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These homemade, gooey Samoa-style Chocolate Chip Cookies are the best ever! They’re made with sweetened coconut, caramel bits and chocolate chips galore! Bake up an easy modern twist on the iconic Samoa Girl Scout cookies with this easy DIY Samoa cookie recipe. Gluten-free option available!

These Best-Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies, Best Coconut Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cowboy Cookies are also best-ever cookies you don’t want to miss out on!

These bakery-style Samoa Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe revel in a mashup of semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips, chewy caramel bits and yummy coconut. These are a lot easier to make, than making the Samoa Girl Scout Cookies with the shortbread layered version.

You still get the same sticky-sweet coconutty sensation you get from the every-popular Samoa Girl Scout Cookies, except these are way better in my opinion! Of course, I’m partial to chocolate chip cookies loaded up!

Why Are They Called Samoa?

Since coconut oil and coconut are top exports of the Pacific Island of Samoa, it makes sense why they would be called Samoas.

Ingredients You Need

Samoa Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

unsalted butter
granulated sugar
light brown sugar
eggs
vanilla extract
all-purpose flour or gluten free 1 to 1 flour
1 teaspoon salt
chocolate chips of choice, we used 1 cup milk & 1 cup semi-sweet sweetened shredded coconut or toasted coconut
caramel bits

How to Make the Best Ever Samoa Cookies

This homemade, amped up Samoa chocolate chip recipe is simple to make, and yields soft & thick, beautiful cookies! They come out of the oven golden brown, crispy at the edges, and gooey at the center with all the caramel, coconut and chocolate chip goodies inside! As far as the coconut, use toasted or fresh sweetened. Use whichever you like.

First, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper.
Using a mixer, beat cubes of cold butter with sugars. Beat 2 to 3 minutes until butter is mixed in well.
Add eggs and vanilla extract. Continue mixing to combine.
Add in flour, baking soda and salt. Dough should be thick and mixed together with no flour streaks.
Mix in chocolate chips, coconut and caramel bits.
Using ice cream or large cookie scoop, (¼ cup or 4 tablespoons worth) and scoop dough and place at least 2 inches apart on lined pan.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookie edges are lightly golden and the middles are set. Do not over bake these cookies. Cookies will firm up slightly while cooking.
Remove from oven. Allow cookies to cool on pan for 10 minutes. Finally, carefully transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Can make cookies smaller, just adjust time for less baking time.

Tips

Cream your butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes max, that way your cookies don’t deflate after you take them out of the oven.
Baking at the 400 degree temperature will yield a puffier cookie with a crunchy exterior and delightfully soft center. Exactly what we are looking for!
The key to the best soft textured homemade Samoa cookies is to take the cookies out of the oven just before they look like they’re done baking. They should still appear slightly wet in the very center, so once you pull them from the oven, they will continue cooking the cookies through once you allow them to cool completely.
Measure your flour correctly. Too much flour will lead to dry, dense, or crumbly chocolate chip cookies that barely spread. Check out my article on How to Measure Flour here to improve your baking.
One of the keys to CHEWY chocolate chip cookies is to use more brown sugar than granulated sugar. The molasses in the brown sugar draws in more moisture, making the cookies thicker, softer, and chewier.
Brush up on your cookie-baking skills with these smart tips for baking perfect cookies.

Storing Cookies

Be sure the cookies are completely cooled before storing. You can store in an airtight container at room temp for up to 5 days.

Freezing

Imagine the taste of homemade Samoa cookies straight from the oven! Keep pre-scooped balls of chocolate chip cookie dough in a resealable bag in your freezer. That way you can bake cookies off when your cookie craving arises. Enjoy them warm from the oven in a matter of minutes whenever you want!
When baking frozen pre-scooped balls of cookie dough, add an additional 2-3 minutes to your baking, since the dough is frozen.
If you are freezing baked cookies, after baking cookies, allow cookies to cool completely. Place them in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet to freeze them, then store them in a freezer-safe zip-top storage bag labeled with the name and date. Squeeze out the air and freeze for up to 3 months. To save space, you can flat-stack freezer bags.
Pull cookies from freezer and let cookies sit at room temperature to thaw or warm it in the oven for a few minutes. Or you can microwave it in 10 second intervals.

This homemade Samoas recipe is great for the holidays and when you’re craving delicious flavors of caramel, coconut, and chocolate. You’ll find that these scrumptious Samoa Cookies are a recipe you’ll want to make over and over again! Make them Gluten-free for another delicious option!

More caramel? Check out our 40 Easy Caramel Desserts Recipe Roundup!

More Coconut Love!