These samoas are toasty, caramely, chocolaty, and sooooo delicious! With an almond flour shortbread and date caramel, these samoas are vegan, gluten free, and paleo! I'll show you how to make date caramel in this post too!
What are samoas?
Samoas, aka Caramel deLites, are a type of girl scout cookie! They are a ring shaped shortbread cookie topped with date caramel, toasted coconut, and chocolate! The flavors work perfectly together, and I wanted to a create a healthier version that was vegan, gluten free, and paleo!
The Shortbread
The base of these cookies are an almond flour shortbread. It is crisp and buttery, thanks to the almond flour and coconut oil! The tapioca starch helps make the shortbread light, but it is optional so you can replace it with more almond flour. The honey sweetens the shortbread up but please do not replace it with another sweetener because the honey also helps to bind the shortbread together. This shortbread may become a bit soggy with the date caramel on top, which releases a lot of moisture, so it is best to eat immediately after assembly.
The Toppings
These healthy samoas are topped with date caramel! It is so easy to make, it is basically just dates and nut butter! Make sure to soak the dates to make them easier to blend. The dates have a natural caramel flavor to them, and the nut butter adds a nice creaminess and nuttiness! Of course, you need vanilla and salt to flavor the caramel and make it soooooo delicious. This date caramel makes a pretty big batch and can also be used in oatmeal, smoothies, on toast, or just eaten by the spoonful!
These samoas are also topped with toasted coconut! You can buy pretoasted coconut or toast them yourself! To toast the coconut, bake them at 350° F (175° C) for 5-10 minutes, or until nice and golden brown.
You need to drizzle these samoas in chocolate! I am using a Lily's brand chocolate chips that are both vegan and sugar free, but any chocolate will work as long and it can melt! You'll need to add a tiny bit of coconut oil to the chocolate to make it smooth and runny. I like to place the melted chocolate in a plastic ziploc bag, cut off an edge, then drizzle the samoas with the chocolate. I find this produces much cleaner lines, but you could also drizzle them with a spoon! I did not dip these samoas in chocolate because I was too lazy too, but you definently could!
Storage
You can store these samoas in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Keep in mind these do get soggy since the date caramel releases a bit of moisture, but they'll still taste great!
Watch this video on how to make Healthy Samoas!
Healthy Samoas
Prep Time: 2 Hours Cook Time: 10 Min
Total Time: 2 Hours 10 Min
Serves: 24
These samoas are toasty, caramely, chocolaty, and sooooo delicious! With an almond flour shortbread and date caramel, these samoas are vegan, gluten free, and paleo! I'll show you how to make date caramel in this post too!
Ingredients
Shortbread
30 grams (2 tbsp) coconut oil
32 grams (1 ½ tbsp) honey
15 grams (2 tbsp) tapioca starch
96 grams (1 cup) almond flour
⅛ tsp salt
Date Caramel
225 grams (1 cup) dates (measure before soaking)
30 grams (2 tbsp) nut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅛ tsp salt
Toppings
1/2 cup toasted coconut*
75 grams (1/2 cup) chocolate chips
1/2 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
1. Soak dates in boiling water for 1 hour or in water overnight. Meanwhile, for the shortbread, add coconut oil, honey, tapioca starch, almond flour, and salt to a bowl. Mix until a dough forms, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. For the date caramel, add the soaked dates, nut butter, vanilla extract, and salt to a blender. Blend until smooth. Add water to thin it out if needed.
3. Preheat the oven to 300° F (150° C) Roll out the shortbread dough to about ⅛ inch thick. Cut out 1 ½ inch circles and cut out a smaller circle in the middle. Place the cookies on a prepared baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
4. Top the cookies with the caramel by piping a thin layer onto the cookies and spreading it out with a knife. Top it with ½ cup toasted coconut. Melt 75 grams (½ cup) chocolate chips and ½ tsp coconut oil until smooth. Drizzle over the the samoas, and enjoy!
Notes
*To toast coconut, bake shredded coconut at 350° F (175° C) for 5-10 minutes until lightly golden brown.
Nutritional Info
Serving Size: 1 cookie
Calories: 88 kcal
Fat: 6.4 g
Carbohydrates: 7.9 g
Sugars: 5.5 g
Protein: 1.4 g
Sodium: 21 mg
Fiber: 1.3 g
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