Samoa Cookie Macarons

Hello friends! Today let’s make Samoa Cookie Macarons, they are based on the Samoas Girl Scout Cookies®. These Samoa Cookie Macarons are filled with a Toasted Coconut Caramel filling, and the bottom shell is dipped in chocolate.

I also offer a template below shaped like donuts, so you can pipe the top shells of the macarons, I decided to make them in the donut shape to resemble the design of the girl scout cookies.

Check out the video on this page or on YouTube, showing you how to make these beautiful and delicious Samoa Cookie Macarons.

First things first, let’s get to the template.

Don’t forget to pipe the bottom shells the same size as the diameter of the donuts, so you can match them together afterwards, make sure to check before you start piping the circle shells the size of your mat or other template you may already be using, because not all templates are created equal, and you don’t want to end up with the bottom shells measuring too much bigger or smaller than the donut top.

As I was saying, and as you can see, the top shell of these Samoa Cookie Macarons is shaped like a donut, but the bottom shell I kept it whole. When I first made and published this design, a few years ago, both shells were donut shaped, but this time around, I have changed a few things.

You can see below the original design.

Something else I’ve changed is the filling recipe. Often times, when making the previous filling (caramel candies melted with heavy cream and toasted coconut), the filling would get a bit too hard because of the consistency of the melted candies. So I decided to go for a softer filling.

This is a caramel sauce basically, that we make with a high amount of butter, which makes it super thick and pipeable.

Once the caramel rests in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight, you’ll be able to place it in a piping bag and pipe it on the macarons. And it won’t leak out of the middle of the macarons, though if the macarons stay out of the fridge for too long, it might become soft, just as a buttercream would as well.

Another noticeable change I’ve made was to top the shells with toasted coconut also, as the first design wasn’t topped with toasted coconut, just with the drizzled chocolate.

And last but not least, I made another design for the shells. I had made a double batch when making these, so I had leftover batter, which I piped into large shells, measuring about 2.75″ in diameter.

You can see how I piped and baked the large shells in the video on this page or on YouTube. Basically the only change was resting time and baking time. The large shells need longer resting time, because they contain more batter and take longer to dry.

And they also require longer baking time, because of being larger.

It took me about 25 minutes to bake the large shells.

And here is the design I went with. I simply piped some melted gold chocolate on top of the shells (you can use simply melted regular chocolate as well), and sprinkled with some toasted coconut, and topped with a Samoa cookie.

Here are some tips on making these Samoa Cookie Macarons:

• Always let the donut shapes rest before putting them in the oven. I cracked a couple of trays when first making this, because I didn’t let them rest enough.
• When piping the donuts, use a toothpick to help smooth out where the batters meet in the circle.
• Make sure the bottom shells are the same diameter as the top shells.
• To toast the coconut simply spread the flakes over a large saucepan, and use a spatula to stir at all times, for a couple of minutes over medium heat. The coconut will burn fast and unevenly if you stop stirring, or leave for too long.
• When making the caramel, keep your eyes on it at all times. The caramel will cook fast and burn if you don’t keep your eye on it, or it will become overcooked and hard when it cools down if you cook it too long.

Now, if you like these Samoa Cookie Macarons, you might want to check out some more of my macaron recipes.

And here are some of my favorites:

• Strawberry Macarons
• Brigadeiro Macarons
• French Vanilla Macarons
• Pecan Macarons
• Dulce de Leche Macarons
• Pomegranate Macarons
• Raspberry Macarons

These Samoa Cookie Macarons just made my favorites list, also! You can imagine why. I absolutely love caramel, dulce de leche, and chocolate anything!

And remember to check out Macaron School, where I post all of my macaron knowledge, troubleshooting guides, the science behind macarons, guides for beginners, and much more.

Thanks for reading my blog, and I hope you enjoy this macaron idea!

Samoa Cookie Macarons

Camila Hurst

Do you love the famous Girl Scout Cookie Samoas? Then you will love these Samoa Cookie Macarons! The bottom is dipped in chocolate, filled with a toasted coconut caramel, and with a drizzle of chocolate on top.

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

0 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, French

Servings 26 macarons

Calories 122 kcal

Ingredients

  

Chocolate Macaron Shells

• 100 grams egg whites
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 105 grams almond flour
• 75 grams powdered sugar
• 14 grams cocoa powder
• food coloring brown, optional

Toasted Coconut Caramel Filling

• 1/4 cup water 60 ml
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar 150 grams
• 1/2 cup heavy cream 120 ml
• 160 grams unsalted butter
• 1 cup toasted coconut flakes

For the chocolate drizzle/macaron bottom

• 2 cups chocolate chips 350 grams, 12.3 oz
• 1/4 cup toasted coconut flakes

Instructions

 

