Homemade Samoas Cookies

Let me just say it: Samoas are one of the greatest cookie inventions of all time. Chocolate, caramel, coconut, that crispy shortbread base, they're objectively delicious. And if you've ever stood in front of a Girl Scout cookie table trying to convince yourself that buying six boxes is reasonable, I understand completely.

But here's what changed everything for me: making them at home. Once I flipped over the box and read the ingredient list, I realized I don't want to give these to my kids. I could make them better. A lot better.

Let's look at what you're getting in those iconic purple boxes:

Vegetable oil (palm kernel, palm, and soybean oil), corn syrup, enriched flour, sweetened condensed milk, sorbitol, glycerin, invert sugar, cornstarch, dextrose, natural and artificial flavors, soy lecithin, sorbitan tristearate, carrageenan, caramel color, and more.

For a cookie that's supposed to taste like caramel and coconut, there's a whole lot of industrial processing happening behind the scenes.

Here's the truth: you can make these at home with real ingredients butter, sugar, cream, chocolate, coconut, flour, and they taste better. Not "pretty good for homemade" better. Actually better.

I'll be honest with you, these aren't a five-minute recipe. They take a little time and they have a few steps. But they're not hard. And if you've got kids who want to help in the kitchen, this is one of those recipes where everyone gets a job: cutting out the centers, spreading caramel, drizzling chocolate.

Once you realize how simple it is to make treats like this at home with real butter, real chocolate, and Ingredients you feel confident in, it changes the way you think about what's actually "convenient."

Because yeah, it's convenient to grab a box off the shelf. But it's also pretty convenient to know that I can whip up a batch of these any time I want, control exactly what goes into them, and serve my family something that actually tastes better than the original!

Hey Kitchen Collective Members, here is your full video walk through!

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