If you are a Girl Scout Cookie fan, you need to drop whatever you are doing and make these Keto Samoa Bars. Easier than making individual cookies, these sugar-free cookie bars are topped with gooey keto caramel sauce and toasted coconut. And some rich dark chocolate doesn’t hurt either!
They really do taste like the original Samoa cookies, as confirmed by my husband, kids, and multiple friends. So you won’t succumb to the siren’s call of the popular sugary treats. And if Samoas aren’t your jam, you can make my Keto Thin Mints or Keto Tagalong Cookies instead.
I first published this recipe in 2011, way back in the dawn of my keto baking days. I recently got the urge to make them again and see if I could make them even better. I kept the recipe mostly the same, but created a chewier caramel coconut filling.
You are going to be thrilled with this updated recipe!
Why we love this recipe
I could have made these as keto cookies, but making them as bars has several advantages.
- They are easy to make, and don’t require rolling out dough and cutting individual cookies. Simply press the crust into the pan and bake until golden.
- Less mess! This recipe dirties fewer utensils and you don’t have the messy process of dipping them in chocolate. Instead, the chocolate is spread on top of the easy keto crust.
- They are extra gooey. I used a combination of sweeteners to achieve a caramel topping that was more like the real Samoas.
- Less fragile and crumbly. These delicious bars hold together super well.
And these wonderful low carb dessert bars have only 3.3g net carbs per serving. Compare that to regular Samoa Cookies, which have 19g of carbs per serving. What a difference!
Reader’s Thoughts
“Wow! I would never know these bars were missing the sugar. They certainly are not missing on flavor. Much better than a Girl Scout cookie (and I can have these year round). This is the sort of treat that will keep me keto for the rest of my life.” — Gisele Smith
Ingredient Notes
- Almond flour: I really prefer almond flour for the shortbread crust for both texture and flavor. Other nut and seed flours can work but don’t look as fine and may be a bit more crumbly. Coconut flour really won’t work here.
- Sweetener: You do need an erythritol based sweetener in the crust if you want it to crisp up nicely. For the filling, you want to use some allulose or xylitol to keep the filling a little more gooey and chewy. Please see the Tips for Success for more information.
- Butter: For the shortbread crust, nothing beats the flavor and texture that butter offers.
- Sugar free dark chocolate: Both Lily’s or ChocZero dark chocolate chips will work in this recipe.
- Shredded coconut: Make sure to get unsweetened, finely shredded coconut.
- Heavy whipping cream: This helps create the luscious coconut filling for these samoa bars.
- Pantry staples: Vanilla extract and salt.
Step by Step Directions
- Prepare the crust: Combine the almond flour, sweetener, and salt. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture begins to come together. Turn out the mixture into an 8×8 baking pan and press firmly into the bottom. Bake at 325ºF for about 15 minutes, until just golden brown.
- Prepare the chocolate layer: Melt the chocolate and butter in 30 second increments in the microwave, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Alternatively, you can melt it double boiler style over a pan of barely simmering water. Spread about 2/3 of the chocolate mixture over the cooled crust.
- Toast the coconut. Spread the coconut over a skillet and toast over medium heat, stirring frequently until light golden brown. Set aside.
- Make the caramel: Combine the butter and sweeteners in a saucepan and melt over medium heat. Bring to a boil for a few minutes until deep amber. Remove from heat and add the cream, vanilla, and salt. The mixture will bubble vigorously, this is normal. Return to medium low heat and continue to cook another 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken.
- Assemble the bars: Stir the toasted coconut into the caramel and spread the mixture over the chocolate-covered crust. Chill 1 hour before cutting into squares.
- Drizzle with chocolate: Gently reheat remaining chocolate mixture and drizzle over the bars.
Tips for Success
In the past, some readers had difficulties with the caramel not setting properly. This usually means it wasn’t cooked quite long enough to thicken. I have adjusted this version of Keto Samoa Bars so that you return the caramel sauce to medium low heat until it thickens more. You want the mixture to be bubbling thickly before you remove it from the heat.
