Vegan Naturally-Sweetened Samoas

Vegan naturally-sweetened Samoas cookies. A good-for-you, grown-up take on the classic treat you know and love (Shout out to the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois for introducing these to me back in the day 🙌🏾). Here’s how it all goes down: crispy, buttery shortbread cookies are topped with a coconut date caramel, finished with a drizzle of vegan chocolate and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. These vegan naturally-sweetened samoas taste dangerously close to the real deal, but without all the processed ingredients. Just real-ingredient healthy cookies. They come together in about 30 minutes and store for a whole week (not that they will last that long)!

THE INSPIRATION

Samoas are my husband’s favorite Girl Scout cookie. Unpopular opinion but Trefoils are actually the best. Anyway, that doesn’t matter because we’re trying to be more intentional about is finding little ways to serve each other every day. Late one night when I was thinking about what to make for a recipe this week, I thought about these cookies and how coming home to them after a long day of work might put a lil smile on his face. They absolutely did. His reaction? “These things are good, girl!” It doesn’t get any more emotional than that coming from him. Knowing that these are vegan naturally-sweetened Samoas, I asked him “Do they taste healthy or real?”. “Mmm, a little of both. Maybe half and half.” I’ve seen two or three on his plate every night after that conversation. So they must not have tasted too healthy. Just like that, these healthy and delicious cookies became husband-approved.

HOW THESE VEGAN NATURALLY-SWEETENED SAMOAS ARE GOOD FOR YOU

If you’re new here, you know I don’t just swap out butter and sugar out for processed vegan substitutions and call it a day. That’s technically even less healthy. So, besides just taking out the processed stuff, I’m all about incorporating ingredients that nurture a healthy, non-addictive relationship with food (sugar in this case) and offer some functional benefits at the same time. Our healthy line-up for these cookies includes:

• Medjool Dates for gut-healthy fiber and blood sugar regulation (aka fewer insatiable sugar cravings)
• Coconut flakes for healthy fats
• Chocolate for antioxidants and serotonin aka the mood boost we all need right now
• Almond flour for sustained energy and fullness

See? Even cookies can be part of your wellness journey. So let’s get baking!

LET’S START WITH THE SHORTBREAD

The first thing you’ll want to do is make your dough. Here’s the ingredients what you’ll combine in a stand mixer to form the dough:

• almond flour
• tapioca starch
• gluten-free flour
• flaxseed meal
• coconut oil
• a little maple syrup

I know these aren’t all exactly pantry staples, but if you do a lot of whole foods and plant-based baking, I recommend keeping these things on hand to make healthy cookies, donuts and the like. Flaxseed meal makes a wonderful vegan egg substitute and binds the dough together. Tapioca starch is a common gluten-free flour that lends a thick, chewy texture to replicate the thickness of traditional shortbread.

Coconut oil gives the shortbread an amazing buttery flavor. And the gluten-free flour blend? That was a happy accident. The first time I attempted the dough, it was much too oily and nothing was really sticking together. The second time, I added gluten-free flour to the mix, beat it on high speed for a bit longer and it resulted in a perfectly roll-able cookie dough, pliable enough to cut shapes, re-roll and cut again. Yeah, I know that process might sound a little high maintenance. But in reality, all you do is put all those things in a bowl and let the mixer do the magic. I’m all about doing the least effort to get the best result possible.

CUTTING OUT THE COOKIES

After you roll the dough, you use a circular shape, such as a scalloped cookie cutter if you have one, to mimic the shape of a true Samoa. Or, if you like to keep a semi-minimal kitchen like me, you can use the lid of a mason jar. Once the outer shapes are cut, use a smaller circular cutter, like the wide end of a frosting piper to cut out the center of the circle. Hardest part done! At this point, you pop them in the oven on a sheet of parchment paper for about 8 minutes and move on to making the date coconut caramel.

HOW TO MAKE THE DATE COCONUT CARAMEL

First, you’ll toast some coconut in the oven, watching it like a hawk to avoid burning it like I did on several attempts. While it browns, toss the dates into a food processor and process for 2-3 minutes, or until a chunky paste is formed. Then you’ll add in the almond milk, vanilla and salt and continue to process for 3-5 more minutes. As long as you can bear the noise for a few, you will reap the reward of buttery, rich and thicc caramel with no butter required. Bliss. Lastly, all that’s left to do is fold the coconut into the caramel and put those cookies together

ASSEMBLING THE SAMOAS

First, grab a butter knife or a small spoon for spreading. Using the butter knife, you’ll spread about a tablespoon and a half of the coconut date caramel on to each cookie. Next, you’ll dip the bottom of the cookie into some melted chocolate, place it on a sheet of parchment paper and drizzle the top with more chocolate. I love Hu chocolate becaue it’s organic, vegan and naturally sweetened. So go crazy with those chocolate drizzles. It’s the best part. Add an optional sprinkle of maldon salt if you’re feelin fancy and pop these babies into the freezer for about 10 minutes. Then voila: healthy, naturally-sweetened and did I mention not-even-that-complicated Samoas cookies. 

CHECK OUT THESE RECIPES FOR MORE HEALTHY TREATS:

• Toasted Coconut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookes
• Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Egg Cookies
• Salted Date Caramel Apples Three Ways