Over the weekend Shane and I popped into Lowe’s to grab some supplies for a project (“pretty nice little Saturday” – Old School, anyone? π ) As we were walking out, I saw them – the Girl Scouts were there selling cookies! Every spring when Girl Scout cookies become the “it” thing, I always wonder where the heck people are finding these cookies. I’ve never had anyone come to my door selling them (maybe they don’t even do that?) and though I’d heard rumors, I’d also never seen the Girl Scouts sitting outside my local grocery store with boxes of cookies either. But there they were at Lowe’s, and as we walked by, my initial instinct was to stop and grab one of everything. Who knows when or if I’d have the opportunity again? As tempted as I was, I knew it would require way too much willpower when we got home, so we only grabbed one box (Thin Mints, if you’re curious).
Aside from Thin Mints, my other favorite Girl Scout cookies are Samoas. A few days before we’d run into the Girl Scouts at Lowe’s I’d actually made a batch of these Samoas scones, so that’s the only reason a box of Samoas didn’t come home with us too π If you’ve never had Samoas, they’re buttery vanilla cookies that are topped with caramel and coconut, and then striped with a chocolate coating. The combination of flavors is completely irresistible, and they work just as well in scone form!
Though scones are usually breakfast fare, these are a little too decadent even for me, so I like to have them for dessert instead. All of the flavors from the Samoas cookies are represented – start with a buttery, light scone (probably among the most fluffy I’ve made), coat the bottom with a layer of semisweet chocolate, then top with a combination of caramel and coconut before finishing it with a drizzle of chocolate. They might sound like a lot of work, but they really come together quickly and easily. We happened to have some store-bought caramel sauce in the fridge so I used that, but it wound up being a little too thin and was running off the sides of the scones a bit. Definitely more of an appearance issue than a taste one, but nonetheless I’ll make the caramel from scratch next time. I’ve made a few recipes inspired by the Girl Scout Samoas, but this one is definitely my favorite thus far, and it completely satisfies my craving when I can’t actually find the cookies!
Samoas Scones
from Baking Bites
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup milk (I used whole)
6 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup prepared caramel sauce (store-bought or homemade)
3/4 cup shredded coconut
Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Add the butter and use a pastry cutter to cut it into the dry ingredients – keep working it until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the milk and use a fork (or your hands) to gently bring the mixture together. There may still be a few dry bits in the bottom of the bowl, that’s fine.
Turn the dough out onto your work surface and divide it in half. Shape each piece into a disk about 1/2-inch thick. Cut each disk into 4 or 6 pieces, depending on how big you want your scones – I did six. Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet. (You can bake the scones immediately, but I like to refrigerate or freeze mine briefly so the butter is really cold when it hits the oven.)
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the scones begin to turn golden brown around the edges and are slightly firm to the touch. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the scones cool for a few minutes before removing them to the rack to cool completely.
Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl (pick one that’s big enough to fit your scone so you can dip it). Microwave in 30-second bursts at 50% power, stirring in between each, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Gently dip the bottom of each scone into the chocolate so you have a thin layer across the bottom and just barely up the sides. Set the dipped scones on a piece of wax paper and let the chocolate set (you can pop them in the fridge to speed things up).
Stir the caramel sauce and coconut together in a small bowl. Spread some of the mixture onto the top of each scone to create a thin layer. Drizzle the remaining melted chocolate over the top of the scones. Let the chocolate again set before serving.
Makes 8-12 scones
These are awesome Tracey!
I adore Samoas and can polish off more than one or two π
These look fabulous!
I would eat a whole batch of these. Yum!
These look fabulous!! Totally on board with these, Tracey! Samoas are my favorite GS cookies & how great that you made them into scones!
Oh wow these look great! I’ve tried to make samosa bars before, it was greatly unsuccessful. These look a lot more manageable – and frankly – they look indulgently delicious!
I feel myself having a Mr Rogers moment… oh won’t you be my neighbor! I want these babies! They look fantastic.
This has been on my “to-make” list for quite some time but I just never got around to it. I know you said it’s too decadent for breakfast but I’m sure I’ll take one with me on the way to the gym in the morning! π
Samoas are absolutely my favorite girl scout cookie – these look absolutely delicious.
Samoas are by far my favorite, and these scones look heavenly!
I love this part of American life! it’s not something we have in the UK, so I was really excited when I ran into a stall of girl scouts on a trip to SoCal. Samoas were my choice, I can’t wait to recreate this little part of my holiday!
We never had Girl Scouts come to our door either. They were only at the grocery store. But to be honest, I kinda got a little annoyed at the Girl Scouts. I’d get swarmed when I walked in and swarmed by the same scounts when I walked out. And because I make so many trips to the store it gets old pretty quickly. But anyways these look absolutely amazing! I usually at scones as an after dinner treat and these look perfect for that! π
Yum! I’m on a coconut kick lately, so these go to the top of my to do list. I recently made homemade thin mints and they came out amazingly. Sorry Girl Scouts, but I don’t think I’ll be buying any more cookies!
These look absolutely incredible! They remind me so much of a samoa. I will have to try these.
Oh no you didn’t just post this recipe! My husband looooves these cookies so naturally I’m going to have to make these as his birthday is just around corner. These look fabulous!
Wow…looks SO delicious. Great idea! Going to look at all of your scone recipes now!
Since we’ve been in AZ, the girl scouts don’t come to the door here either. They use to in NE, but that was a much smaller town π
These look awesome. Your girl scout cookie choices are exactly the same as ours – I’m a sucker for anything caramel π
They look great! I’ve had this recipe marked to make for a while. I’ll have to try them soon.
I began to read your description of the recipe and couldn’t get past the Old School quote. Nice! I started laughing and couldn’t get myself to stop! Good ol’ Frank the Tank! My 4 year old daughter kept asking me what was so funny, but I really can’t explain the hilarity of that movie line to her. Maybe in a dozen (or more!) years. Thank you for the laugh this morning! Oh, and the recipe looks great! π
What a fun scone!! I could eat this for dessert any day!
Oh my word! These look a-ma-zing!
These look ridiculously good. I’m totally okay with Samoas for breakfast
Oh my goodness, this is the best thing I’ve seen all day (even better than Instagram for Android! lol). I bet I would eat the entire batch in a day.
The girl scouts are evil. Okay, maybe not. They have been in front of my grocery store. I was not as smart as you when tempted with the infamous cookies. We bought 5 boxes. We ate 5 boxes. Just the two of us over a couple weeks. Good grief! Thin mints are my favorite. Anyway, I digress!
Your samoa scones look beautiful. I love the dark chocolate dipped bottoms. Nice contrast to the pale color of the scone. I can see how these fall into the dessert category.
Despite my hatred of coconut, I have to admit that those look really good. =) I might have to try the base scone recipe and top it with something else.
Wow, those definitely look like dessert! The Girl Scouts are usually hanging around at my grocery store, except for this year when I really wanted to buy some cookies.
I saw Old School for the first time not that long ago and was laughing out loud through a lot of it!
amazing! not only are they gorgeous but i know i’d loooove them!
Totally awesome! I love Samoas!
These look irresistble. Did you use sweetened or unsweetend coconut in the recipe?
Sweetened or unsweetened coconut?
@Busy Lori/Anon – I used sweetened, but I think they’d be ok with unsweetened too since the caramel has plenty of sweetness.
This look and sound fabulous. We don’t have Samoas Girl Guide Cookies in Canada!
can u tell me what your favorite scone recipe is out of all the ones that you’ve made so far?