Samoas Coconut Cream Pie

Each year my daughter and I work on creating a dessert inspired by the Girl Scout Cookies that she is selling. Last year we used our favorite cookie, Lemonades, to make an awesome Key Lime Pie with a Lemonade cookie crust. This year we knew we wanted to tackle making a pie with Samoas. After her grandmother requested a Coconut Cream Pie for her birthday, we knew what had to be done. The result is a Samoas inspired coconut pie with layers of coconut cream, caramel, toasted coconut, whipped cream and bittersweet chocolate.

Believed by some to be named after the Island of Samoa, where coconut is a major export, Samoas are the second leading selling Girl Scout Cookie and are made by the Little Brownie Baking Company. The cookies consist of crispy cookies topped with caramel, toasted coconut, and chocolate. In some regions of the United States, they are referred to as Caramel DeLites which is a similar Girl Scout Cookie made by ABC Bakers.

To make the Samoa inspired Coconut Cream Pie you will need Samoas, coconut flakes, coconut extract, coconut milk, vanilla extract, sugar, powdered sugar, butter, eggs, cornstarch, milk, bittersweet chocolate and heavy cream.

There are 3 steps to making the pie: making the crust, preparing the coconut cream layer, and making the whipped cream topping. It is best to start making the pie at least the day before so you have time to chill it before you are ready to eat.

What can I substitute for Samaos Girl Scout Cookies?

If you live in an area that does not have Samoas, or want to make the pie outside of Girl Scout Cookie season, you can substitute Caramel deLites. Walmart also sells a knock off version called Caramel Coconut cookies. Finally, Kebler's Coconut Dream cookies made a good substitute as well.

Make the Samoas Cookie pie crust

The first step in making this coconut cream pie with toasted coconut and caramel is to make the pie crust. This pie uses a simple cookie crust consisting of just butter and finely ground Samoas cookies. Process the Girl Scout Cookies in a food processor, until finely ground. Next add in the butter, a little at a time and process until well combined.

Oil a 9-inch pie pan and form the cookie crust into the bottom of the pan, bringing the crust up the sides of the pan and just overlapping the top of the pie dish.

Blind baking the cookie crust

As this coconut cream pie is not going to be baked, we found that the cookie crust turned out best when it was given a brief blind baking. This enabled the chocolate in the cookie crust to melt a little, mix with the butter, and resulted in a sturdier pie crust after it was chilled. To blind bake the Samoas cookie crust, cover the crust with a piece of parchment paper and use pie weights or beans to weigh down the crust. Bake the crust in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes. There is no need to dock the crust prior to baking. Once the crust is blind baked, place it in the refrigerator until ready to use or cover and store overnight.

Next evenly spread the caramel sauce over the bottom of the chilled cookie crust. Typically, 3 tablespoons of caramel sauce works well, but for a little more caramel flavor you can use a ¼ cup of the caramel.

Prepare the Coconut Cream Filling

To make the filling for the coconut cream pie mix the cornstarch and egg yolks in a small bowl.

In a saucepan, add the coconut milk, heavy cream, sugar, and cold milk. Slowly heat over medium-low heat. You may use half and half in place of the heavy cream and milk in this step, but we are using heavy cream to make the whipped cream topping too, so this saves you from needing to buy an additional ingredient.

Slowly add the hot milk to the egg/cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly. Once combined and smooth, slowly add the tempered eggs to the saucepan, stirring constantly.

Allow to cook for about 2 minutes, then remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the ¼ cup shredded coconut, butter, and vanilla and coconut extracts.

Pour the cream filling into the cookie pie crust. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Making the Whipped Cream Topping

In a medium sized bowl, beat together the whipping cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and coconut extract with a hand mixer. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

Top the coconut cream layer of the pie with the whipped cream and spread to make an even layer.

Finishing the Samoas Coconut Cream Pie

The coconut cream pie is topped with the grated chocolate and the toasted coconut. To make the toasted coconut, heat a pan over medium heat and add the ¼ cup of coconut. Toast, stirring occasionally, until browned. Do not allow to burn.

To prepare the chocolate topping use a grater or zester to finely shred the bittersweet chocolate.

Top the chilled pie with the toasted coconut and chocolate. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Serving the Caramel, Chocolate and Toasted Coconut Cream Pie

Your Samoas inspired coconut cream pie is now ready to eat. The pie should be enough to feed 6-8 people, depending on how hungry your little scouts are.

If desired you can also top the pie with additional Samoas or coconut cream cookies, to spruce up the presentation a little bit. We recommend eating the pie within 2 days of making it or the layers and coconut cream layer can begin to seperate.

Go ahead and indulge your sweet tooth with some of our most popular dessert recipes:

• Smores Gooey Butter Cake
• Smoked Bourbon Maple Pecan Pie
• Banoffee Pie
• Fresh Blackberry Slump
• German Black Forest Cheesecake
• Grilled Peaches with Amaretto Whipped Cream
• Bourbon Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

If you can't get enough coconut, be sure to give some of our other coconut inspired recipes a try:

• Roasted Chicken and Shrimp Curry Stuffed Coconuts
• Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi With Coconut Sauce
• Coconut Mai Tai

Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. If you tried and enjoyed our recipe, please share with others and please leave us a comment and review. We also love to see your pics so don’t forget to tag us @Carne_Diem_Culinary or To be notified of future recipes please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest, or sign up for our e-mail notifications. Until next time, Carne Diem!