If you love Girl Scout Cookies, you will adore these Keto Samoa Donuts, topped with sugar-free coconut caramel and chocolate. Made with coconut flour, they are completely nut-free and sugar-free.
Here in keto-land, we’re fighting off the temptation of Girl Scout cookies one recipe at a time. And Keto Samoa Donuts are part of our all important arsenal in warding off temptation. These tender coconut flour donuts are the perfect vehicle for getting all of that delicious coconut, caramel, and chocolate to your mouth.
Real Samoas, or rather Caramel deLites as they are now called, are a thing of the past. Make peace with that fact as quickly as you can. The sooner you accept this, the sooner you can move on to discovering all the delicious alternatives the keto diet has to offer.
And trust me, friends, there is no end to all of the sweet keto treats that can be made with the flavors of Girl Scout Cookies. This is not my only Keto Samoas recipe. I also have some wonderful keto samoa bars, a low carb samoa layer cake, and I even had a samoa bundt cake recipe coming soon!
What are Samoa Cookies?
In the off-chance that you are not from the US and are wondering what Samoas are, let me enlighten you. Because I was also scratching my head back in the day, when I’d moved here from Canada.
Every year for a month or so, the Girl Scouts stand outside virtually every store in the country with boxes upon boxes of cookies, in order to raise money for their troops. They have many wonderful varieties, including the ever popular Thin Mints, Tagalongs, and Samoas.
Everyone has their favorites but the Samoas always ranked high on my list. They are round circles of shortbread cookie, topped with toasted coconut and caramel, and dipped in chocolate on the bottom. And with a chocolate drizzle over top.
I won’t lie, the original is truly delicious, although I am no longer even tempted to take a bite. I’ve found that it’s so easy to recreate those same flavors in far healthier options, without the sugar, grains, and hydrogenated oils of the real Samoa Cookies.
How to make Keto Samoa Donuts
These look like super fancy donuts, but they are incredibly easy to make. In under an hour, you can be enjoying your keto samoa donuts with a cup of coffee, and feeling good about your life!
The donuts:
For the base, I chose to use my coconut flour donuts to keep these completely nut-free. I really like the texture of donuts made with coconut flour, as they are light and puffy, and they hold together very well. If you’d prefer an almond flour based recipe, try my keto cinnamon donuts and just skip the added cinnamon.
The sweeteners:
When I first created this keto donut recipe, I used some coconut sugar in the topping to give it more caramel color and to keep it from re-crystallizing. Thankfully, two wonderful advancements in the world of keto baking have allowed me to ditch the coconut sugar for good.
Swerve Brown gives the best flavor and color for these donuts, and a bit of BochaSweet, allulose, or xylitol can make the topping more gooey. You can use all Swerve, if you prefer, but do know that your topping will solidify more upon cooling.
The protein powder:
Yes, it is a critical part of the recipe. Gluten is a protein and in its absence, another dry protein helps the baked goods rise properly and hold together better. You can skip it, but just expect a more crumbly donut. You can also replace it with egg white protein or hemp protein.
The chocolate drizzle:
You have so many options for keto chocolate nowadays, just use your favorite. I always recommend melting the chocolate with a little bit of cocoa butter or coconut oil to help it melt more smoothly. And always, always melt it double-boiler style to avoid any seizing.
FYI, as I write this, the ChocZero Dark Chocolate Chips are currently on sale on their website. Only $4.79 a bag and if you use code FOODDREAMER at checkout, you get 10% off.
Want more Keto Girl Scout Cookie Recipes?
Keto Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
Low Carb Samoa Donuts
Ingredients
Donuts:
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoon coconut flour
- 6 tablespoon Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tablespoon whey protein powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk or water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping:
- ¾ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 3 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup Swerve Brown
- 1 tablespoon Bocha Sweet (or allulose or xylitol)
- ⅓ cup whipping cream
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- Pinch salt
Chocolate Drizzle:
- ½ tablespoon coconut oil
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips, sugar-free
Instructions
Donuts:
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease a donut pan well.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, sweetener, whey protein powder, baking powder and salt, breaking up any clumps with the back of a fork.
- Stir in the eggs, coconut oil, almond milk and vanilla extract until well combined and batter is smooth.
- Fill the wells of the donut pan ⅔ full and bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until set and edges are just golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes in pan, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Depending on the size of your pan, you will get 12 to 15 donuts and will need to work in batches.
