Samoa Cupcakes: toasted coconut, quick homemade caramel, and chocolate coating over a pound cake cupcake is sure to please lovers of the Girl Scout’s most divisive cookie.
Hello and welcome to the only recipe on the site that is not taste tested and approved by yours truly. We are on our penultimate recipe of my Girl Scout Cookie Cupcake series and have reached the dreaded Samoa Cupcakes week.
Guys, I have a confession: I don’t like shredded coconut. I don’t like shredded coconut on things, so really I don’t like Samoa cookies. But you know what I LOVE? Complete sets of things.
There’s no way I could do a Girl Scout Cookie Cupcake series and leave out one of the most iconic cookies of them all, so for my Samoa Cupcakes, I enlisted some trusted tasted testers and went to work.
Samoas are a crunchy cookie base covered in chocolate, topped with shredded coconut and caramel, and then drizzled with more chocolate. So for these cupcakes, I returned to our pound cake cupcake base . That gets dipped in chocolate. Then we whip up some quick homemade caramel, toast some coconut, spread all that over the cupcakes and top it all a bit more chocolate.
The end result is gorgeous, if I do say so myself. Visually, they are my favorite of all the cupcakes. They look just like giant versions of the cookies and are so cute.
How do they taste? Well, the components by themselves are all delicious. The pound cake and homemade caramel are two of my favorite things to come out of my kitchen. As a whole, according to the taste testers, they are…the best of all the cupcakes.
That’s right, of out of all the cupcakes I slaved over, the ones people (well, the people who like coconut) liked best were these. So if you’re a coconut person, you’re probably going to love these Samoa Cupcakes. If you don’t like coconut, well, they are awfully fun to make and take pictures of. Plus you can eat spoonfuls of the leftover caramel sauce while you do so. 😉
You can find my Tagalong and Do-si-do Cupcakes in the archives, and come back next Friday to see our final cupcake. We’re down to the #1 best-selling Girl Scout cookie, and this cupcake is the one my fellow coconut non-fans liked best…
More Girl Scout Cookie Cupcakes…
Do-si-do Cupcakes
Tagalong Cupcakes
Thin Mint Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ▢ 12 Poundcake cupcakes cooled
Chocolate Coating
- ▢ 1 cup ( 6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chopped and divided (chips or baking chocolate are fine)
- ▢ 1 tablespoon and 3/4 teaspoon canola or vegetable oil divided
Caramel
- ▢ 4 tablespoons ( 2 oz) unsalted butter
- ▢ 1/2 cup ( 100 g) packed brown sugar
- ▢ 1/2 cup heavy cream
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla
Toasted Coconut
- ▢ 1 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
Instructions
Chocolate Coating
- In a small microwave-safe bowl large enough for cupcake dipping, combine 2/3 cup of the chocolate with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Microwave on medium for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until chocolate is melted and no lumps remain. Stir vigorously until chocolate is shiny and smooth.
- Dip cupcake tops in the chocolate, allowing the excess to run off. Place cupcakes on a tray in the refrigerator to set while you prepare the caramel and coconut.
Caramel
- Combine butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, and salt in a small pot. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted. Stir and bring mixture to a simmer. Set timer for five minutes and simmer (turn the heat down if it begins to boil), stirring occasionally, until thickened and syrupy. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Set aside to cool until just barely warm to the touch.
Toasted Coconut
- While your caramel is cooling, preheat oven to 350°F. Cover a baking tray with parchment paper and spread coconut evenly over the surface. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring every couple minutes until coconut is just lightly toasted. Don’t walk away from your coconut in the oven. It burns quickly!
- Allow coconut to cool for 5-10 minutes.
Assemble
- Pour toasted coconut into the pot of cooled caramel and stir to coat.
- Using a large spoon and your fingers, scoop and arrange the coconut in circles on the top of each cupcake.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/3 cup of chocolate and 3/4 teaspoon of oil. Microwave on medium for 30 seconds until chocolate is melted, stir and repeat if needed. Pour into a plastic bag (placed over a cup to hold it open), seal the bag and snip off a very small piece of one of the corners. “Pipe” a couple lines on a plate or parchment paper for practice and then pipe vertical lines of chocolate onto each of the cupcakes.
- Place cupcakes in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to allow caramel and chocolate to set.
- Serve and enjoy.
Nutritional Information Caramel Adapted From: SmittenKitchen Chocolate Coating Adapted From: Martha Stewart
Small-batch Instructions: This recipe halves cleanly. Depending on the type of bowl you have, you may need to make the entire amount of chocolate so it is deep enough for dipping.
Moist and sweet cornbread muffins topped with homemade honey butter make a tasty and easy side dish!
Cornbread is one of those foods people seem to love or hate, and even people who love it have very specific requirements for their cornbread. Are you a savory or a sweet cornbread person. Dense and gritty or light and fluffy?
Me? I love cornbread. How do I like my cornbread? Like cake. I like my cornbread to be cake.
Okay, not quite, but my ideal cornbread is definitely sweet. Savory cornbreads, I just don’t get you. And I want it to be fluffy and slightly moist, not dry and crumbly. Ick.
Maybe I love wrongly. Maybe I’m just trying to turn cornbread into an excuse to eat dessert with my meal, but I don’t care. I’m an adult and I do what I wanna. (Except for all the things I’m not allowed to do.) So that’s what today’s cornbread muffins are.
They are sweet, but not too sweet, and made with tangy buttermilk, which keeps them moist and soft, while still maintaining that dense, cornbread texture. They are fantastic on their own, but even better when topped with homemade honey butter. If you like your cornbread on the sweet and cakey side like I do, welcome to your new favorite cornbread recipe!
