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These Samoa cookies are made with all real ingredients! They have a coconut topping, a date caramel, a grain free cookie base, and are paleo and AIP.

Last week, I shared my own personal favorite girl scout cookie recipe for Thin Mints! When I asked some of my readers on Instagram what their favorite girl scout cookie was, Samoas were a clear winner. Luckily, I had already made my own version of Samoas that I was just waiting to share! Samoas are coconut caramel cookies that have a shortbread base and are coated in chocolate. So basically, they’re pretty perfect.

This paleo and AIP version of Samoas is made with a coconut flour shortbread cookie base, then topped with a coconut and date caramel topping, toasted coconut flakes, and finished with a drizzle of chocolate. They look just like the real thing, and taste like it too!

The Ingredients & Tools You’ll Need

Arrowroot starch, coconut flour, coconut oil & maple syrup

These are for the shortbread cookie base. They’re fairly easy cookies to make, and definitely, taste like shortbread. What I like about them is that they’re a bit cakier than traditional Samoas!

Dates & coconut milk

This makes the date caramel that tops the cookies. Make sure that you get big, juice medjool dates if possible! They really have the most flavor and the best sticky texture.

Shredded coconut

You can easily make your own toasted coconut at home with shredded coconut that’s toasted in the oven at low heat.

Chocolate

You can use any dairy and soy free chocolate that you’d like

Cookie cutter

I got this great cookie cutter set on Amazon that has all of the sizes to needed to make these cookies and more! I used about a 3″ cookie cutter to make the cookie, and the smallest cookie cutter to make the center. You can use other tools to make the smaller hole in the center, but a very small cookie cutter will produce the most uniform and clean result.

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Paleo & AIP Samoa Cookies

★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews
  • Author: Michelle
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 7-8 cookies 1x
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Ingredients

Units Scale

For the shortbread cookie base

  • 3/4 cup coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup arrowroot starch
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, softened
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping

Instructions

For the shortbread cookies

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper lightly greased with coconut oil.
  2. Start with the crust by mixing together the two flours, and then stirring in the wet ingredients until well combined.
  3. Take a small handful of dough and lightly flatten onto the parchment paper. Use a 3″ cookie cutter to form a cookie, and use your fingers to pull away any excess dough outside the cookie cutter. Use a small 1″ cookie cutter to cut a hole in the center of the cookies and set aside the excess dough. Repeat the process for all of the dough until you have 7-8 cookies or so.
  4. Use a fork to make 4 small punctures around the surface of the cookies.
  5. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Allow cooling slightly before very carefully transferring the parchment paper to a cooling rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely before touching them, or they will break easily.

For the topping & assembling the cookies

  1. While the oven is still at 325 F, add the shredded coconut to a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake in the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes or until lightly toasted. Set aside.
  2. Add the pitted dates to a food processor and pulse until chopped. Add the coconut milk and pulse to combine. Set aside.
  3. Melt the chocolate using your preferred method (I prefer a double boiler method) and set aside.
  4. Assemble the cookies by adding about 2 tbsp of the date mixture to one cookie, then topping with shredded coconut, and finally a thin drizzle of melted chocolate. Repeat the process for all of the cookies.
  5. Place in the fridge for chill for about 20-30 minutes to allow the toppings to set.

Notes

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All nutrition facts are estimations and will vary.

  • Prep Time: 45
  • Cook Time: 20
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: baked
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cookie
  • Calories: 393
  • Fat: 23.5g
  • Carbohydrates: 45.8g
  • Fiber: 6.7g
  • Protein: 3.9g