Keep a close eye on the coconut when you are toasting it, as it can burn easily. You want to stir it almost constantly, until it becomes lightly browned. Once most of the shreds are golden, remove the pan from over the heat. Stir it a few more times as it cools, since the heat of the pan will continue to toast the shreds.
Sweetener Options: If you want the crust to be crisp, you need to use an erythritol-based sweetener that contains no allulose or xylitol. But the filling turns out best with a mix of allulose and erythritol. I like to use some of my brown sugar replacement for a rich caramel flavor.
If you can’t access allulose, the next best substitute is xylitol. Do note that if you use all erythritol based sweeteners for the filling, it will harden and recrystallize as it cools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the bars in a covered container on the counter for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to 10 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.
I find the easiest way to toast shredded coconut yourself is in a pan over the stove. Use medium heat so you don’t burn the coconut and stir it very often until evenly golden. Remove from heat before it’s too dark, as the heat of the pan will continue to cook it for a little bit.
This keto samoa cookie bar recipe has 6.4g of carbs and 3.1g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.3g net carbs per bar.
More keto cookie bars to love
The Best Square Baking Pan!
You will never regret purchasing a USA Pan when you update your bakeware. They are non-stick, non-toxic, and last forever. No more purchasing new pans every few years!
Keto Samoa Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/4 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup erythritol sweetener
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
Chocolate Filling and Drizzle:
- 4 ounces sugar free dark chocolate, chopped
- 2 tbsp butter
Coconut Caramel Filling:
- 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup allulose, or xylitol
- 3 tbsp brown sugar replacement
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, and salt. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture begins to come together.
- Turn out the mixture into an 8×8 baking pan and press firmly and evenly into the bottom. Bake about 15 to 18 minutes, until just golden brown. Remove and let cool while preparing the filling.
Chocolate Filling/Drizzle
- In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate and butter in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Alternatively, you can melt it double boiler style over a pan of barely simmering water.
- Spread about two thirds of the chocolate mixture over the cooled crust.
Coconut Caramel Filling
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, spread the coconut. Stirring frequently, toast until light golden brown. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter and sweeteners. Cook until melted, stirring frequently, and then bring to a low boil. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, until deep amber.
- Remove from heat and add the cream, vanilla, and salt. The mixture will bubble vigorously, this is normal. Return to medium low heat and continue to cook another 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken.
- Stir in the toasted coconut. Spread the mixture over the chocolate-covered crust. Chill 1 hour and before cutting into squares. Gently reheat remaining chocolate mixture and drizzle over the bars.
Notes
Nutrition
Free Bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Sign up for your favorite recipes delivered straight to your inbox plus get our FREE bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
A bar in honor of my favorite girl scout cookie! HELLOOOOOOO! 😀
OMG I made these the other night and they were soooo good. I made some with chocolate and some with raspberry jam because my hubby is allergic to chocolate–both were fabulous! Thanks Carolyn for yet another amazing low carb dessert!
I'm sooo pumped to have found your blog and to try this recipe!!! THANK you so much!!!!
I know exactly what you mean! I actually made some Samoa bars when I first started blogging and I totally thought I would have been the first. Regardless- yours look gorgeous and your pictures, as always, are stunning! Great post.
These look and sound delicious. I may have to make them for my brother who found out not too long ago he has celiacs disease. Thanks:)
Hi Catherine,
Excellent point about the caramel, I will amend the instructions. Yes, you definitely need to wait until it bubbles and it can take a bit of time to do so, otherwise it won't be the right texture. It will still harden up some in the end, as all erythritol concoctions do, but once you've added in the coconut and spread it over the bars, it stays soft enough for biting into. It never gets that chewiness that comes with sugar caramel…sadly, erythritol just doesn't work that way! But it is definitely good on these bars.
I was very excited ti see this post–what a fantastic idea! I LOVE Samoas, but it's been years. So I made them tonight (they're cooling as I type), and I ran into a snag bear the end. I wonder if you could be a little more specific in your directions regarding the caramel. I realized too late that the molasses darkens the erythritol, so that it's impossible to say whether the erythritol is itself getting too dark or not. I ended up taking it off the stove before it bubbled, although probably after it had cooked five minutes. After I stirred in the cream etc. it was still quite liquidy, almost water-like in texture. Is it supposed to be liquid, or more viscous like real caramel? I stirred in the coconut and proceeded with the recipe. It is now cooling and acquiring the typical grainy texture of erythritol-based concoctions. Is that how yours turned out or did you miraculously achieve true caramel texture?