Chocolate Macaron Shells

• Before you start, get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare a large piping bag, fitted with a large round tip.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat, place the template underneath.
• Measure out all of the ingredients.
• Sift the powdered sugar, almond flour, and cocoa powder together. Set aside.
• Place the egg whites and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl or in a double boiler. Over a pan of barely simmering water, whisk the whites and sugar until frothy and the sugar is completely melted. It will take a couple of minutes. You can test by touching the mixture between your fingers, and if you feel any sugar granules just keep whisking the mixture over the water bath.
• Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the simmering water because you don’t want the whites to cook.
• Also, don’t overheat the sugar syrup, this may cause issues down the line, such as wrinkly macarons.
• Transfer the syrup to the bowl of a stand mixer.With the whisk attachment, start whisking mixture on low for about 30 seconds, then gradually start increasing speed to medium. Whisk on medium for one to two minutes, until the mixture is white and starting to become fluffy. Raise the speed to high for a few minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Best way to check this is to keep your eye on the whites. Once they get glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, it might be time to stop.
• Whisk until stiff peaks have formed. When you pull your whip up, the peak should be stiff and shooting straight up, with possibly a slight bend at the top, but not bending to the side.
• Pour the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into the stiff meringue.
• Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula. Add the food coloring at this point, if using. I added a few drops of brown food coloring.
• How to know when to stop folding the batter: It’s time to stop folding when the batter is glossy and has a thick and flowing consistency. There are several ways to test this.
• First, pick up some batter with the spatula and try to draw a figure 8 with the batter that is dripping off the spatula. If you can form several 8 figures without the batter breaking up, that’s one indication that it might be ready.
• There’s another test you can do. I call it the Teaspoon test.
• Grab a teaspoon of batter and spoon onto the parchment paper or silicon mat. Wait a minute to see how it behaves.
• If the batter stays stiff, forming a point and doesn’t spread out, fold a little bit more, about 3 folds. Test again.
• Once the batter spreads out a bit and starts to look glossy and smooth on top, on the parchment paper, it's ready.
• You don’t want your batter to be too runny either. So be careful not to overmix. It’s always best to undermix and test several times until the proper consistency has been achieved.
• When you hold the spatula with batter on top of the bowl and the batter falls off the spatula slowly but effortlessly the batter is ready. The batter will keep flowing off the spatula non-stop, but not too quickly.
• Transfer the batter to the piping bag.
• Pipe around the circle in the center forming little donut shapes (check the post above for a template of the donut shape macaron). Use a toothpick to poke any air bubbles, and to help smooth out the circle where the batters meet.
• Remember to remove the template from under the mat before baking the shells.
• I also piped some regular shaped shells (without the hole in the middle) so they could be the bottom of the macaron sandwich.
• Once you’ve piped as many shells as you could, bang the trays against the counter or against the palm of your hands to release any air bubbles.
• Now let the macarons rest until completely dry to the touch, it’s very important to let them dry extra time because otherwise the shapes will crack. I cracked a couple of trays of these on my first try because I didn’t let them rest enough, while the trays from the same batch that rested baked up perfectly. Time drying will vary depending on the weather where you are and the consistency of the batter.
• Pre-heat the oven to 310ºF.
• Bake one tray at a time.
• Bake for 5 minutes, rotate tray.
• I bake each tray of the donut shaped macarons for about 15 minutes, and the whole macarons for about 18.
• When baked, the macarons will have a deeper color and formed feet. If you try to move a macaron, it shouldn’t feel jiggly. If the macaron is still jiggly, keep baking.
• Remove from the oven and bake the other tray.
• Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling.

Toasted Coconut Caramel Filling

• Begin by placing the water and granulated sugar in a pan with a heavy bottom over medium heat. Mix the water and sugar together until incorporated. Use a brush dipped in water to brush the sides of the pan and dissolve any sugar crystals.
• Place a candy thermometer on the side of the pan and let the syrup come to a boil, undisturbed. Slowly, it will start to darken. Once the syrup reaches about 340ºF (171 ºC) and has a deep amber color, remove it from the heat. It should take 20 to 25 minutes to reach this temperature, but it will depend on how strong the heat is.
• Once the caramel starts browning, it can be seconds away from burning and becoming bitter, so you have to act fast, which is why it’s important to have all of the ingredients ready to go before getting started.
• Pour the heavy cream over the amber colored syrup, and be very careful because the mixture is going to bubble up.
• Place the pan back on the stove and turn the heat low.
• Add the butter to the pan, a couple of tablespoons at a time, stirring in between. Then remove the caramel from the heat, add the toasted coconut. It will be very runny, so pour it into a heat proof bowl, let it cool down to room temperature, then cover and place it in the fridge overnight.

To assemble

• Dip the bottom macaron shells in melted chocolate. Let them sit, on a parchment paper lined pan until completely dry. You can put shells in the fridge to speed up this part.
• Remove the caramel from the fridge and place it in a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe a bit of caramel on each chocolate dipped shell.
• Top with a donut shaped shell.
• Place remaining melted chocolate in a pastry bag (you may need to re-melt it if it has been sitting for a while), cut a little hole at the end, and drizzle some of the melted chocolate on top of macarons, and then top them with shredded toasted coconut.
• Let macarons mature in the fridge overnight before serving. Best served at room temperature, or after sitting out of the fridge for about 15 minutes.

Storage

• Macarons will freeze well. Keep them in the freezer, in an air-tight container, for up to 1 month.
• Macarons will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Notes

Toasted coconut flakes: To toast the coconut flakes, simply spread them in a non-stick pan, and place over medium heat. Keep swirling the pan around, and tossing the coconut flakes with a spatula, so they brown evenly. Do this for a few minutes until the flakes start to get toasted, then quickly remove the pan off the heat before the coconut burns.

Scale: Please use a scale when measuring the ingredients for accuracy.

Macaron amount: it will vary greatly depending on how big you pipe the shells, and on how runny or thick the batter is.

Baking time/temperature: Baking time and temperature will vary according to your own oven. I recommend experimenting with your oven to find out the best time, temperature, position of the baking tray.

Oven thermometer: Make sure to have an oven thermometer to bake macarons. It’s one of the most important things about making macarons. Home ovens aren’t accurate at all at telling the temperature, and even a slight 5 degree difference can make or break your whole batch.

Tray rotation: Lots of bakers don’t have to rotate the trays 180 degrees in the oven every 5 minutes, but I do have to with my oven, or I will get lopsided macarons. Please adjust this according to your oven.

Storage: This is the Storage Container I use to store my macarons.

Coconut flakes: I prefer unsweetened for this recipe.

Keyword macarons, samoas