Your favorite Girl Scout cookies transformed into decadent, delicious Samoa Cupcakes! 
Several weeks ago I ordered many many boxes of Girl Scout cookies from my beautiful niece, Ashley. Well… I’ve been holding on to those cookies until I had enough time to create the Cupcake made from one of the most popular GS cookies, the Samoa. And you know what… I think I’ve done it.
Now, I’ve made a few cupcakes that were pretty damn good before… but these, well these cupcakes my friend are probably one of my BEST creations.
Now… before I go any further, I must take a moment to thank Rudy from Man Bakes Cake in helping me come up with the recipe for this cupcake. I was admiring his version of the cupcake and asked on his Facebook if he had a recipe. We exchanged a few emails in which he explained the basic process and ingredients for making his version of the Samoa cupcake. I took a few of his ideas and ran with it! I would have never thought to use one of the main ingredients in this recipe… coconut milk… but it really makes this cupcake AMAZING!
So thank you MAN BAKES CAKE for the inspiration and direction in making this cupcake!
So let me tell you about this cupcake. This Samoa cupcake starts with a brown sugar base. Now, most cupcake recipes I use call for some kind of liquid to be added, usually milk, but for this cupcake we use coconut milk. That combination of brown sugar and coconut make for a perfect Samoa flavor. For some crunch and added flavor, I’ve mixed in an entire box of Samoa cookies and some coconut flakes into the batter. The cupcake is topped with a caramel coconut frosting.
This frosting is also made with the coconut milk. I guess you could say that coconut milk is the secret ingredient of this cupcake. I’ve never worked with it before, but I’ll definitely be using it again when I need a rich coconut flavor. The chocolate drizzle on top is just a semi-sweet chocolate, but it’s a perfect pairing with the caramel flavors and coconut.
So… I won’t keep you from the recipe any further! Enjoy!
Samoa Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar, packed
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp coconut extract
- 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Cupcakes
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
- 1 box Samoa Girl Scout Cookies – broken into pieces
- 1 box Samoa Girl Scout Cookies – cut in half
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
Caramel Coconut Frosting
- (Depending on how much frosting you want to put on your cupcakes, you may only need half this recipe)
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 2/3 cup coconut milk + 2 tbsp more
- 1 ½ tsp coconut extract
- 2 lbs sifted powdered sugar
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cupcake pan with 24 liners.
- In a mixer, beat butter on high until soft.
- Slowly add sugar and beat until light and creamy.
- Add eggs one at a time, making sure to beat well after each egg.
- Add the coconut extract and mix until incorporated.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- Measure out the coconut milk and set aside.
- Add about ¼ of the flour mixture followed by 1/3 of the milk mixture.
- Repeat this step until you end with the flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated.
- Fold in the coconut flakes and Samoa cookies
- Fill cupcake liners with batter about ¾ full.
- Bake for 10 minutes then rotate pan. Bake another 5-7 minute or until cupcakes are golden brown.
- Let cool in pan for at least 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack to completely cool before frosting.
- Frost with caramel coconut frosting, drizzle with melted chocolate and top with ½ a Samoa cookie.
Frosting
- In a small pan, melt the butter on medium high heat.
- Stir in the coconut milk and coconut extract. Slowly add the brown sugar and stir until completely dissolved, about 2-3 minutes. Do not let the mixture boil.
- Remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.
- oz at a time add the sifted powdered sugar and mix with a hand mixer. Scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition.
- If necessary, add up to 2 tbsp more coconut milk to create the consistency you want.
- Mix on high about 2 minutes, scraping sides making sure all the sugar is incorporated.
- Work quickly to frost the cupcakes, the frosting will be warm but hardens quickly and is harder to work with.
Notes
The frosting will still be warm when it's ready to be used. Make sure you're ready to frost your cupcakes as soon as the frosting is ready! Once it cools, it will set up and harden, making any piping or spreading more difficult to do.
Janice
Thursday 23rd of March 2017
Do you use 1 and 1/2 sticks of butter in the cupcakes and the rest in the frosting?
Andy
Monday 17th of June 2013
Hi ! I am in England. We don't have Girl Scouts or Samoa cookies. What can I use instead ?
Betsy Eves
Tuesday 18th of June 2013
Any coconut and chocolate cookie would do! :) Keebler makes a cookie that is similar to the Samoa!
Stephanie Schieder
Monday 25th of February 2013
When you're referring to Coconut Milk, are you talking about the kind you find in the dairy section or the canned kind?
Betsy Eves
Tuesday 26th of February 2013
Hi Stephanie - Great question! I used the canned coconut milk because it's really packed full of coconut flavor - BUT, you could use the milk from the dairy section if that's all that is available to you! :) Happy baking! Betsy
julia
Thursday 31st of January 2013
for the frosting i could not find coconut extract but bought some coconut flavor. the lady at store told me that it is much stronger, do you have any idea how much i should use? or i may be talking about the same thing you used. please reply
Betsy Eves
Friday 1st of February 2013
Start with 1/2 a tsp and go from there. You can always add more, but you can't take it away!
Katherine
Tuesday 3rd of July 2012
THANK YOU. These cupcakes are incredible! I made them recently and absolutely LOVED them!!
JavaCupcake
Thursday 5th of July 2012
Awesome!!! I loooooove them too!! xoxo