When I was a kid, the only kind of Girl Scout cookies my mom ever bought were Samoas. Do you remember these? They were sweet, rich, and gooey cookies, with caramel, chocolate and coconut. As much as I loved those cookies, there's no way I'd eat them now. Not only are they not vegan, they are chock full of hydrogenated oil and sugar. I have sure missed them, though!
Well, imagine my excitement at seeing this post on Kati's blog a while back. She said she had made cookies that were reminicent of a certain Girl Scout cookie and as soon as I read through the recipe I knew exactly which ones she meant... Samoas!
Well, I tried them and they were... AMAZING. I've never been this excited about a cookie that I baked. The best part? These cookies are extremely healthy and even detox-friendly, with 100% whole grain flour, no refined sugar, and no refined oil. (Except for the tiny amount of chocolate chips I threw in there, of course.) The brown rice syrup shines here, imbuing these cookies with a deep caramel flavor. To make them look even more like Samoas, you could drizzle them with some melted chocolate, but these cookies are so rich, they don't need any embellishment.
Here is Kati's recipe, with my notes in orange. **Make these NOW!**
Pseudo-Scout Cookies - Vegan Samoas!
(adapted from Cooking the Whole Foods Way by Christina Pirello)
yield: 25-30 cookies (I got around 20 cookies)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry) I used whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup ground pecans
1/2 cup chopped pecans I decreased this to 1/4 cup and threw in 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup brown rice syrup (or a combination of brown rice syrup and maple syrup) I used 1/3 cup agave nectar and 2/3 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all ingredients, using your hands at the end if necessary. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto lightly oiled baking sheet (I used parchment paper- watch out, these cookies spread out quite a bit during baking!) and bake for approximately 14 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Tips:
- When working with coconut oil, be sure that all other ingredients are at room temperature or else you will get oil lumps. It may help to mix the oil with shredded coconut before adding other ingredients. My coconut oil was solidified, so I microwaved it for about 10 seconds.
- Do not overmix! Your cookies will be very tough if you do. Mix until ingredients are just combined.
- Do not overbake! Your cookies will be hard as rocks. Brown rice syrup tends to make cookies crunchy, so be aware of this and proceed accordingly. Increase the proportion of maple syrup to create a chewier cookie or decrease baking time. When you take out your cookies after 14 mintues, they will be so soft, you will be tempted to let them bake some more, but don't do it! These will firm up quite a bit. I'd say definitely use agave or maple syrup as part of your sweetener if you want a more chewy cookie.
One year ago today: What I was blogging about on 10 September 2006 (first visit to Farm Sanctuary!)
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33 comments:
can't say I've had the originals, but these babies? I will definitely have them soon!
My roommates and I always argue about these and a few other girl scout cookies. Apparently different geographical areas have different names for the cookies. I grew up calling (and selling) these carmel delights. Well whatever you wanna call them, samoas, carmel delights- I sure remember them (damn they're unhealthy). Thanks for posting about this awesome healthy and tasty vegan version!
oh YEAH!
Samoas are the BEST! I was a brownie for many years... and I have regretted that they aren't vegan, so that I am no longer able to enjoy them.
Can't wait to try these bad girls!
:) thanks for sharing.
this is awesome! i heard about the scouts cookies, but i've never had them! i wanna make those for my tuesday coffee break at work! thanks for the recipe!
*giggles* girls scouts.. haha. I'm sorry, girls scouts is just so terribly American. In pretty much every kids film for girls from America that reaches Sweden there's girl scouts selling cookies. In Sweden the scouts all do such hardcore things, no damn cookies here! Anyway, the recipe looks good, but I'm baking too many cookies lately!
Oh those look SO GOOD Bazu. I've never had girl scout cookies--missed out from the sounds of it! Hmm, there's a lunch event coming up at uni next week, that sounds like the perfect excuse to whip up a batch of your (healthier) version. Thanks for the recipe!
When I saw these I thought maybe you'd grabbed some of my cookies! I used my chocolate chip cookie recipe, which looks very similar. I took them to a party on Sunday and everyone was asking for the recipe. I never mentioned they were vegan!
Wow, those look GRRRREAT! I'll be making these soon!
Mmm, those look amazing! Now I just need to find some coconut oil...
Yum. I like your add of the chocolate chips. Now you just need to punch a whole in the middle, drizzle with chocolate, then go door to door! Thanks so much for the link and your suggestions!
Samoas were always my favorites, too! My grandmother used to make something sorta like this that she called "Ranger Cookies". They had raisins in them also, though. I can't wait to try these!
nirvana, indeed!
Mmm, those look like they're sinfullz delicious!! I`ll have to try them after I get whole wheat pastry flour.
I totally agree with you about the German keyboards! I'm in the library and I keep typing z instead of y and all sorts of other stupid things!
Samoas were my FAVORITE! I'll have to give these a try for sure!
Healthy! Natural! Vegan! Cookies! I love you Bazu!
So glad you liked these! I need to make them again soon...with chocolate chips, a perfect addition!
We are finally settling in - it's been a busy few weeks, so I am behind on blog posts once again. Happy Anniversary to you and Daiku! Loved the walk through your neighborhood. Will be in touch...
Oh my goodness! Those cookies look amazing. I'm adding them to my must try list right now :)
I used to eat Samoas when I was much younger (blushes with embarrassment) - this vegan version of the dreadful original G.S. cookie looks intriguing!
I concur!! These are freakin' rockin' cookies. Thank you for sharing some with me! They go great with a cup of coffee.
Sorry .. can't comment I just must go tho the store and get pecans!!! the only ingredient I am missing to make those yummy looking/sounding bloged about cookies!!
thanks for the recipe!
samosas! I've eaten, and sold my share of these. These look much better. :)
I've never had, or even heard of, a samoa, but they look good! I think that I'll bake some to hand out at school. :) Thanks for the recipe and the revisions!
Man, oh man, those look delish!
bite size pictures! mmm! Sad to hear about the cats though
At first I thought you wrote samosa which is a kind of deep fried snack with curry potato filling, so it was strange why the "samosas" looked so different hahaha..
Those samoas look really rich by the way.
ooooooh boy, you've done it now! i think these very well may have been the single reason i was ever a brownie to begin with. YUM! cannot WAIT to try them.
I noticed that these cookies used coconut oil. In my biochemistry class this week, our professor told us that coconut oil is the only plant oil that is very high in saturated fat - 86%. Animal fats are high in saturated fat and cholesterol, and plant oils are high in unsaturated fat and have no cholesterol; however, coconut oil is an exception. I would try to reduce the amount of coconut oil in these cookies somehow. Just FYI. Otherwise, these cookies sound tasty!
Hi LK,
Thanks for your comment. I realize that coconut oil is saturated (it's solid at room temperature after all!) and in a lot of circumstances, it is best to reduce your saturated fat intake. However, I have read a lot about the detoxifying and anti-inflammatory properties of extra virgin, cold- or expeller-pressed coconut oil. In the context of a plant-based, whole-foods diet, coconut oil can be a very nutritional component. Of course, if you eat a diet with animal products and processed food, and your coconut oil is chemically pressed and processed, then it is definitely not good. I feel good including coconut oil (again, expeller-pressed, not chemically treated) in my diet, but it is up to everyone to research for themselves.
Bazu!! I love me some coconut oil too. is it a sign of how warm it is here in Bakersfield that the oil is liquid all the time when out of the fridge?
anyway, I wanted to ask you: what type of rolled oats did you use, old-fashioned or quick?
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