Samoa Ice Cream

This Samoa ice cream is full of gooey chocolate, buttery caramel, chunky cookies and of course lots of toasted coconut. Get the taste of the infamous Samoa cookies all year round with this sweet recipe.

 

Why We Love Samoa Ice Cream

• Quick To Make – This is a fun recipe to have the kids help. It comes together fast, and they’ll for sure be excited about the treat to come after it chills!
• No Special Equipment Required – You don’t need an ice cream machine or any special churning to make this delicious chocolate caramel coconut ice cream.
• Your Favorite Flavor Combination All Year! – People fan hard over their favorite cookie flavors, and this ice cream will rival any flavor from an ice cream shop. Sorry Wednesday Addams, it’s not made of real Girl Scouts.

This recipe isn’t a substitute for your favorite Samoa or Carmel De Light cookies, support your local scouts. My daughter is a scout and I am was also a scout. I’ve watched my own scout growing into a leader, and I couldn’t be prouder. You can find more ways to join a troop or support your Girl Scouts here.

Those sweet scouts work hard to sell cookies to go to camp, learn new skills, and become tomorrow’s leaders. Did you know Taylor Swift, Venus Williams, Kendra Scott and Melinda French Gates are all among many noteable famous Girl Scouts? I don’t speak for the company, but I am supportive of Girl Scouts.

Ingredients For Samoa Ice Cream

• heavy whipping cream must be cold
• sweetened condensed milk
• vanilla extract
• coconut extract optional, but gives it more of a coconut flavor, see notes
• coconut flakes toasted, sweetened – divided, if you can only find untoasted coconut you can toast coconut at home, but make sure to use a sweetened coconut.
• caramel sauce
• shortbread cookies chopped – Make these cookies as chunky as you like. Use a shortbread cookie like Lorna Doone cookies, Danish butter cookies or Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies can also be used if you don’t mind a little more chocolate. I’ve used a more generic “European” shortbread cookie I found at the store. You can also chop up Samoa cookies and add them to the ice cream, if you have extras left.
• chocolate sauce can also use fudge sauce, for garnish

How To Make Samoa Ice Cream

1. Add heavy whipping cream to a large chilled mixing bowl. With an electric hand mixer, whip the heavy cream on high for 4-5 minutes or until the cream reaches a fluffy, softened-butter type consistency. See notes at the bottom of the page.

2. To the whipped cream add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and coconut extract. Mix on low for about a minute with an electric mixer until fully combined. The mixture will feel pretty thick.

3. Measure about 1/4 cup of coconut flakes and 1/4 cup of cookie pieces and set to the side. Add 3/4 cup coconut flakes, caramel sauce and 3/4 cup shortbread cookies to the ice cream. Fold in gently with a silicone spatula until evenly mixed through the ice cream.

4. Pour ice cream into a 9×5” loaf pan. Top with 1/4 cup coconut flakes and 1/4 cup shortbread cookie pieces. Drizzle generously with chocolate sauce. Place the ice cream pan in the freezer for at least 6 hours. Can also be frozen overnight. Once frozen solid, scoop with an ice cream scoop and enjoy!

Samoa Ice Cream Variation Ideas

You can swirl more caramel on top of the ice cream if you like, or just swirl the caramle on top if you prefer more of a caramel drizzle. The caramel in the ice cream along with coconut extract gives it a caramel coconut flavor.

Try using Fudge Stripe cookies instead of regular shortbread cookies.

You can add chocolate chips or chocolate chunks instead of the chocolate fudge.

Add actual Girl Scout cookies if you like! We always freeze a few boxes of cookies so sometimes we have a few extra cookies available.

Don’t be afraid to add your own favorite mix-ins too. Chocolate chips, sprinkles and other ice cream toppings can be a fun addition!

What’s The Difference Between Samoas and Carmel Delights Cookies?

Girl Scouts had two different bakers who make their cookies. Where you live in the US dictates which cookie is available and they honestly are pretty similar.

The Samoas tend to have a little more coconut of the two. The chocolate on a Samoa seems to be from a taste test more similar to dark chocolate, and I have heard from friends in other areas that Carmel Delights taste more like a semi-sweet, almost milk chocolate. I have also heard Carmel Delights have a little more caramel.

Overall any differences are pretty slight.

Can I Make A Coconut Base Flavor Without Coconut Extract For The Ice Cream?

Yes, you can swap the sweetened condensed milk for one 15-16 ounce can cream of coconut. Cream of coconut is not the same as coconut milk, cream of coconut is already sweetened and coconut milk is unsweetened. You can not swap unsweetened coconut milk one for one in this recipe. You can sometimes find cream of coconut next to the cocktail mixing ingredients as it is used to make pina coladas.

How Do I Make This Samoa Ice Cream Recipe Dairy Free?

I don’t have a dairy free ice cream recipe, I just have never made it before. You could use this dairy free coconut ice cream recipe and then add the samoa cookie flavored toppings. If you have a dairy allergy or are lactose intolerance make sure to check the additional ingredients you use for dairy free options. For example dairy free chocolate chips may be easier then dairy free chocolate sauce.

How Long Will Samoa Ice Cream Last?

After our first round of Samoa ice cream, I like to make sure I cover the ice cream in an airtight freezer container. The ice cream will last easily for 2-3 months as long as you protect it from freezer burn with a freezer container.

If I know we will be eating the ice cream fairly quickly, I’ll just cover the top of the bread pan in plastic wrap or aluminum foil.