Coconut Layer
Okay we are semi cheating here, but it’s such an easy trick I had to do it. Instead of mixing up our own dairy-free caramel we are using a can of sweetened condensed coconut milk simmered down until thick and caramelized then spiked with vanilla and a pinch of salt. It’s sticky, its sweet, it glues together the coconut perfectly.
If you wanted to use a more homemade caramel, you could try THIS no-cook caramel instead. I do not recommend date caramel here, it won’t set into a solid samoa unfortunately.
Dark Chocolate Drizzles
Are just that, dark chocolate melted and well…drizzled. This is my favorite dark chocolate for thin delicate drizzling. I recommend dipping the bottoms of the cookies first, letting that harden on a piece of wax paper, then drizzling the tops.
More Copycat Girl Scout Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
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Copycat girl scout cookies but healthier! This vegan samoas recipe has a grain-free shortbread, caramel coconut layer, and dark chocolate drizzle!
Ingredients
Cookie
- 1 cup (110g) almond flour
- 1/3 cup (40g) coconut flour
- 1/4 cup (80g) maple syrup or honey
- 1/4 cup (50g) coconut oil (or coconut butter)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Caramel Coconut Layer
- 1 can (210g) sweetened condensed coconut milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups (140g) unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup (90g) dark chocolate chips, melted
Instructions
- Whisk together flours and salt.
- Add maple syrup and coconut oil, mix to form a sticky dough.
- Roll out between two sheets of wax paper. Freeze flat for 30 mins (makes cutting/transferring easier).
- Cut into ring shaped cookies, and bake 8-10 mins at 350ºF. Cool completely.
- Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and toast for 10 mins at 350ºF, stirring halfway through.
- Add sweetened condensed coconut milk to a small saucepan. Simmer on medium low heat, stirring frequently until browned (about 10 minutes). Stir in salt and vanilla, then remove from heat.
- Pour over the toasted coconut and mix.
- Plop a dollop on top of each cookie, then press/shape into a ring.
- Freeze cookies for 2 hours.
- Dip the bottoms in melted dark chocolate, then drizzle the tops. Chill until chocolate is set.
- Eat! Keep leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 262
- Sugar: 16g
- Sodium: 145mg
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 11g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 4g
Keywords: gluten-free, grain-free, girl scouts, healthy, dairy free, coconut, caramel, easy, chocolate, shortbread, paleo
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Hi Natalie
Is it possible to use oat flour instead of almond flour?
They are not one for one subs and it will make the cookie much chewier and less buttery, so I don’t recommend it here. You could try this oat flour sugar cookie for the base instead: https://feastingonfruit.com/homemade-vegan-golden-oreos/