Topping:
- In a medium skill over medium heat, spread shredded coconut and toast, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, Swerve Brown, and BochaSweet. Stir until butter is melted and sweetener is dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook 3 to 5 minutes, watching carefully so it doesn't burn.
- Remove from heat and add cream. Mixture will bubble vigorously. Sprinkle with xanthan gum and whisk well to combine. Add salt and stir.
- Add toasted coconut and stir well to combine. Let mixture come to room temperature so it is spreadable and not too goopy. Spread the top of each donut with coconut caramel mixture and let set.
Chocolate Drizzle:
- In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melted coconut oil and chocolate together until smooth. Drizzle over cooled donuts.
Carolyn says
I love my ancient Joy of Cooking, as much for the authors’ witty, opinionated advice as for the reliable recipes for everything from meringue to meat.
paatricia says
Oh, my, but these look good…..and low carb to boot! I love old church cookbooks. I am new to the low carb world so do need help with converting some recipes over and still be gluten free. Thanks for the giveaway.
Sasha Farnsworth says
I have so many cook books I love! Some are Martha Stewart, Betty Crocker and Gluten-free on a Shoestring. Just getting started on low-carb, so I’m always looking for new cookbooks!
Courtney says
My current favorite cookbook is Against All Grain. But I’d love a cookbook from you!! Eagerly awaiting!
Sandy B. says
I’ve long loved the Southern Living annual composite cookbooks and my very favorite is the 40 Years of Southern Living’s Best. Oh, my goodness…I may have to have baked Mac & Cheese for dinner. It’s even delish with gluten free pasta & crackers!!
Mary says
My favorite cookbook is the second Wheat Belly cookbook written by Dr. William Davis – so many good recipes in there.
jen p says
Fave cookbook at the moment is Vij’s….. wonderful flavors!!!
Lisa @ Low Carb Yum says
I’ve been waiting for these! I also have a huge collection of cookbooks, but this one sounds like a great book to add.
Stacie Petersen says
I now have a very valid reason to invest in a donut pan! These look amazing. At least now I can feel slightly less guilty running pass the adorable little Girl Scouts trying to sell me cookies at the entrance/exit of the grocery store for the last 3 weeks.
Lori in PDX says
Alton Brown’s I’m Only Here for the Food was the first cookbook to get me excited about cooking – his rib roast technique worked so well for me, it started me down the path! (The cooking path that is, we were already on our low-carb, healthy eating path. 🙂 )
Teresa says
I also use the old Betty Crocker cookbook a lot, but I have a few others that I occasionally use. Having new ones that are favorites of others would be helpful to have to gain more knowledge .
Kim says
Holy cow, these look delicious! I thought your samoa bars were out of this world! I can’t wait to try these donuts!
Thank you for the book giveaway. I’m going to see if it’s available for Kindle! I need a good basic know how guide to cooking. Years ago, I bought a beautiful Williams Sonoma cookbook on how to roast everything. It has been very helpful.
stacy says
My go-to baking book was Shirley Corriher’s Bakewise, but seeing as I don’t do a lot of traditional baking anymore, I grab my Alton Brown books for my references on temperature.
Antonia says
I love all my cookbooks! My favourite is a huuuuuge fat cookbook my mom gave me though. It covers all the basic techniques, dishes, cooking temps etc etc etc!
Kelly says
These look delicious! I don’t have a donut pan. Would a muffin top pan work?
Carolyn says
Yes, it would. They may take slightly longer to bake.
Hayley says
We used a muffin pan…12 muffin cup pan. Turned out fantastic…just GREASE the muffin wells very nicely. Only thing I tweaked was i added some truvia to the chocolate drizzle recipe. These were absolutely awesome…delish!
Hannah R. says
I don’t have any cookbooks right now! Moved around too much in the past few years to lug books around. 🙂
Noelle says
I don’t have a favorite cookbook but I do have a lot! It seems like I have a favorite recipe or two out of each of them. Should combine those all into one book and toss the remaining pulp!
Dee Fedor says
My favorite cookbook is The Betty Crocker (Red) cookbook from the 1950’s. I make most of my gluten free cookies from this book!
Jan says
I am fond of the America’s Test Kitchens Cooking for Two cookbooks since I cook for me only. Although I am also very fond of Ruhlman’s Twenty – it’s taught me a lot.
Brenda says
I thought I didn’t need another cookbook until I read your comments about Mark Bittman’s!
Carolyn says
I do love his book. It’s a toss up between that one and The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook as the two I use most for basic tips.