One of my favorite Girl Scout Cookies are the classic Samoas.
I can polish off a purple box in no time.
From the chocolate-dipped undersides to the chewiness from the coconut, they’re amazing. But they’re not exactly lite. How they’re called Caramel DeLites in some areas is mind-boggling.
Although these bars aren’t as healthy as a cup of steamed broccoli, they’re vegan, gluten-free, no-bake, and made in one bowl without a mixer in under 5 minutes.
And they taste lots like the Samoas Cookies I can gobble up. Full of coconut flavor, lots of chewiness, and enough chocolate to satisfy my cravings.
These days most major grocery stores carry coconut oil in the baking aisle. I’ve tried at least 10 different brands and generally find most to be pretty comparable. For these bars, I used Nutiva Coconut Oil that I picked up from iHerb.com
Code AVE630 at checkout saves you $10 off your order. I love iHerb for everything from probiotics to face cleanser to stevia.
In addition to coconut oil, the bars are made with shredded coconut and quick-cook oats. If you normally buy whole-rolled oats, pulse them in a food processor, and you’ll have quick-cook oats in 10 seconds.
After making a syrupy glue in the microwave with coconut oil and sugars which serves to bind the bars together, stir in the shredded coconut, oats, and press it into a pan.
Brands of coconut oil, shredded coconut, and oats vary widely, so use your judgment if you think your mixture is too wet or too dry and adjust accordingly. Because coconut oil solidifies as it cools, don’t worry if your is fairly wet.
I was going to dip the underside of the bars in chocolate like Samoas cookies have, but I didn’t want the mess.
Plus, in an effort to keep them lighter, swirls rather than a solid wall of chocolate seems like a better call.
The bars are dense but soft, very moist, incredibly chewy, loaded with texture. Between the shredded coconut and oats, your jaw gets a workout.
You’ll be picking little bits and pieces from your teeth for the next few hours. The bars that keep on giving.
They’re satisfying, filling, hearty, and unlike storebought granola bars where you feel like you just ate air and need at least two, one is more than plenty with these.
While they’re sweet, they’re more granola bar than cookie. They’re less sweet than these Samoas Cookie Bars, and are a nice revamp to the No-Bake Coconut Oil Granola Bars I made in early 2010.
They’re perfect for lunch boxes now that school is starting up. And they’re cheaper than buying storebought.
Vegan, gluten-free, easy, no-bake, and a healthier, homemade alternative to Girl Scout cookies or storebought granola bars.
Yes, please.
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No-Bake Samoas Cookie Granola Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted or in liquid state
- ½ cup light corn syrup, light in color – not lite; honey; or brown rice syrup or yacon syrup to keep vegan may be substituted
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- about 2 1/2 cups quick-cook oats (use Certified Gluten Free Quick Cooking Oats
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted for drizzling, optional
Instructions
- Line an 8×8-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine oil, corn syrup, sugars, and cook on high power for 90 seconds. Stop and stir the mixture.
- Return bowl to microwave and cook for 90 more seconds. Stop and stir the mixture.
- Stir in shredded coconut, oats, cinnamon, vanilla, and optional salt. Note – when adding the shredded coconut and oats, add them slowly, bit by bit, rather than all at once. I found the measurements worked perfectly, but because coconut oil, coconut, and oats vary, add dry ingredients until mixture combines, noting it will be quite wet. It solidifies and firms up as it cools.
- Turn mixture out into prepared pan, packing it down with a spatula.
- Optionally, melt the chocolate in a small, microwave-safe bowl, about 1 minute on high power, or until chocolate can be stirred smooth.
- Even drizzle chocolate over bars. I followed the swirling pattern outlined here.
- Cover pan with foil to prevent frigde smells, and refrigerate until set and firm, about 2 hours. Slice bars into desired shapes. Especially in warmer months, I prefer to store the bars in the fridge rather than at room temperature so the coconut oil stays solid and bars are firmer. They will keep for up to up to 1 month in the fridge, or up to 6 months in the freezer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Do you like Samoas? Coconut or coconut oil? Favorite homemade granola bar recipe?
