Homemade Dulce de Leche Samoas Girl Scout Cookies

Homemade Girl Scout cookies
No offense to the Girl Scouts, but I always find their cookies to be a bit of a letdown – they just never taste as good as I expect them to. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at making a homemade version, and I finally got around to it a few days ago. I followed this recipe for Samoas made from scratch, but I added a little twist! The night before I made these, I happened to have an episode of Good Eats on in the background, and Alton got to talking about dulce de leche. He showed how to make it, and it looked to me exactly like the process of making caramel. (I’m still not really clear on the difference between the two). It looked delicious and I filed it away in my head as something to make at a later date (I even Googled “dulce de leche” recipes and settled on this one, which I still want to try). Then the next day while I was in Williams-Sonoma buying caramel for my Samoas, what do I see next to it but a jar of dulce de leche! I figured, why not sub that in for the caramel? I also subbed out the semi-sweet chocolate for milk chocolate on half the batch. 
After making the dough I used a cookie cutter to cut circles, then just used a knife to cut out the middle circles free hand. In the recipe I followed she uses a cool donut cookie cutter , which I can’t really justify buying, but it would save a ton of time.
Sweet, silky smooth dulce de leche. Still not totally clear on how it’s different from caramel, but they do kind of have a different taste. 
 Piles of cookies, waiting to be dressed up. 

The coconut and dulce de leche are in place…just needs chocolate now!

The finishing touch…bottoms are dipped and tops are drizzled. 

These dulce de leche Samoas are SO delicious, it’s crazy. To be honest, they’re also crazy time-consuming and kind of a pain – they took me the better part of an entire day to make (but that was also because I burned the coconut and had to run out for more). However, anything homemade is better than the boxed version, as you know that these have no oils or weird chemicals in them. So if you do decide to undertake this recipe, know that it’s not a quick and easy one, but the results are well worth it!
photos by me

Leave a Comment

  1. Swoon…these look incredible! Definitely must have been worth the time/effort…adding these to my baking list πŸ™‚

    Published 4.9.14 · Reply
  2. is this perfect timing or what? although i'm crazy about girl scout cookies, we only bought 2 boxes this year! as if those are supposed to last me the whole year!? come ON! now I've got a good fall-back recipe. but hey, there will be no donut shape for this girl, why cut out the middle when it just takes some of the cookie away!? tehehe

    cheers.
    jenn @ beyond the stoop
    http://www.beyondthestoop.com

    Published 4.9.14 · Reply
    • Hah, you're so right! Crazy idea to get rid of the middle of the cookie…they would be much easier to decorate without the circle too. I like your style!

      Published 4.10.14 · Reply
  3. this looks spectacular. there really isn't anything better than dulce de leche. it is unreal.

    theoutofofficediet.blogspot.com

    Published 4.9.14 · Reply
  4. Alex wrote:

    Okay funny story, last Christmas I tried to make homemade samoa bars and the recipe failed terribly in every sense of the word. I had to throw everything out because they wouldnt cook correctly and I vowed to never attempt them again. But after seeing this… you may have changed my mind.
    -Alex
    http://www.monstermisa.blogspot.com/

    Published 4.9.14 · Reply
    • Oh too bad! This recipe seems pretty foolproof, even though it was so time consuming. Hope you'll try it!

      Published 4.10.14 · Reply
  5. This looks so delicious, it shouldn't even be legal! I want to resist making these so that I don't eat the entire batch, but they just look to good to resist. Thanks for sharing!

    Published 4.9.14 · Reply
    • You're welcome! I had to give away half the batch to stop myself from eating them all πŸ™‚

      Published 4.10.14 · Reply
  6. Evan wrote:

    Well I know what I'm making tonight when I get home! I really wish I wasn't going on vacation in 2 weeks or I would make 1000s of these this week!!

    Published 4.10.14 · Reply
  7. Oh no!! Yum! I grew up eating Dulce de Leche in Argentina. I found that one in Dean and Deluca too. It's the best!

    Published 4.11.14 · Reply
  8. Holly wrote:

    Oh man, those look good. I've never had a disappointing experience with Girl Scout cookies, but the idea of having them all year round to eat makes me more than a little happy πŸ™‚

    Published 4.11.14 · Reply
  9. Oh I saw Dulce de Leche and you had my heart! These cookies sound fabbb.

    Published 4.13.14 · Reply