Healthy Samoa Cookie Bars!

Healthy samoa cookie bars! If you love girl scout cookies, you're going to love my healthy no bake samoa cookie bars! My samoa cookie recipe is very lightly sweetened and filled with healthy ingredients like almond flour, unsweetened coconut and more!

These healthy samoa girl scout cookies have been one of my toddler's favorite healthy treats for awhile now! This samoa bar recipe is a 100% no bake recipe so it makes THE perfect summer treat when you are craving a cookie!

You can make my healthy samoas either as bar, like in my recipe card below. Or, use a cookie mold and make them as individual healthy samoa cookies. Either way, they are an incredible healthy and delicious treat!

I came across the samoa bars recipe a year or so ago and fell in love with them. Over time I've made substitutions and adjustments to make them just the way I like them and I just had to share the recipe. I hope you love these healthy samoa cookie bars as much as we do!

Love baking and want to truly take your healthy baking up a notch? Read my full No Discard Sourdough Starter Guide for Beginners! You can use sourdough starter in everything from cookies to cakes, breads, and so much more!

ARE SAMOAS GIRL SCOUT COOKIES HEALTHY?

According to the Girl Scout cookie website, here are the ingredients in the always popular classic, samoa cookies:

SUGAR, VEGETABLE OIL (PALM KERNEL, PALM AND
SOYBEAN OIL), ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON,
VITAMIN B1 [THIAMIN MONONITRATE], VITAMIN B2 [RIBOFLAVIN], FOLIC
ACID), CORN SYRUP, COCONUT, SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK (MILK,
SUGAR), CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF SORBITOL, COCOA, GLYCERIN, INVERT
SUGAR, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, CORNSTARCH, SALT, CARAMEL
COLOR, DEXTROSE, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, SOY LECITHIN,
SORBITAN TRISTEARATE, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, MONOCALCIUM
PHOSPHATE), CARRAGEENAN.

How many calories are in a samoa cookie? There are about 75 calories per samoa girl scout cookie.

My question is, why are we letting our young generation not only eat these cookies, but also sell them?!

Samoa Girl Scout Cookie Ingredients

1. The first ingredient is sugar. Pure white sugar is one of the most inflammatory things you can eat!
2. Next we have "vegetable oil" which includes a mix of palm kernel, palm, and soybean oil. All of these vegetable oils are highly processed, refined and extremely inflammatory.
3. Next is "enriched flour", which is terrible for you. Instead of using regular flour, they bleach and strip all the nutrients from the wheat germ, and then add it back in the form of artificially made vitamins.
4. Up next is corn syrup. Another highly refined highly inflammatory terrible for you ingredient.
5. Coconut is on the label which is finally a good for you ingredient that has healthy fats and fiber.
6. After coconut we have sweetened condensed milk. Which is basically another form of inflammatory sugar, and made with non organic milk.
7. Sorbitol, another form of sugar.
8. Cocoa, not cacao, which is a more processed and refined version of pure cacao.
9. Glycerin, another form of sugar.
10. Invert sugar, another form of sugar.
11. Cocoa processed with alkali, another more refined cacao which strips the good nutrients from cacao and raises the pH of it.
12. Cornstarch, one of the top GMO crops in America. Highly inflammatory.
13. Salt. Most likely bleached and refined salt, not real unrefined sea salt.
14. Caramel Color. Which has been linked to raising inflammation and even linked to cancer.
15. Dextrose. Another form of sugar.
16. "Natural and Artificial Flavors." Even natural flavors on an ingredient label is a catch all that companies can use to mask 1000's of chemical additives for flavoring.
17. Soy Lecithin. A soy based additive to increase shelf life of foods.
18. Sorbitan Tristearate. Another additive made from.. sugar.
19. Leavening. Most baking sodas, unless labeled contain aluminum.
20. Carrageenan. Made from red seaweed as a food additive, some people's IBS can flare up from this additive.

20 ingredients in these cookies and only 1 is possibly good for you which is the coconut....

MY HEALTHY SAMOA COOKIE RECIPE INGREDIENTS

A lot of times I get excited when I stumble across a scrumptious dessert recipe that's labelled as healthy.. But then I'm reading the ingredients and there's basically nothing healthy about them! For example they list it as healthy then add refined sugar, refined flour, and sometimes even food dyes.

I love to try to truly make any dessert taste just as delicious but be as healthy as possible!

