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Salted Samoas Pretzel Presents. Sweet coconut caramel, sandwiched between pretzel “cookies”, then dipped, dunked, and drizzled in sweet chocolate. Every last bite has a note of vanilla with sweet coconut, and extra chocolate. Salty-sweet, and so DELICIOUS. Absolutely nothing not to love about these fun and easy Samoas inspired chocolate presents. Perfect for eating and holiday gifting.
When one idea fails, turn to another…and be presently surprised with how it turns out. Today’s post was meant to be something entirely different, but here we are with these sweet little bites of chocolate and coconut!
My original idea for today was a major fail, so I pivoted to these presents. And I could not love them more.
These cookies are inspired by the very popular Samoas Girl Scout cookies. But with my little holiday twist, that honestly, I think makes them better. It’s the pretzels, they add a nice salty crunch that keeps everyone wanting more.
These are so easy and perfect for packaging up as gifts or simply to have out at a holiday party. Great to pop in your mouth for a sweet little bite.
The base starts with a pretzel. Then add a homemade coconut caramel mix, top with another pretzel, dip into chocolate, and top with flaky sea salt. Simple and so cute.
Here are the details
Traditional Samoas cookies start out with a shortbread cookie, which is delicious, but I wanted to swap the cookies for pretzels. I love the saltiness along with the chocolate and coconut.
Next up, the coconut caramel. Melt sugar on the stove until it caramelizes, then add butter and coconut milk to create a coconut caramel sauce. Then finish it up with vanilla and sea salt.
Once the sauce is made, stir in lots of shredded toasted coconut. I prefer to use unsweetened coconut, but use what you think you’ll love the most!
Then simply sandwich the caramel mix between two pretzels, dip in the chocolate, and let the chocolate set up.
So easy and delicious.
Yummm. My mom says this recipe might be one of her favorites for the year. She’s a fan of anything with coconut and chocolate.
A couple tips for success…
Tip one, make sure the presents are thoroughly chilled before dipping them into chocolate. This is probably my biggest tip. If the presents are frozen, the chocolate will quickly set up on the bars and be easier to work with. Trust me, freeze the presents, then dip them through the melted chocolate.
Tip two, if you want a thick chocolate-coated present dip your bars once, re-freeze until set (which will only take a matter of minutes), then dip into chocolate again. This is not necessary by any means, but if you love double chocolate, do a double dip.
My initial thought was that these chocolate presents would be great for our Christmas Cookie Boxes. And they are…but they’re also great for so much more. My recommendation – keep these in the fridge all season long to quickly serve to family and friends. Or package them up as gifts and hand them off as gifts.
It’s December and we all need sweet treats! Just one thing…don’t skip that sprinkle of flaky sea salt at the end. Love a good salty-sweet, chocolate dessert.
Looking for other holiday dessert recipes? Here are my favorites:
Brown Sugar Maple Ginger Cookies
Salted Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter Blondies
Chocolate Covered Brown Butter Millionaire’s Bars
Lastly, if you make these Samoas Pretzel Presents be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Salted Pretzel Samoas Presents
Servings: 24 presents
Calories Per Serving: 258 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature, cut into chunks
- 3/4 cup canned coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean powder
- flaky sea salt
- 3 cups shredded coconut sweetened or unsweetened, toasted
- 3 cups mini waffle pretzels
- 14 ounces dark chocolate or semi-sweet, chopped
Instructions
- 1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 2. In a large pot, cook the sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has melted and turns a golden caramel, about 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and add the chunks of butter, whisking until combined. Then, stir in the coconut milk. Return the pot to medium heat and cook the mixture, stirring until the caramel has thickened into a sauce, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from the heat, let cool slightly, then stir in the vanilla and a pinch of salt. 3. Add the toasted coconut to the coconut caramel sauce and stir until coated. 4. Spoon 2 teaspoons of the coconut caramel mix onto each pretzel and then sandwich together with another pretzel, placing each on the prepared baking sheet. Freeze 15-30 minutes.5. Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Use a fork to dip each pretzel into the chocolate, letting the excess drizzle off. Place on the parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze until set, 15 minutes. Drizzle on more melted chocolate, if desired. Sprinkle the tops with sea salt.6. Store in the fridge or in a cool place for up to 2 weeks.
This was a bit of a reach for me to make. Not that it’s extremely hard but it was a challenge for my ‘simple’ cookie/candy making. I have to say, it is now a Christmas favorite for me and my family and I’ll be making it every year. My father-in-law loved them so much that he said, “you could sell these!!” Thank you for sharing.
Hey Mary,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Thanks for your comment! xx
I made these with success (and you do need a LOT more chocolate for dipping) but my question is, how do you get the sugar-butter-coco milk mixture to NOT caramelize and harden together into a heaping mess? That is the trickiest part for me… to not end up with crystalized hard sugary cubes that could break a tooth … please help. I do love these although the effort is real!