P.S. I am the Catherine who asked about replacing soy flour in your zucchini muffin recipe, and I did see your comment, thanks! I'll let you know how those turn out soon, because now I have two huge zucchini hanging out in my fridge.
I love that we can take a fun recipe idea, and still make it our own. That is the fun part of being a food Blogger:-) You do a beautiful job making recipes your own:-) Samoas cookies are my favorite, I love your gluten free version;-) Hugs, Terra
Everything you do has a unique edge to it 🙂 These look so fun and delicious!
These bars look delicious – but I really love your thoughts on originality. It's one reason I stick to the old books – easier to rework a classic than reinvent the wheel!
Yet another fabulous recipe winner, Carolyn. You always manage to give them your magic touch by making them low carb and full of imagination. Fabulous!
It's so hard to come up with a truly original recipe…but looks like you've definitely made these your own. They look absolutely delicious and love that they are low carb and low sugar – definitely a keeper!
delicious with coconut and chocolate looks wonderful
Yummy alternative to Girl Scout cookies 🙂
I know! I always think that I'm being super creative, only to find out that I'm not 🙂 These bars look delicious anyways, I love Samoas!
I think it all just means that old saying 'great minds think alike'. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself! 😀 These bars look awesome – chewy and delicious!
Your photos are amazing and I don't care if that was original or not!
What did I do wrong?
I followed the recipe as written. The crust aND chocolate layer were fine. I had to redo the coconut layer. Is it really 3/4 of a cup heavy cream? It was too runny. When I did it over, I didn’t add all the cream. I used brown swerve and Bocha Sweet.
Good news is they’re YUMMY 🙂 I just couldn’t figure out the coconut layer as written.
You needed to cook it longer, sounds like.
Hi Carolyn! I had the same problem- a runny coconut layer.
The first time I made it, the sweetener mixture burned and had a really awful chemical smell to it. I was working on a gas stove and had it at its lowest, but had to throw it out, and it hadn’t even cooked for 4 minutes. 🙁 So I remade it, and didn’t follow your times- just eye-balled it. You can’t really tell when it turns a different color because it is already brown from the brown swerve. Anyway, it turned out perfect! However, the next two times I made it, it turned out runny, and I did the exact same thing. I ended up having to freeze them in order to serve them. There’s such a fine line between browned and burnt. I wonder if ambient temperature or humidity plays into this? My first two gos were in England, and my second two were in FL.
Still, they’ve become my husband’s favorite dessert! I just read that you suggested using a teaspoon or two of coconut flour to thicken it up, and I will try that if it happens next time!
I really can’t account for it very easily. The filling is basically made with my keto caramel sauce and I make that all the time and never have it be too runny.
Same here. I followed the directions exactly and kept an eagle eye on the caramel portion. I LOVE Carolyn’s recipes and am a huge fan of pretty much everything I’ve made so far. But this turned into a swampy mess even after refrigerating for 24 hrs. They were still delicious and didn’t go to waste but we had to eat it spoons.
What sweeteners did you use?
The same thing happened to me Carolyn and I used Sukrin Gold which is also an erythritol-based sweetener like Swerve, plus the Bocha Sweet. Around the 3-4 minute mark, I had to take it off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients cuz it was past golden and starting to show dark specs and I didn’t want to burn it. But I remember I think it was one of your caramel recipes that added Xanthan gum to thicken so that’s what I did and it worked fine. Perhaps it was that I didn’t stir enough or something but will be more watchful next time cuz this is definitely a repeat recipe.
Just mouthwatering…looks so easy to prepare and delicious.
Your Samoa bars are perfect for my home-brewed capuccino. I am so looking forward for my fresh cup tomorrow…
your bar loks delicious i have to make them as soon as possible 'ill try to find in Italy allthe ingredient in ROme see you soon simmy