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No actual Samoas were harmed in the making of these magic bars. Samoa Magic Bars are inspired by the delicious Girl Scout Cookies, with a shortbread crust covered in a gooey chocolate, caramel, and coconut topping. If you run out of your favorite Girl Scout Cookies, these will hold you over until you can buy your Samoas next year!

These Samoa Magic Bars just taste like the real thing…so you can have your magic bars and your Caramel deLites too!

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magic cookie bars in a stack with chocolate center and coconut caramel top

So, what are Girl Scout cookies up to now? $4.50 a pop? Seriously, they’re the only cookie that’ll I spend that much on for such a small box. I mean, each box is one serving (maybe two), am I right?

Jordan was a Girl Scout for a hot minute back in Kindergarten and First Grade. By Christmastime in Second Grade she was hemming and hawing about continuing; it really wasn’t for her.

I made sure she quit before cookie sales started. I’m a smart mom, after all. Because a 5 or 6 year old selling cookies means I’m selling cookies. I did that for several years back in the day myself, thankyouverymuch. #mamaaintgottimeforthat

So now we just live off the GS cookie stash in the freezer. You GS moms know it; it’s the one you have because your daughter had to get to the next tier so instead of paying your mortgage last January, you paid for cookies.

Collage of Samoa Magic Bars on white parchment paper

Well, you’ll be delighted to know that these Samoa Magic Bars don’t actually use the girl scout cookies. So you can have them now, even if your shipment hasn’t come in.

You can have them in June, when you’ve run out.

Or you can make them AND eat that box of Caramel deLites.

{BTW, which is it? Samoa or Caramel deLite? Why do they always change the darn names??!!}

Whatever they’re called, they are the most wonderful combo ever: shortbread, caramel, coconut, and chocolate. To. Die. For.

So are these bars.

Samoa Magic Bars are like a homemade Samoa cookie bar with chocolate, caramel and coconut!

I love making copycat Girl Scout cookie recipes because then I can have them all year long. Things like Tagalong Bars, Samoa Pies, or Thin Mint S’mores. My friend Averie makes a killer Samoa Pie recipe and Julianne has a Samoa Cake recipe that looks like heaven!

Stack of Samoa Magic Bars on parchment paper with chocolate chips around them

If you’re looking for a 7-layer bar without a graham cracker crust, these are the perfect magic cookie bars for you!

These bars have a shortbread crust. It’s pre-baked for 10 minutes before you add the toppings.

The toppings are reminiscent of that amazing girl scout cookie: chocolate chips, caramel bits, and coconut. I used Kraft Caramel Bits for my caramel layer. They’re little balls of caramel sold near the bags of caramel squares. If you can’t find them, you can use caramel squares, or even Rolos.

The magic comes from the sweetened condensed milk: you pour it over the top of the bars before baking and it melts all the goodness together. You’ll notice in the recipe I call for fat-free sweetened condensed milk. It’s what I prefer, but you can use regular as well.

These are gooey, sweet, and they taste like Samoas! The perfect way to get your girl scout cookie fix…no matter what month it is!

Closeup shot of a Samoa Magic Bar on white parchment paper with more behind it

Oh, and these are, like, totally addicting. Beware!

How to make a copycat Samoa Cookie Magic Bar:

  • These are 7-layer bars without the graham cracker crust: I use a shortbread crust instead! It’s important to pre-bake the crust so that it’s not raw when you eat it.
  • If you can’t find the caramel bits (I have good luck at Target), then use unwrapped caramel squares you cut in half, or use Rolos or another caramel candy.
  • Sweetened condensed milk is the magic here; make sure you’re not using evaporated milk. They’re quite different!
magic cookie bars in a stack with chocolate center and coconut caramel top

Samoa Magic Bars

4 from 4 votes
Turn Magic Bars into SAMOAS! Samoa Girl Scout Cookies are my favorite: shortbread, chocolate, caramel, and coconut. These Samoa Magic Bars are just like Samoa Cookies, but in magic bar form. Plus they're super easy to make!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Yield 24 bars
Serving Size 1 bar

Ingredients
 

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 cups chocolate chips semi-sweet or milk
  • 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 3/4 cup Kraft caramel bits or about 18 square caramels, cut in half
  • 1 can 14 ounces regular or fat-free sweetened condensed milk
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Instructions

  • Line a 9x13” pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. The foil is optional, but helps aid in removing these from the pan.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Beat butter in a stand mixer until smooth. Mix in flour, sugar, and salt. Beat until the mixture is crumbly. It’s done mixing when you can press it together between your fingers and it sticks together. (You can use a hand mixer but it will take a really long time to come together, FYI.)
  • Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
  • Remove hot crust from the oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips, coconut, and caramels1.
  • Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden around the edges. Cool completely before cutting.
  • Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. These can be frozen in a single layer in a resealable plastic bag or plastic container.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1bar | Calories: 253kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 188mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 17g
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate

Click here to see more of my ULTIMATE COCONUT recipes!

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Sweets from friends:
Nutella Magic Bars by Roxana’s Home Baking
Snickerdoodle Seven Layer Cookie Cups by Beyond Frosting
Reese’s Oreo Magic Cookie Bars by Something Swanky



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

4 from 4 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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87 Comments

  1. Literally people rave about these every time I make them. The most recent time I was the only person who left with no bake goods to a bring your own dish event. They are crowd favorites for real.

  2. These Samoa Magic Bars really are magic! Every time Iโ€™ve brought them to a pot luck, I get requests for the recipe. Since I didnโ€™t want to run out to the store for the caramels, I substituted some toasted slivered almonds. And I absolutely loved them, so this is the one change I always make now!

  3. This recipe looked amazing but I was very disappointed in these cookie bars that I was hoping to share with family and neighbors. Of the 82 responses I could only find one person who actually made this recipe. I followed the recipe exactly and unfortunately the shortbread is dry and crumbly and does not adhere to the gooey stuff on top. I went back and looked at the recipe to see if I missed something but I hadn’t. I found a VERY similar recipe to this on another blog that was twice the butter but only 2 1/4 cups flour. Almost a cube per cup. I looked at several shortbread recipes and found they also used just about a cube per cup of flour. So the problem with this recipe is there is not enough butter-or there is too much flour. Also this recipe uses white sugar but there would be a richness in using brown sugar like many other similar recipe calls for. So if anyone makes this I would suggest more butter-extra butter never hurts!

    1. I’m sorry that happened! I do know that with shortbread crusts like this one, it takes a long time mixing for it to come together. If you’re using a hand mixer it will take awhile!

  4. Havenโ€™t made these yet but intend on doing them soon! We had a question on the carb count said 1 but my daughter and I totaled up the carb ingredients and we cane up with 34.5 carbs per bar! Is this correct! Iโ€™ll let you know how they come out! Making these for 4 of July! Thx

  5. Thank you for sharing this recipe they are easy to make and delicious only thing different that I did was I used homemade caramel sauce