My no bake samoa cookie recipe is made with all good for you ingredients and just a touch of maple syrup for that sweet cookie taste. If you do like your treats on the sweeter side, double the maple syrup!

Also, you can add other even healthier sweeteners like pureed dates, or raw honey as a direct substitute to the maple syrup in my samoa cookie recipe.

For the healthy shortbread crust:

• 1 cup finely shredded coconut, unsweetened
• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil

For the healthy coconut caramel layer:

• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
• 1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
• ½ cup cashew butter, unsalted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• pinch pink sea salt

Chocolate drizzle:

• ¼ cup extra dark chocolate, chopped
• 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil

HEALTH BENEFITS OF MY SAMOA COOKIE BARS

There's nothing I love more than dessert! But one thing I love even more is when I can make a dessert equally tasty but filled with healthy ingredients. Let me tell you about all the great benefits of the ingredients in my healthy samoa bars!

• Shredded coconut and cashew butter are rich in healthy fats and fiber!
• Almond flour is another excellent source of healthy fats, fiber and plant based protein.
• Coconut oil is rich in medium chain fats which are burned quickly for energy!
• Sea salt has all of its micronutrients intact, rather than bleached salt.
• Dark chocolate is so full of nutrients where to begin! Iron, magnesium, fiber and more!
• Maple syrup while it still should be eaten in moderation, has a micronutrient called manganese.

TIPS TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY SAMOA COOKIE BARS

Use a parchment paper lined pan. This helps so much in getting the samoa bars out of your pan in one piece.

Press cookie crust down firmly. Make sure to press the bottom layer down very firmly so it stays together.

Use cashew butter! I find that peanut butter has an overpowering flavor, so cashew adds a delicious and subtly sweet flavor.

Freeze to set and the pre cut. I like to cut all the bars at once and have them ready to eat for later!

HOW TO MAKE MY HEALTHY NO BAKE SAMOA COOKIE BARS

STEP 1: MAKE THE HEALTHY ALMOND FLOUR SHORTBREAD CRUST

First, mix together a cup of finely shredded coconut, a cup of almond flour, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and a quarter cup of melted coconut oil. Mix well to combine.

Press the mixture to the bottom of a 8 x 8 parchment paper lined pan. Set aside for now while you make the samoa cookie coconut caramel layer.

STEP 2: HEALTHY COCONUT CARAMEL LAYER

In a small bowl, mix together a third cup of pure maple syrup, a cup of shredded coconut, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a half cup of cashew butter and a pinch of sea salt. Mix very well until you achieve a caramel like texture.

Spread your coconut caramel on top of the short bread cookie crust.

STEP 3: DARK CHOCOLATE CARAMEL DRIZZLE

Finally, melt a quarter cup of chopped dark chocolate and two tablespoons of coconut oil in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. Make sure to stir every 30 seconds to prevent chocolate from burning to the bottom of your dish.

Drizzle over the top of your coconut caramel. Place your samoa cookie bars in the freezer to set for about 15 minutes.

Remove from the freezer, cut into bars and enjoy!

I like to cut mine into 9 pieces, but you can cut into whatever size you like. Store covered in the fridge for up to two weeks!

You're going to love these Healthy Cookie Recipes next!

• Healthy Lofthouse Cookies
• Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
• Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Dipped Cookies
• Lemon Zucchini Cookies
• Healthy Coconut Macaroons
• Matcha Macarons
• Healthy Molasses Cookies
• Coconut Flour Cutout Cookies
• Chickpea Cookie Dough (& Chickpea Cookies!)
• Healthy Pumpkin Chickpea Cookie Dough

FAQ's

Frequently asked questions about my healthy samoa cookie bars.

How do I store no bake cookie bars?

Pre-cut the cookies and then place them back in your parchment paper lined pan. Cover tightly and store in your refrigerator for up to a week!

Can I use dates instead of maple syrup?

Definitely! If you're using dates instead, make sure to soak them in hot water for about 30 minutes and then drain the water off. Then, instead of mixing your ingredients in a bowl, you will need to use a food processor to puree the dates into the samoa cookie.

What can I use instead of cashew butter?

You can use any kind of nut butter, like peanut butter or almond butter. Just keep in mind, nut butters like peanut butter has a very strong flavor and you will definitely taste peanut flavor in your samoa cookies.

If you try my Healthy Samoa Cookie Bars Recipe, please let me know your thoughts by leaving a rating and comment below! Ready for more? Subscribe to my newsletter or follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube!