Keto Samoa Cookie Bars! You won’t crave Girl Scout cookies with these delicious low carb bars. An almond flour shortbread crust topped with coconut caramel and chocolate, and easy to make too.
This Samoa Bar recipe was first published in 2011. Whoa, dudes, that’s a long time ago now. So they are deserving of an update, and are now lower carb. And prettier photos too!
Good old Samoa cookies. What do they call them now? Caramel Delites or some such silliness. Okay, much more politically correct and all that jazz, but practically no one know what you are talking about. However, if you say Samoa Cookies, everyone knows exactly what you mean.
So I am calling this recipe Samoa Cookie Bars. It’s got better name recognition and it rolls of the tongue much more easily. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Why Samoa Bars?
Now, I could have made these as low carb cookies instead of bars. But let’s examine that a little more closely. The original Samoa cookie is a circular shortbread cookie with a topping of coconut and caramel. The bottom is then dipped in chocolate and more chocolate is drizzled overtop.
That’s a lot of work, my friends!
Rolling out the dough, cutting it out into circles, cutting out a hole in the middle, and then trying to top those delicate cookies with the caramel and dip them in chocolate?
Tasty and pretty, I am sure. But far too laborious for my taste.
Taking all those same elements and turning them into bars is far easier and you get the deliciousness into your mouth that much fast. Win win, I would say.
Way back when I first created this Keto Samoa Bar recipe, I thought I was being pretty darn original. I wanted that delicious coconut caramel flavor with a shortbread crust and I realized quickly that a bar cookie would be far less work.
Then I did a Pinterest search and I quickly realized that many others have hit upon this same idea. Great minds, right???
Making Keto Samoa Cookies
But while I may lack in coming up with completely original ideas, I make up for it by taking those ideas and making them keto friendly. As far as I can tell, this is the very first low carb Samoa Cookie Recipe. There are certainly more now, but my samoa bars were the first of their kind!
Does that win me any awards? Maybe in my own mind.
Obviously a lot has to change to make Samoa cookies low carb and sugar-free.
The Shortbread Base: I’ve made a fair bit of low carb shortbread in my day and almond flour makes the best crust by far. When it’s baked with butter, sweetener, and salt, it becomes both tender and crisp, just like conventional shortbread. The crust on these Samoa Bars is my favourite and I’ve used it over and over in many recipes.
The Chocolate Dip and Drizzle: To make things even easier in this recipe, I decided to do a layer of chocolate on top of the crust. Real Samoa Cookies have bottoms that are dipped in chocolate. But that would mean cutting up the bars after they were finished and carefully dipping them. It would be far messier too.
Would your tastebuds really know the difference between a layered Samoa Bar versus a dipped Samoa Bar? I think not.
So I simply poured about two thirds of the chocolate mixture over the cooled crust, before topping it with the coconut caramel.
The Coconut Filling: Samoa Cookies are now called Caramel De-Lites because of that delicious coconut caramel topping. I’ve got one of the best sugar free caramel sauce recipes and it’s perfect for these bars. Stir in some toasted coconut and spread it over top, and drizzle on a bit more chocolate.
And Voila! A delicious low carb Samoa Cookie Recipe. In bar form. Trust me, your tastebuds won’t care!
So if you’ve been missing Girl Scout Cookies on your low carb diet, try this easy recipe. You won’t regret it.
Samoa Cookie Bars - Keto and Sugar-Free
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ¼ cups almond flour (125g)
- ¼ cup Swerve Sweetener
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter, melted
Chocolate Filling and Drizzle:
- 4 ounces sugar free dark chocolate , chopped
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil or butter
Coconut Caramel Filling:
- 1 ½ cups shredded coconut
- 3 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup Swerve Brown
- ¼ cup Bocha Sweet or additional Swerve Brown
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 325F. 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 8x8 baking pan and press firmly 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 coconut oil 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 ⅔ of the chocolate mixture over the cooled crust.
Coconut 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 and then bring to a boil. Boil 3 to 5 minutes, until golden.
- Remove from heat and add the cream, vanilla, and salt. The mixture will bubble vigorously, this is normal.
- Stir in the toasted coconut. Spread the mixture over the chocolate-covered crust. Let cool completely (about 1 hour), then cut into squares. Gently reheat remaining chocolate mixture and drizzle over the bars.
Kaila Potts says
I’m definitely giving these a try tonight! Except now I think we are calling the MOMOAS ????????. I’ll probably add pumpkin spice, because I add it to everything. But I love your blog and your recipes.
Marguerite says
Not sure what happened, but the caramel didn’t thicken & was thin & runny. I’ve made your caramel sauce before & it turned out great. I followed the directions exactly, but for some reason it never thickened. If this happens again, would ¼ tsp of xanthm gum save it? The bars are tasty but are missing the soft chewiness of the caramel.
Carolyn says
Sure, you could try that.
Heather says
Hey Carolyn!
Thank you so much for always providing amazing, easy-to-follow recipes that turn out delicious every time. I want to make these for my grandparents since they are diabetics and love the traditional GS cookies, but I don’t have Bocha Sweet. Could I substitute xylitol instead like you have suggested for your turtle candies?
Carolyn says
Yes, it should be fine for this.
Loree says
Love them! I’m on batch two prep, think I’m going to use bigger pan. Trying to thin out bars and stretch this out a lil bit. First batch gone in a jiffy!