Hi Cara,
Thanks for trying this recipe!! It’s really key not to over-cook the caramel, the longer it’s boiled the harder it will become. I hope this helps for next time! xx
Honest review – these are horrible to make. My fingers and pots and pans will never be the same. You’ll need WAY more chocolate then you think and to be honest are a lot of work and time for the outcome. Sorry. Next.
Hi Shellie,
Sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try. Let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
Good idea and tasty. After my caramel seized, I looked at the comments. Since I had all this toasted coconut, I salvaged this by using a small jar of caramel sauce and mixed it with the coconut, as someone else had shared. But the real stroke of genius was this: I lined a 8 inch square pan with parchment paper. Pressed my caramel/coconut mixture into it. Froze it. Then it was so easy to cut it into squares perfectly sized to my waffle pretzels. Sandwiched my treats, refroze and followed dipping instructions. Much easier! Even if you make the caramel from scratch, that’s my recommendation to make them easier to assemble.
Hey Nancy,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear you had some issues, but glad you were able to make it work! xT
Easy to make, took a bit of time to scoop the coconut but totally worth it. I am thinking about trying to adapt this into a pie/tart.
Hey there,
Awesome!! Thanks for giving the recipe a try, I love to hear that it was a hit!! xxT
Yummy! Definitely made more than the recipe predicted. I used the unsweetened coconut and it was plenty sweet enough. QUESTION – my caramel base was too hard. The layer wasn’t soft at all – it was crunchy. I’m guessing I left it on the heat too long. I’ve made many variations of caramel before, and have a temp to go by with those, not just a color. Anyone have a recommendation for temp on a candy thermometer for this? Thanks!
Hey Lyn,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! Sorry to hear about the caramel, I don’t have an exact temp, but yes sounds like it was on the heat for too long:) xxT
My family LOVED these! They will be a new staple in my Christmas baking!
Hi Mindy,
Happy Friday! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
These were a little messy to make definitely a fan favorite in the cookie boxes! I make them again! OK, here are my tips on top of Tieghan’s:
1. my sugar took a lot less time to caramelize. 10 mins could be too long. You must watch and smell carefully. (first cup got a little too brown/bitter and had to start over)
2. after toasting the coconut, break it up into smaller pieces so you have neater finished squares with no rogue strands sticking out!
3. my coconut caramel was a little too soft. Make sure it cooks long enough to hold together when cooled and not pool liquid.(but it still worked)
Thank you for the interesting recipe!
Hey Anne,
Wonderful! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a go! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you! Happy New Year!? xTieghan
I am a first-time commenter, but a long-time fan. Just a note to say these will be an annual addition to my Holiday line up of homemade treats. I have always been a bit hesitant when making anything when caramel sauce is part of the recipe. However, I am so glad I jumped right in and gave myself a chance with this recipe. Delicious is an understatement. I dipped half in dark chocolate and half in semi-sweet, but no matter the “wrapping”, these presents were most definitely a delightful gift.
Hi Julie,
I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xT
We made these as a treat to enjoy, and give out during the holidays. And let me tell you, EVERYONE enjoyed them. They were a hit! Just needed a bit more chocolate then the recipe called for. But we loved them, already planning on making batch #2!
Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Hi Megan,
I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xT
I was craving a shortbread base so I combined this recipe with this recipe.
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/butter-pecan-cookies/
So good!
I didn’t have much trouble with the coconut caramel. Took it slow and stirred in the coconut a little bit at a time.
Hi Brittany,
Thank you so much for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas!?? xT
I made these yesterday and they turned out great! Thanks for another great recipe, Tieghan!
Hi Rebekah,
Happy Holidays! Thank you so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!?? xTieghan
Followed the recipe and as a first timer with making caramel I found it to be fairly simple. Low and slow is the trick! I appreciated the commenters note about having some patience. They turned out beautiful and delicious! I definitely made more than 24 with the recipe. I will keep these in mind for gifts throughout the year! Thanks! Happy Christmas!
Hi Hillary,
Happy Holidays! Thank you so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!?? xTieghan
I was in a hurry and needed a quick chocolate Candy to finish out my gift boxes. I made this, but substituted canned dulce de Leche for the coconut caramel in the recipe. Just mixed a can with the toasted coconut, and smashed it between the pretzels, froze, then dipped in tempered chocolate. My husband said it was his favorite “cookie” I ever made. Thank you, Tieghan, for the inspiration.
Hi Marci,
Happy Holidays! Thank you so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!?? xTieghan
Not for the faint of heart, but they are soooo good. The recipe isn’t hard per se but requires patience. I read through all the comments before attempting and I think if you’d share some of your tips from the comments in the recipe it would help people a lot (you only stir the sugar a couple times, you HAVE to heat it slow, chocolate bars work better than chips, etc). I ran into the same result as others when adding my coconut milk. The sauce turned into a rock and I would probably have given up if I hadn’t seen other people say to power through. Ultimately it melted back down and smoothed out and was just fine. I wonder if some of those who say their final product is rock hard are trying to eat them right out of the freezer? I did that too but let it thaw for a few minutes and it was fine.
Hey Jessi,
Wonderful! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! Happy Holidays!?? xTieghan