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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 taste 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 flavor 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 layer of 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 sweetened 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 melted chocolate chips, 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 in the freezer 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 post was originally published on December 10, 2021
What am I doing wrong? The filling didn’t get hard like caramel so the top of the pretzel doesn’t stick to the bottom. It is impossible to dip the pretzels together wth the sandwich filling without it falling apart.
Hi Margaret,
Was there anything you adjusted in the recipe? The caramel shouldn’t be hard, it should just be sticky. Let me know how I can help! xTieghan
Could you make the coconut/caramel mixture then dip in chocolate the next day? Or will the caramel mixture be too solid to work with?
Hi Kelie,
Sure, you could do that, although I’m not sure why:) If you can make them all at once I would do the chocolate can set. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
My second time making these and they turned out just as awesome as the first time. I am gluten free so I use GF pretzels which are not square. No matter! They are a little smaller but it just makes more! I did the coconut and assembly late at night.Stuck them in the freezer and because I was tired I dipped them the next day. This time I used salt and a bit of Christmas sprinkles. Thank you for the delicious recipe.
Hey Tia,
Happy Holidays!! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it turned out well for you!🎁🎅
Let’s start out with I love to cook and I love MOST of your recipes. This was an absolute mess! First you have to make caramel which is difficult (cue GBBO!). Then putting the hot to warm coconut mixture between pretzels was a mess. Then I wonder if I should have put coconut oil or something in with the chocolate to make it dip better. My husband took them to work and they love them but I won’t be making them again. You win some you lose some.
Hi Jenny,
So sorry you did not enjoy this recipe, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
Can these be frozen?
Hi Emily,
You bet! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
These are so delicious, but the chocolate was really messy/melting if it’s at room temp. I also had a hard time making the coconut look pretty and contained between the two pretzels. But all in all great taste!
Hey Anna,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
I made these cookies and they are soooo good! I just need help with two things… I opened my canned coconut milk and the cream was at the top… do you mix it all together first or just use the liquid on the bottom?
Last question… melting chocolate is a struggle until I used hot heavy cream and added the chocolate chips to melt. Is that how you do it? Do you have a heavy cream to chocolate chip ratio?
Thank you!!!!
Hey Jo,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Yes, most coconut milk is like this, you just need to mix it up. I do not use chocolate chips for melting, I would recommend a bar next time. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Hi!
I’m wondering how long can these stay frozen before going bad?
Thanks so much!
Hi Maggie,
I would say up to 3 months. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
I can’t find any mini waffle pretzels! I’ve checked several grocery stores…any substitutions?
Hi Deena,
You could use pretzels twists, they will just be in a different shape:) Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Hi Can these be left out of the fridge once done? Thx -Amiee
Hi Amiee,
You will want to store these in the fridge:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give them a try! xTieghan
Re: instances where the caramel seizes-up: try adding milk & butter that is room temp or warmer. In my experience, if you add cold milk to the melted sugar, the sugar will solidify.
Thanks for the tip Dani!
Made these the other night. You have to be very patient with the sugar and then again after adding the coconut milk. It clumps up, but eventually evens out. After I made the little sandwiches, I wet my fingers in a bowl of water and shaped the coconut mixture between the pretzels to make a more consistent shape. I toasted the coconut (I used sweetened) in the oven at 350 for 5-7 mins, stirring it every few mins. They were amazing. I received many complements. Perfect mix of salty, sweet, chewy and crunchy!
Hey Claire,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
I read the comments and for those struggling with the sugar, butter coconut milk step, we let the sugar sit on medium low heat and stirred only when the sugar starts to melt.
I have a video but can’t attach it.
Thanks for trying the recipe Tracey!
Was wondering if you could just use already made jarred caramel and mix with the coconut since people seem to be having issues with making the caramel. And about how much do you think you would need.
Hey Linda,
Sure, that will work well, I would use 3/4 cup! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Never have I ever seen a recipe and ran to the store for ingredients so fast! These are surprisingly easy to make and so. freaking. delicious!! I plan on keeping a freezer stash so I can take one (or 5) out for a treat whenever I want. I did have to melt more chocolate to do a single coat because I’m messy like that. But they were worth every second it took to make these – thank you, Tieghan!
Hey Christina,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe out, I am thrilled to hear that it was enjoyed. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Could definitely use a temp to take the caramel to. It goes from golden to burnt quickly. Batch two was better but definitely seized after we added Coconut milk. Coconut mixture did not firm up well. Hard to make these neat. Far cry from yours, but appreciate the idea. Good news was I made your easy sliced salted pecan Sandies next and those turned out beautifully!
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try Jennifer! Sorry, I do not know the exact temp for the caramel, it just needs to be watched closely. xTieghan
My chocolate didn’t melt right. It was too thick to dip. I’m wondering how I could get it to dipping consistency? Any suggestions?
Hi Sharon,
It’s important to use a chocolate bar, I like Chocolove or Lindt. I hope this helps for next time! xTieghan
I tried making the Caramel 4 times and it either seized or crystallized every time, I tried watching videos on tips and reading blogs about how to avoid it, but it happened every time. Any suggestions? This looks amazing
Hi Lora,
So sorry to hear this! My guess is you are cooking too quickly and on too high of heat. You need to use a medium size pot and go medium heat and be patient with it. Let it melt around the edges then, stir and let it melt again. I only stir it 3-4 times probably. Just take is slow and never get too high with the heat. I hope this helps! xTieghan
I tried it 8 times with various size pots and skillets and it happened every single time no matter how low the heat was…. sadly given up ?
I have tried making this twice and I keep messing up the caramel and I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong! 🙁 I melted the sugar and the added the butter and when I add the coconut milk the caramel hardens up and I can’t mix it together ???
I don’t think that indicates that you messed up! That happened to me too, and I think it’s normal. You have to stick with it (har har) and stir until the seized sugar melts into the liquid. I may be wrong and could have made teeth breakers myself, but I think you’re fine.
I have tried the caramel twice now and followed your tip the 2nd time. Mine is not thickening up even though the sugar is melted.
Hi Sarah,
So sorry to hear this! It’s really key to allow everything to melt slowly and over medium heat, no higher. If your ingredients are melted on too high of heat it won’t work. Just be patient with it. I hope this helps for next time! xTieghan