My sister loves the coconut delight Girls Scout cookies(formerly called Samoas before that was deemed a problematic name). When I went to the newly opened Levain bakery location in West Hollywood, we basically got one of every cookie on their menu(mostly to justify the 1 hour/30 mile drive to there). One of those cookies was this coconut-caramel-chocolate chip cookie, and it basically was a coconut delight cookie, but in chonky Levain cookie form. For those who have never had a Levain cookie before, they are cookies that are baked in larger balls of dough, at a higher temperature, for a shorter period of time. The end result is this super thick cookie that is almost like cookie dough in the center, but crispy and crunchy around the edges. I personally enjoy them, but a warning, one Levain cookie is basically three cookies mushed into one. So trying to eat one whole Levain-style cookie in a sitting is… well not the wisest unless you want to die from a sugar coma. That being said, it was eating that Levain cookie that gave me inspiration for the perfect birthday gift for my sister – recreating that cookie, but in my own way.

Now the idea to make these gluten-free was not out of necessity, but rather, to impart more of that coconut flavor into the cookie itself. I have made gluten-free Levain cookies before, and I love the texture that baking them with almond flour gives them. It also helps that my sister loves almond shortbread(coincidentally I made a coconut delight/Samoa cupcake years ago that had an almond shortbread base that she LOVES), so going equal parts almond and coconut flour was perfect. The one thing about gluten-free baking, besides adding in xanthan/guar gum to account for the lack of gluten, that you have to be careful about is moisture content. Coconut flour tends to bake really try, so I found that adding in an additional egg to the dough, on top of what I would usually add, worked a treat. Plus, since coconut is such a subtle flavor compared to the chocolate and the caramel, using coconut flour, on top of toasted coconut flakes, was the perfect way to guarantee that the coconut did not get lost in there. With the other two flavors, chocolate chips and a chocolate coating made perfect sense, but the caramel was where I ran into a few issues. And by a few, I mean the only issues when it came to making these cookies successfully.

The idea of baking caramel in a liquid form into those cookies sounded like a recipe for disaster. I tried doing a first batch of these using chewy caramel candies, and while that sounded like the best route to go, what ended up happening was that the candied baked into a rock, and almost broke my tooth when I bit into one of the cookies. So that was a complete wash. However, my back-up plan was two-fold: caramel chips and butterscotch-chocolate toffee bits. The end result was way more pleasant! The caramel chips acted just like a chocolate chip did, and the toffee bits still retained their original texture prior to baking, meaning that they just melted on the tongue and added a pleasant buttery aroma, making for a way better eating experience than the tooth-breaking caramel chews. Overall, it took some tweaking, but we finally have a chocolate-coconut-caramel cookie that really embraces what a Girls Scout Coconut Delight and a Levain cookie embody!

Makes 6 cookies:
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup caramel chips
1/2 cup chocolate-toffee bits
1/4 cup toasted coconut flakes
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cups coconut flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup almond flour
1/4 tsp xanthan or guar gum
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, whip together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and cinnamon until soft and creamy in texture. Mix into that the eggs first. Then mix in the remaining ingredients. Chill down the dough for at least 10 minutes before scooping into 6 balls. Place them on a lined half sheet tray, spacing each ball of dough at least 3 inches apart from the next. Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool down at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before attempting to pick up!

To garnish:
1 cup dark chocolate
Toasted coconut flakes

In a double boiler, melt 3/4 cups of dark chocolate. Take the chocolate off heat and stir in the remaining dark chocolate until fully melted in. Dip the edges of each cookie into the chocolate. Place the cookies on either a parchment or silpat-lined sheet tray and sprinkle coconut flakes on. Transfer to the refrigerator until the chocolate is set.