It’s girl scout cookie season all year long with these samoa macaroons AKA the best salted caramel macaroons you’ll ever have. These caramel coconut macaroons are loaded with homemade caramel and dipped in chocolate for a rich, chocolate-y finish.
It’s girl scout cookie season all year long with these samoa macaroons AKA the best salted caramel macaroons you’ll ever have. These caramel coconut macaroons are loaded with homemade caramel and dipped in chocolate for a rich, chocolate-y finish.
Samoa Macaroons
Okay, so I know it’s not girl scout cookie season just yet, but if I had it my way that would not be a season. It would be a lifestyle. I would be pounding thin mints, samoas, and tagalongs all year long. And I think we can all agree that samoas are either the best (or second best type if you’re a thin mint human) of girl scout cookie you can get. Luckily, you can enjoy all those scrumptious flavors of a classic samoa with these easy samoa macaroons AKA salted caramel macaroons.
You’re going to love them.
Macarons vs Macaroons
Okay I just have to say this, because there seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding these two similar sounding, but very different treats. Macaroons are coconut based. They’re usually little balls of sweetened coconut and egg whites dipped in chocolate. Macarons on the other hand are fancy little french sandwich cookies like you see here or here. Both are absolutely scrumptious, but they’re very different. To recap:
Macaroons = a chewy coconut cookie
Macarons = sweet little french cookie sandwiches made with almond flour
Tips for the best samoa macaroons
Don’t over mix the batter: The key to perfect caramel macaroons is a stiff meringue based. If you mix meringue too much it will cause the meringue to deflate and become watery. Only fold your batter until it’s just mixed. This will help your macaroons keep their shape and prevent them from spreading into caramel coconut puddles
Invest in a cookie scoop: Although this samoas macaroons batter is thick, it’s very sticky. You’ll get neat, uniform macaroons that will bake up evenly.
Dip in chocolate: The only combination better than coconut and caramel is coconut and caramel AND chocolate. A little goes a long way and will really deepen the toasty coconut samoas flavors in these caramel macaroons.
How to make homemade caramel
Our famous homemade caramel sauce recipe is one of the most loved recipes on the site. And with good reason. It’s salty, sweet, easy to make, and pretty much the perfect complement to any drizzle-able dessert. We love it as layer in cake, drizzle over the top of brownies, and pour over ice cream. But, we also love to use it as an ingredient itself.
Luckily we broke it all down for you to take out any guess work. You can find our homemade caramel recipe tutorial here! You won’t need to use the whole batch for these caramel macaroons, but it’s never a bad idea to have a little extra caramel in the fridge!
We highly recommend you make our caramel recipe for these samoas macaroons as a store bought sauce will lead to a thinner batter because they usually contain all sort of syrups, artificial flavors, and lots of sugar.
If you’re a thin mint person don’t worry there’s plenty of chocolate-y mint…wow, I’m sorry mint chocolate is the way you say that. Long week, my friends…MINT CHOCOLATE flavors around the blog. From Healthier Thin Mints to Peppermint Oreo Truffles to Vegan Fudgy Peppermint Ice Cream and everything in between.
There’s something for everyone 🙂
Enjoy every last, salty-sweet, caramelly bite of these samoas macaroons!
Fit a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Make sure that bowl is clean and completely dry before placing the egg whites in. Beat on low speed, gradually increasing to high and beating until light and stiff peaks form.
In a separate, small bowl combine the caramel sauce, sweetened condensed milk, flour, and vanilla extract. Whisk until and completely combined and smooth.
Use a rubber spatula to fold the caramel and milk mixture into the egg whites. As you fold, scrape down the sides of the bowl, repeatedly folding the mixture over itself to evenly incorporate the caramel and milk into the egg whites without deflating them. Repeat until no streaks of unmixed egg whites remain.
Last, fold in the coconut.
Use a 2 ounce cookie scoop to scoop out the macaroons 2 inches apart onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake the cookies at 325° for 12 minutes or until the macaroons are brown on the top flakes of coconut and sound hollow in the middle.
If desired, you can dip the macaroons in chocolate or drizzle the tops!
Pretty divine. I got 21 with that size scoop and they took much longer to bake. Just fyi! I was super lazy and made them with canned dulce de ledge, salted.
This seemed like a LOT of shredded coconut, especially once I looked at the rest of the mixture/batter. I ignored my misgivings, but it was clear something was off. It was like eating sweetened shredded newspaper! So dry and gross. They went in the trash. I don’t understand why this was such a fail given that I used less (12 oz) of shredded coconut than the recipe’s 14 oz. Is there a specific brand that’s recommended for use with this recipe? I used Bob’s Red Mill. Maybe it’s too dry for this recipe or maybe sweetened coconut would be better? The tragedy of the samoa macaroons continues…
Hi Sarah! I’m so sorry for any confusion–Bob’s Red Mills coconut is absolutely delicious, but for this recipe you’ll want the processed sweetened kind. It has way more moisture in it! I’m so sorry that that wasn’t made clearer. I’ve adjusted the recipe so that no one else runs into this same problem 🙂
Leave a comment and rate this recipe!
The best macaroon recipe I have ever had! These were amazing and the recipe is full proof. They were a huge hit at my house.
★★★★★
Pretty divine. I got 21 with that size scoop and they took much longer to bake. Just fyi! I was super lazy and made them with canned dulce de ledge, salted.
★★★★★
I just made these and they are delicious! I added a drizzle of my homemade salted caramel and also dark chocolate. How should they be stored?
Hi Alison! Yum! So happy you enjoyed these. I like to store them in an airtight container in the fridge!
This seemed like a LOT of shredded coconut, especially once I looked at the rest of the mixture/batter. I ignored my misgivings, but it was clear something was off. It was like eating sweetened shredded newspaper! So dry and gross. They went in the trash. I don’t understand why this was such a fail given that I used less (12 oz) of shredded coconut than the recipe’s 14 oz. Is there a specific brand that’s recommended for use with this recipe? I used Bob’s Red Mill. Maybe it’s too dry for this recipe or maybe sweetened coconut would be better? The tragedy of the samoa macaroons continues…
Hi Sarah! I’m so sorry for any confusion–Bob’s Red Mills coconut is absolutely delicious, but for this recipe you’ll want the processed sweetened kind. It has way more moisture in it! I’m so sorry that that wasn’t made clearer. I’ve adjusted the recipe so that no one else runs into this same problem 🙂
Can these be frozen, do you think? Or how long do they stay fresh?
Thanks!