Sybil Lee says
The “Sugar-free Chocolate”…is that sweetened (non-sugar sweetener) or not sweetened?
Carolyn says
Unsweetened chocolate, with no sweeteners whatsoever, is always listed as unsweetened chocolate. Sugar-free is sweetened… just not with sugar. If you click the link, it will take you to the example of what I used.
Karen Johansen says
RE Chocolate Filling and Drizzle:
Carolyn you might want to correct Drizzle recipe?
2 (ounces) coconut oil or butter should be 2 T I think
Love this recipe!
Carolyn says
You are correct, thanks for catching that!
Michele says
I made them with the ounces. It made for some very runny chocolate. I next time I will make it with T instead of ounces 🙂
Crystal says
Could I double this recipe and use a 9×13 dish? Or would it better to go through the steps twice? Also if you use extra swerve instead of BochaSweet does it still stay soft? Thanks much!
Carolyn says
Yes, you should be able to double it. The area of a 9×13 pan is 117 and of an 8×8 pan is 64 (2×64 = 128). So your bars will be a little thicker because you have a little less area. But close enough. Without Bocha Sweet, your topping will harden.
shelby says
These are DELICIOUS! I made them this morning and just ate two of them! Egads. I don’t want hubby to see that two bars are missing when he gets home. lol They were really easy to make and so delicious. And, guess what? I don’t even care for the “real” samoa cookies!! However, they are hubby’s favorite GS cookie so I knew I had to make this recipe when I saw it. It is worth buying the right sweeteners for this. I was a little concerned when making the caramel part because not being super experienced with keto baking, I thought it was too runny and then worried I cooked it too long and burned it – but I didn’t. So happy. Thank you Carolyn, this one is a major keeper and will help hubby on his keto lifestyle!! <3
Juliann says
How long do these keep? And does the caramel layer harden? I’d want it to still be a little chewy. Definitely wanting to try these!
Carolyn says
As long as you use Bocha Sweet for half of the sweetener, they will be soft and a bit chewy. They can keep on the counter for up to 5 days.
Joel says
Sadly not a bit of this recipe worked for us. The short bread is super super dry and powdery. No real structure. The rest of it didn’t really firm up much. I think the main problem was the short bread. Had that worked out the rest of our would have been pretty good.
Carolyn says
Sorry to hear they didn’t work but if your crust was “super dry and crumbly” then something went very wrong. What brand of almond flour did you use?
Rachael Yerkes says
These are so good! I may have eaten the entire pan myself… so good!
Erin says
Girl scout cookie time is a dangerous time of year – love this recipe!
Steph says
Samoa’s are my favorite cookie! I’m so glad I found this Keto version!
Aimee Shugarman says
Dream come true! Keto friendly samoas. Turned out perfect 🙂
Alli says
Can you get any closer to heaven with these bars! I mean seriously!!
Lisa says
The first time I made the caramel, it burnt after boiling for 4 minutes. The second time I made it, I probably underboiled it because it ended soup-like. Is there a temperature I should be aiming for? I have a candy thermometer. Thanks!
Carolyn says
I didn’t do this by temperature. You simply boil until you see it become like a deep amber.
Charlene Coffman says
I made these tonight and they were amazing! To me they taste just like the Girl Scout cookie! My filling was a bit soupy at first, but it hardened nicely. I put mine in the fridge to speed up the process. Thanks, once again, for another favorite! I don’t think I’ve found one of your recipes I don’t like! ????
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
Rachel says
I’m so excited, these are my fav GS cookies!!
BTW– They’re still called Samoas, kinda. The girl scouts used to exclusively use Little Brownie Bakers, the cookies from there are still Samoas. However a few years ago they started using a 2nd Baker, and the cookies from that company are the ones called Caramel Delights. Copywrite issue I guess?
Ckatte says
Hi Carolyn,
Is there a dairy free way to make this recipe? Just found out I’m interolant to dairy and eggwhites (though I know there isn’t any eggwhites in this recipe. Could I use coconut oil or vegan butter and coconut cream fat fat in place of butter and whipped cream?
Thanks
Carolyn says
I actually have a dairy free version of this recipe coming in a future cookbook but I am not allowed to share it at this point.
Melissa S says
I had my daughter try these. She said that they taste more like an almond joy instead of a somoa/caramel delite. Is there a way to get them to taste more like caramel?
Carolyn says
They taste like samoas to us. have you tried this upated recipe or the old one? You can always try a bit of caramel extract.
Erica B says
Melissa, I haven’t made these, but I have made many batches of Carolyn’s caramel sauce and different variations thereof. Be sure that you’re making the caramel sauce properly, allowing it to cook, caramelize, and deepen in flavor. It really will taste like caramel when it’s done. A weaker sauce makes a big difference in finished recipes. As an example, Carolyn has a salted caramel macaroon recipe, and I was able to make it taste like classic macaroons by cooking the caramel less, so it tastes like a rich cream-based sauce rather than caramel sauce.
Vicki says
My coconut layer looks soupy, I’m scared to pour it over the shortbread/chocolate. Is this normal
Carolyn says
It should firm up as it sits. What sweetener did you use? If you’re truly worried, try adding a teaspoon or two of coconut flour to thicken it.