I liked there very yumy I made them wit my school
These sound great I’m looking forward to trying them out! I was wondering if there was any way to have less sugar or a sugar substitute that would work with these?
I haven’t tried doing either but if you do, LMK how it works out and how they taste!
Made these last night! they are DELICIOUS! I can promise they will not last long in the fridge :)
Thanks for trying them & glad to hear they won’t last long :)
OMG…I just found your blog and it is amazing! I am planning to do a lot of baking this weekend and thought I had all my recipes set and then I found your recipes. I love baking with coconut oil (It makes an awesome pie crust for pumpkin and sweet potato pie, by the way). Can’t wait to try some of your recipes and I’m sure I’ll be spending many hours browsing your site!
I love baking with coconut oil, too! Especially with pumpkin! I have umpteen (vegan) pumpkin + coconut oil combos…https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/10/soft-vegan-pumpkin-cake-with-pumpkin-spice-buttercream-frosting.html There’s links within that post for so many other muffins, etc with coc oil/pumpkin!
Holiday baking w/ coc oil – THESE!
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/11/soft-molasses-coconut-oil-crinkle-cookies.html
All around great cookie
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/12/soft-and-chewy-oatmeal-coconut-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
Gosh I have SO MANY I won’t keep leaving links but thanks for finding me! LMK what you make!
I like to read reviews from people who actually make the recipes, so I thought I would leave one in case someone is deciding to make these bars. There is one major flaw! The name of the bars! They should be called ” I died and went to heaven bars”!! I absolutely love these bars! I did not change one single thing and they turned out so very delicious! Make these bars people!! You will want to stock up on the ingredients because you will make them again and again! Thank you Averie for yet another wonderful recipe!,
I made these last night. WOW! I hadn’t used coconut oil before but this seemed like the perfect recipe to test it on. These are SO good and chewy and do taste just like the cookie! Only thing is, I did compare butter nutrition facts to coconut oil and WOW! Butter is waaaay better for you! Who knew! I will have to cut them smaller to get less fat with each portion.
Thanks for trying them and yes, I agree – they taste so much like the real thing and glad you love them.
In terms of butter being better for you…debatable. It has better stats if you’re looking at cals, fat grams, etc. But the *quality* of fatty acids, the type of fats in coconut oil, the other properties it has make it a better choice of fat for your body in terms of good fat that your body can use. At least this is what the experts say. So much written about it and so many experts weigh in on it, but my naturopathic doctor and so many others recommend coconut oil in place of butter. But to each her own on all this stuff. I normally don’t get into the health aspects b/c I am not qualified and just present the recipe :)
These are fantastic! I had some slight modifications (added some almond butter and used unsweetened coconut) then pressed them into a muffin tin and while the mixture was still hot added the chocolate chips on top. Rave Reviews!!! Thank you :-)
Oh I love your tweaks! In a muffin pan and adding choc chips while the mixture was still warm (easier!) and I bet the got rave reviews for sure! Thanks for LMK!
Oh goodness, now this is a recipe I can love :) these look incredible!!
Oh heyyyyy I have everything to make these!!! Now I’m excited.
SUPER easy. Your gang will probably eat the whole pan in a day :)
These look amazing! Samoas are my all time favorite GS cookie too! I will be making them soon!
Samoas are my weakness too! (Are they still called CaramelDeLites in some areas?) My jar of coconut oil has yet to be opened, maybe it’s time…
Break the seal :) And then you can make some coconut oil cookies with it! You’re going to love it! And what you don’t bake with, you can rub into your skin as a moisturizer!
These sound incredible Averie! All your bars look so good, really. I feel crazy/ashamed to say that I don’t think I’ve ever had a Samoas Cookie, BUT, I do know that I love the chocolate/coconut combo, and I’ll bet these might just beat that cookie. :)
Mmmmm I love samoas tooooo!!!! I would gobble up these granola bars SO quick!
When I was a kid, Samoas were my least favorite Girl Scout cookies because of the coconut and now they’re my absolute favorite, also because of the coconut. :) Yay for making a lighter version I can eat without guilt!