Girl Scout Cookie season is upon us, but what to do when there’s no Girl Scouts in sight? Make your own cookies, of course! Our interactive and graphic designer Caitlyn did just that (and lucky for us, brought them in to share!) Here’s how she baked Homemade Samoas — delightfully chewey, chocolatey, and sweet!

First step: make a shortbread recipe (like this one), and after chilling 30 minutes, roll out chilled dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out circles using a floured 2 1/2 inch cutter. Punch out an inner with a smaller cutter of your choice.

Lay the cookie cutouts on the parchment lined sheet trays and bake for 12-15 minutes until firm and lightly golden. Let rest on sheet tray until cool to the touch and then transfer to cooling racks.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spread coconut into a thin and even layer on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes. Rotate pan and stir coconut. Continue to bake at 5 minute intervals, rotating the pan and stirring the coconut until golden in color. Once toasted, let cool to room temperature.

Next step is making your melted caramel! Full instructions are over here on The Little Epicurean.

Once shortbread cookies are cool, dip one side into caramel sauce. Then spread about 1-1 1/2 teaspoons of coconut caramel mixture on top of cookie. Dipping the cookie first into the reserved caramel sauce helps the coconut mixture to adhere to the cookie. Let cool on rack. Dip the bottoms of the cookies into melted dark chocolate. Let cool on rack upside down (coconut mixture side down) until chocolate has hardened and set.

Once chocolate is set, turn cookie right side up. Transfer remaining dipping chocolate into a small parchment bag or piping bag. Cut a small tip and drizzle chocolate over the tops of the cookies. Let cookies sit out until drizzled chocolate has set and then enjoy!

Homemade Samoa next to the actual Girl Scout cookie. Ours were bigger (obviously!), chewier, and gooier. We love!! Thanks, Caitlyn!