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.
Barbie says
My favorite cookbook is the good old fashioned BETTY CROCKER! I grew up using it and the faded, yellowed pages bring back wonderful memories.
Becky says
I have many cookbooks, and I love reading through them, especially ones with mouth-watering pictures. But lately I’ve been creating a digital cookbook with many of your recipes.
Esther says
Betty Crocker is my go to cookbook.
Jennifer Bertrand says
Cook’s Illustrated The Best 30 Minute Recipe used to be a go to. Thankfully, I’ve been able to adapt some of the recipes to low carb.
Angela says
Can these be left at room temp or do they need to be kept in the refrigerator?
Carolyn says
Room temp in a covered container is best.
Amy says
Good old Betty Crocker is my go to cookbook.
Kelli says
I like shortcuts so I’ve used the Cake Doctor series of cookbooks a lot.
Hope says
There should be a Nobel Prize for cooking and you should win!
Jennifer Dugan says
My mom’s collected recipes
Erin says
I answered yes to all your questions about cookbooks. I love making a cup of tea, curling up on the couch, and just flipping through them. I can’t pin point a certain one I love more than others but pictures of each recipe is what draws me to purchase them.
Pam says
I have a ton of cookbooks…used to collect them (plus pages ripped out of magazines) like other people collect…well, anything! My favorites though, are the fundraising cookbooks put together by churches, schools, etc. where the recipes were contributed by the group. Always great home-cooking stuff in those! And while I now collect most of my recipes digitally, I’m always up for a new cookbook, and a good reference one would be awesome!
shannah ortiz says
My favorite cookbook now is against the grain, it started my family on our low carb journey.
Shannon says
I like the Betty Crocker cookbook, actually. Although, now that I have gone low carb, I don’t use it as much.
Maria Schwarz says
couldn’t pick a fav- use them all. Love the Pinterest ones too!
Kristen says
Never enough cookbooks 🙂
Briana Thomas (briana-thomas.com) says
These look so good, Carolyn! I’ll be scheduling these to share on my Facebook page this week.
Carolyn says
Thanks, Briana!
Karen M says
I don’t really have a favorite cookbook currently, but I have been using my Trim Healthy Mama book a lot!
Terry Schultz says
Right now one of my favorite cookbooks is Cooking with Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife. I’m in a learning curve with coconut flour and this really helps. Otherwise, many low carb cookbooks that I have.
sparkly jules says
I really like the Trader joe’s cookbook.
Susan the farm quilter says
Good old Betty Crocker, but I find myself hunting through the internet for new ideas.