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
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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
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This recipe made my day. I made these tonight. Oh my word! They were slap your mama good. This kind of cooking makes keto totally doable forever. Thank you for sharing!
So glad to hear it!
This is the cookie bar that made me fall in love with your baking soooo many years ago. I was going to look for the recipe today as it’s the dreaded GS cookie season… And here it is updated!!!! So love it and you. ???? ❤️
Can I use Lilly’s milk chocolate melted with cocoa butter for the chocolate layer and drizzle?
Sure, that would be fine. I have an updated version of this coming soon.
First time cooking with artificial sweeteners and it was a disaster! The erythritol and molasses burnt before bubbling – even though I was stirring constantly over low/medium heat. Is there a trick that I need to learn in working with these ingredients?!
This is a very old recipe that I haven’t had a chance to re-visit in a while but it may have been the brand of erythritol you used. I always use Swerve.
There is no print button!!Help!!
This is an older recipe from before I had a print button for them. All you need to do is cut and paste into a word doc.
These are wonderful. I have a stash of favorite bar recipes and this one goes to the top. Thank you for all the time you invest in providing great recipes for us keto diabetics. There is a special place in heaven for you.
Thanks, Tori!
Do you think I could replace the whipping cream with full fat canned coconut milk?
I can’t say for sure but people have said they’ve had good luck with a lot of my caramel recipes doing that. So I say it’s certainly worth a try.
Additional NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION: 1 bar (makes 16) 263 calories, 2.1g protein, 20.7g fat
Worked out the math but haven’t made them yet. So excited to try this recipe!!
I new favorite of mine! I loved the mixed textures.
Finally got around to making these today – just wonderful! My eldest adult son, who sneers at my “low carb stuff”, liked them too.
They do take a bit more time than other treats since there are 3 layers. Not difficult, just time consuming compared to say, the cookie skillet. But well worth it!
I love it when I win over a non-low-carver! 😉
My daughter and I made these last night. She really wanted to make them and I was against it bc I thought it would be too complicated. They were not complicated at all, and they are awesome. Thank you for your wonderful recipes. Although you can avoid buying processed goodies, and not give them to your kids…it’s hard not to look like the bad guy. Your recipes, so far the brownie bark, skillet cookie, samoa bars and vanilla coconut cupcakes have really made my life easier and have shown my girl that you can eat healthy treats that don’t taste, “gross”. : -)
Oh good, I am so glad they weren’t hard to make. Trust me, I know all about trying to keep kids off the sugar-y storebought stuff. Sometimes I am successful, but sometimes…not.
Great recipe!
My first try was … well, improvable, the crust was very hard. Maybe I got the cup -> metric conversion wrong or it was in the oven too long.
My question is: Do you have some conversion for your Stevia extract like “1 drop = 1 tsp sugar”? Then I could convert it to my Stevia tablets.
Thanks!
–kay
Not really, but I can say that 1/4 tsp (and this would be about 1/4 tsp) is equal to about 1/4 cup sugar. Does that help?
7 cups of flour?! I think that is a typo. 😛
These look amazing.
Where does it say 7 cups of flour?
Non gluten free version??
I don’t have one but I am sure you can google it.
Hi there! These look Amazing!! Instead of making the chocolate, could I just buy sugar free chocolate to use? It would save me some time and money! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Do you happen to know how to substitute sugar for erythritol or vice versa? I don’t eat it, and I don’t know enough about it to know how much of something else to start with. I thought I’d ask you first, ’cause maybe your package says “substitute ____ erythritol for 1 c. sugar” or some such. 🙂
For this recipe, you could really do cup for cup.
Omg Carolyn these are amazing – made them tonight and flavor and texture are spot on! The only difference between these and the originals is I could stop after 2 small pieces because they didn’t set me off on a huge sugar binge 🙂
OMG, these look delicious and I would love to try them, but do you have any suggestions for substituting for molasses? Thank you for such fabulous recipes!
These look delicious and I would love to try them, but do you have any suggestions for substituting for molasses? Thank you for such fabulous recipes!
You really need a little something to get it going…honey or maple syrup would be fine too. It’s more about getting the caramelization process started.
Do you think Agave would Work? I have a nice dark agave syrup on hand.
I can’t say for sure but you’re certainly welcome to try it out!
I made these two days ago and they are amazing. I refrigerated them last night and they are even better when chilled. Bravo – this is my new favorite low-carb "sweets" recipe!
Sadly, these did not work out for me. Some of it may have been my fault–I did not cook the caramel long enough because I was nervous about it burning–but I think mistaken expectations may also have set me up for a fall. Samoas are my BFF among girl scout cookies, so I was keenly aware of every difference in texture and taste. The shortbread base was not at all crunchy or cookie-ish, but soft (very like the peanut-butter caramel bars) and too thick. The combination of erythritol-sweetended chocolate and erythritol-filled caramel was too much for my mouth, and I eventually received a burning sensation. This is a phenomenon that only some people seem to experience when eating erythritol–other people who tried the same dessert didn't know what I was talking about. (I wonder if it's a genetic thing, like smelling asparagus in one's urine . . .? To avoid this feeling, I often substitute xylitol, which does not seem to affect me that way.) I wanted to like these, but I just couldn't.