Meals to Serve With Cornbread Muffins
- Country-style Pork Ribs
- Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Vegan Mexican Stew
- Simple Beef Stew
- Roasted Tri-tip
Ingredients
Muffins
- ▢ 1 cup ( 120g ) all-purpose flour
- ▢ 1 cup ( 120 g) yellow cornmeal
- ▢ 2/3 cup ( 132 g) granulated sugar
- ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- ▢ 1 egg
- ▢ 1 cup buttermilk
- ▢ 1/3 cup vegetable oil
Honey Butter
- ▢ 1/2 cup ( 4oz ) butter room temperature
- ▢ 3 tablespoons ( 64 g) honey
Instructions
Cornbread Muffins
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line muffin pan with liners or grease well with cooking spray.
- Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Add egg, buttermilk, and vegetable oil. Mix until combined.
- Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling them just under 2/3’s of the way full.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Honey Butter
- In a medium bowl, whisk together butter and honey until well-combined.
- Store leftovers by spooning the butter onto a sheet of parchment paper and rolling into a log. Secure with tape and place in the freezer for 15 minutes before transferring to the refrigerator. Slice off pieces as needed.
Nutritional Information Muffins Nutritional Information Honey Butter Recipe Adapted From: AllRecipes
Small-batch Instructions: For the oil, 1/2 of 1/3 cup is equal to 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons. Instead of halving the egg, this recipe is fine if you just use an entire egg yolk. No other prep or cooking changes are needed. Freezer Notes: In testing, I found frozen muffins a little dry, but not horribly so, and much improved when heated for 10-15 seconds in the microwave. If freezing, wrap individually in foil and freeze together in an airtight container for up to one month. To defrost, unwrap and allow to come to room temperature on a wire rack (so the bottom doesn’t become soggy) for about half an hour.
Saturday Morning Snapshot
It was a lazy morning for everyone here at casa mia…
State of the Blog
Am I crazy, or did this week go by insanely fast? It seems like I just hit publish on last week’s Weekend Post…
This was a fun week on the blog. I got to share a recipe that was one of my most made meals in college, some cornbread made exactly how I like it, and a cupcake recipe I love to look at, but would never, ever eat (if you haven’t, read that post to find out why ).
Next week, there will be another Meatless Monday Meal , a super fun and colorful roundup, and the last cupcake in my Girl Scout Cookie Cupcakes series .
Recipes/posts released this week were:
Mexican Vegan Veggie Stew – Potatoes, corn, carrots, and celery simmered in a slightly spicy, tangy tomato base. A flavor-packed, low-calorie dinner that just happens to be vegan.
Sweet Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins With Honey Butter – Moist and sweet cornbread muffins topped with homemade honey butter make a tasty and easy side dish!
Samoa Cupcakes – Toasted coconut, quick homemade caramel, and chocolate coating over a pound cake cupcake is sure to please lovers of the Girl Scout’s most divisive cookie.
Pop-culture Corner
I’m finally making my way through more of this year’s Oscar noms. I started with Room , and I thought I was emotionally prepared . I. Was. Wrong.
It’s Daredevil season 2 weekend on Netflix! Are you watching?
Also on Netflix this week is the second season of Happy Valley . If you like heart-rending British crime dramas, you’re going to love crying over this one (It’s so good!!!).
And finally, CBS announced an air date for the fifth and final season of Person of Interest . Episodes will air twice weekly, Mondays and Tuesdays, starting May 3, giving the entire world just under a month and a half to catch up with the show, which is available in its entirety on Netflix. In related news, a Person of Interest related recipe is being tested in my kitchen this weekend…
Meal Planning
Saturday: Bacon and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Orzo Sunday: Tacos Monday: Quick Rosemary Pork Chops with Broccoli Tuesday: Takeout Wednesday: BLT Salad Thursday: Sharp Cheddar Broccoli and Ham Chowder Friday: TBD
Samoa Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 12 Poundcake cupcakes cooled
Chocolate Coating
- 1 cup ( 6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chopped and divided (chips or baking chocolate are fine)
- 1 tablespoon and 3/4 teaspoon canola or vegetable oil divided
Caramel
- 4 tablespoons ( 2 oz) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup ( 100 g) packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Toasted Coconut
- 1 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
Instructions
Chocolate Coating
- In a small microwave-safe bowl large enough for cupcake dipping, combine 2/3 cup of the chocolate with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Microwave on medium for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until chocolate is melted and no lumps remain. Stir vigorously until chocolate is shiny and smooth.
- Dip cupcake tops in the chocolate, allowing the excess to run off. Place cupcakes on a tray in the refrigerator to set while you prepare the caramel and coconut.
Caramel
- Combine butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, and salt in a small pot. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted. Stir and bring mixture to a simmer. Set timer for five minutes and simmer (turn the heat down if it begins to boil), stirring occasionally, until thickened and syrupy. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Set aside to cool until just barely warm to the touch.
Toasted Coconut
- While your caramel is cooling, preheat oven to 350°F. Cover a baking tray with parchment paper and spread coconut evenly over the surface. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring every couple minutes until coconut is just lightly toasted. Don’t walk away from your coconut in the oven. It burns quickly!
- Allow coconut to cool for 5-10 minutes.
Assemble
- Pour toasted coconut into the pot of cooled caramel and stir to coat.
- Using a large spoon and your fingers, scoop and arrange the coconut in circles on the top of each cupcake.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/3 cup of chocolate and 3/4 teaspoon of oil. Microwave on medium for 30 seconds until chocolate is melted, stir and repeat if needed. Pour into a plastic bag (placed over a cup to hold it open), seal the bag and snip off a very small piece of one of the corners. “Pipe” a couple lines on a plate or parchment paper for practice and then pipe vertical lines of chocolate onto each of the cupcakes.
- Place cupcakes in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to allow caramel and chocolate to set.
- Serve and enjoy.
