Pumpkin + Samoas = Your New Favorite Holiday Cookie Recipe
1998: The year when I became a Girl Scout and realized my love for the one and only cookie, the Samoa. (PS: Girl Scout cookies have regional names, so if you are an east coaster like me, you may know them as Caramel Delights.) Shortbread cookie + chocolate + caramel + coconut — what more could you ever want! Well, the answer is pumpkin! We decided to put a spin on this classic cookie for the holidays and add a pumpkin into the shortbread layer, making it the most decadent cookie in your holiday spread. Girl Scouts, take notes ;) These are the bomb.
Cookie Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Topping Ingredients:
- 3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
- 15 ounces caramel
- 3 Tablespoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces dark chocolate
Instructions:
A Kitchen Aid mixer is the answer to all my prayers. Add in the pumpkin, butter and sugar into the mixer and mix until combined.
- Cream the butter, sugar and pumpkin together in a medium-sized bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Then add the flour mixture to the creamed butter — stir ’til combined.
- Place the dough on parchment paper and flatten into a disk shape. Refrigerate until firm — about 1 hour.
- Roll the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8-inch thick. Cut out your large circle using the top of a peanut butter can and then the inner circle out of a spice container lid. Place the cutout cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes in a 350-degree-Fahrenheit oven. Transfer the cookies to a wire wrack to cool completely.
- Spread the coconut flakes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to toast them for 10 minutes.
- Once the cookies are cooled, melt the dark chocolate chips in the microwave for another 2 minutes.
- Dip the bottoms of the cookies into the dark chocolate and place back onto the baking sheet. Place in the freezer to allow the chocolate to harden. This should take about 10 minutes.
- Melt the caramel, milk and salt in the microwave for two minutes and then spread on the top of the cookies. Press into the coconut flakes before the caramel hardens.
- Top the cookie off with a chocolate drizzle and enjoy!
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a large bowl.
Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture and stir until combined.
Kitchen Aid — do your thang!
Place the dough on parchment paper and flatten into a disk. Cover and place in the fridge to chill for about an hour.
Once the dough has chilled, remove and roll out on a floured surface.
Don’t have a donut cookie cutter? Neither do I! Use two different sized circle lids to create your donut shape and place onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Place your cookies in a 350-degree oven for 10-12 minutes.
While the cookies are baking, add the coconut flakes to another lined cookie sheet and place in the oven for 10 minutes.
Once the cookies have cooled completely, dip the bottom of each cookie into melted chocolate. Set onto a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for 10 minutes for the chocolate to harden.
To make the caramel topping, you’ll want to mix the caramel, salt and milk together in a microwave-safe bowl. Place in the microwave for about two minutes.
Spread the cookies with a thin layer of melted caramel and resist the urge to eat them RN :)
Press the top of the cookies into the toasted coconut and admire your almost-finished samoas.
Drizzle with leftover melted chocolate — Girl Scouts everywhere will be extremely proud of these cookies.
Pumpkin Girl Scout cookies are everything I didn’t even know I needed.
Show us your favorite holiday cookies by tagging us on Instagram + using the hashtag #iamcreative!
