When we first discovered Merit + Fork on Instagram we went all Liz Lemon on every photo posted – literally saying out loud, “I want to go to there” on several occasions. We invited them over to our site for a guest post as soon as possible and had incredibly high expectations for the recipe that Nicole and Elizabeth would share. And oh HOLY CHOCOLATE AND COCONUT GET IN MY MOUTH – they delivered! We actually got to taste test these cookies at Virginia is for Hunger Gatherer’s birthday party and were BLOWN AWAY. When Nicole mentioned this would be the recipe she would be guest posting on our site I was SO EXCITED FOR YOU ALL! Enjoy Merit + Fork‘s recipes for Samoas below and be sure to check out their site for more delicious creations and even lots of fun crafty-goodness too!
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ATTENTION: ALL SWEET TOOTHERS!
I have officially paleo-ified one ridiculously amazing childhood treat – SAMOAS! What the what!?! You heard me, woman! (or man!) Girl Scout cookies are back in yo’ life and here to stay.
Let me start with a short intro before you start drooling all over your keyboard…
Nicole, here. Resident foodie at the deliciously creative paleo lifestyle blog Merit & Fork. My blog partner, Elizabeth (aka the creative one), shares DIY tutorials & crafts, art, and photography while I’m all about any and all things clean-food & natural-health related. Today, I’m sharing with you my recipe for Paleo Samoas, upon request by Stacy! 🙂
I’ve never met a soul who didn’t enjoy at least one box of Girl Scout cookies in their lifetime and I’m pretty sure more than half of America would agree that Samoas are one of their top 3 favorite Girl Scout Cookies. (I still love you, beloved Thin Mints, but, you’ll simply never be a caramel-covered, toasted-coconutty, chocolate-drizzled Samoa). So, if you’re anything like me, and can readily admit that “yes, I have eaten an entire box of Samoas in 24 hours with little to no help…” then, this recipe is especially for you. And, we should probably become best friends because you are officially my spirit animal/soul sister.
That may be the number one reason my vünderbar blog partner/best fran and I get along so well. Our shared love of food – both good AND bad. Every so often we’ll reminisce together about the painfully-unhealthy delicacies we used to enjoy in our pre-paleo days: i.e. Pizza Hut pizza, Chipotle burritos, Panera bread (THE ACTUAL BREAD), McDonald’s cheeseburgers, Cheetoh’s cheese puffs… ahhh the good ‘ole days of eating over-processed crap, then, wondering why I, myself, felt like total crap and literally couldn’t crap. TMI? Oops.
So, now that you understand where we’re coming from a bit more, you can see why it’s SUPER exciting for me to recreate “bad” glutenous treats into not-so-bad paleo treats. Anything that reminds you of your childhood is an instant belly-and-heart-warmer. The Pioneer Woman’s “we crave dishes from our childhood” saying, rings oh so true here.
So, when I now walk by those sweet little Girl Scouts displaying their deliciously memorable cookie selection, I remind myself “why on earth would I pay to eat GMOS, refined flours, sugars & oils, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavorings, pesticide-laden cottonseed oil, eco-nightmare palm oil, harmful dyes & preservatives, and completely unpronounceable, straight-up CHEMICALS!” I can make my favorite Samoas AT HOME without the nasty ingredients (or the nasty price tag! Girl Scout cookies are expensive, yo!) and now, so can you!
This recipe may take a bit more work than your average chocolate chip cookie, but, I promise, it’s WORTH IT! Enjoy!
P.S. If you haven’t purchased a copy of Stacy & Matt’s amazing new cookbook, Real Life Paleo, I suggest you put it on your Christmas wish list and buy a copy for all your loved ones!
Feel free to swing on by our little home on the internet for more paleo recipes & creative inspiration, and, remember…
Live Primal. Make Art.
Nicole (and Elizabeth!) of Merit & Fork
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut flakes
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup raw honey OR maple syrup (I use both)
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (heaping!) coconut cream, scooped from the top of a chilled can of full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tsp tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup sweetener of choice (honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, maple sugar - or any combination)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 5 oz. chocolate of choice OR 1 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place shredded coconut on the parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 5 mins, stirring frequently until lightly toasted. (Be careful! Shredded coconut browns VERY quickly!) Pour into a bowl, and set aside both the coconut and the lined baking sheet. TURN OVEN DOWN TO 300 degrees F.
- Mix dry cookie ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix sweetener, melted coconut oil, and vanilla until combined and whisk into dry ingredients to form cookie dough.
- Use an even tablespoon to form uniform dough balls. Flatten balls between palms, then, place flattened dough-rounds onto parchment lined baking sheet. Use fingers to finish forming & shaping cookies, and then use an apple corer (or your finger) to punch a hole in the center of your cookie. Poke holes in the cookies with toothpicks to prevent them from rising.
- Bake cookies at 300 degrees F for 20 mins until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
- While baking cookies, make caramel: whisk coconut cream & tapioca flour together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add sweetener, vanilla, and salt and bring to a boil, whisking frequently.
- Reduce heat to med low and continue to let simmer/bubble, still whisking, until thickened and caramelized.
- After about 15 mins, once caramel is thick & darkened in color, mix in toasted coconut flakes and set aside to cool.
- Melt chocolate over double boiler or in a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
- Dip bottom of cooled cookies into melted chocolate and place onto parchment lined tray. When all cookies have been dipped, chill the entire tray in the freezer for 3-5 mins. Keep the melted chocolate warm & on standby while you finish up the cookies.
- Use a teaspoon to evenly distribute caramel onto cookies, and use 1 heaping/rounded teaspoon of coconut-caramel per cookie.
- Place caramel covered cookies onto a wire rack on top of a sheet tray. Pour remaining melted chocolate into a ziploc bag with the tip of a corner cut off OR a piping bag. Drizzle chocolate over cookies and quickly chill again to harden chocolate.
- Store between parchment/wax paper in refrigerator OR freezer. (They'll stay good for several months in the freezer!)
- Bring to room temp/thaw 5-10 mins before serving.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://paleoparents.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Nicole-hazel-bio-page.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Nicole is half of the duo behind Merit + Fork, a blog that inspires readers to live their best lives through clean eating, creativity and healthy living. Nicole is the “resident foodie” with a passion for developing new and unique paleo/primal/raw/vegan recipes using ordinary and accessible ingredients. Connect with Merit + Fork: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram[/author_info] [/author]
