It’s that time of year again: Girl Scout Cookie season! If you’ve stocked up on boxes, here’s a fun idea—Girl Scout Cookie cakes. We’re sharing three show-stopping cakes inspired by classic cookies. Each cake captures the cookie flavor in the cake and filling, and uses the cookies as decoration. Ready to track down your neighborhood Girl Scouts and get baking?
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Samoa Cake
This Samoa cake is coconut-forward: a coconut-flavored layered cake with crushed Samoas folded into the filling, swirled with dulce de leche, frosted in vanilla buttercream, and finished with toasted coconut and whole Samoas on top.
Samoa Cake
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 2 cups butter, softened
- 4 cups sugar
- 8 eggs, room temperature
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons coconut flavoring
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 5 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, divided
- 1/2 cup dulce de leche or thick caramel sauce
- 2 boxes Samoas
- For the buttercream:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Purple food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour four 7-inch round pans and line the bottoms with parchment.
- Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir coconut flavoring and vanilla into the buttermilk.
- Add one-third of the dry mixture to the creamed butter and sugar, mix, then add half the buttermilk. Repeat until combined. Fold in 1/2 cup shredded coconut.
- Divide batter between pans and bake 40–50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Spread remaining 1/2 cup coconut on a baking sheet and toast at 350°F for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Cool.
- For the buttercream: Cream butter and shortening, then gradually add powdered sugar. Add milk, vanilla, and food coloring as desired, and mix until smooth.
- To assemble: Roughly chop one box of Samoas. Place the first cake layer and spread about 1/4 cup frosting on top. Sprinkle one-third of the chopped cookies in the center, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Drizzle some dulce de leche over the cookies. Repeat for the remaining layers, then frost the outside of the cake with the purple buttercream. Decorate with whole Samoas and toasted coconut along the top edge.
Next up is the Tagalong cake, a favorite for peanut-butter-and-chocolate lovers. It’s a rich chocolate cake with smooth peanut butter frosting, filled with chopped Tagalongs, then topped with chocolate ganache and more cookies.
Tagalong Cake
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 2 cups hot water
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 boxes Tagalong cookies
- For the buttercream:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For the ganache:
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour three 8-inch pan bottoms and line with parchment.
- Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time.
- Whisk cocoa powder into the hot water.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Add one-third of the dry mix to the creamed mixture, mix, then add half the cocoa mixture. Repeat until combined.
- Divide batter between pans and bake 40–50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- For the peanut butter buttercream: Cream butter, shortening, and peanut butter. Gradually add powdered sugar, then milk and vanilla, mixing until smooth.
- To assemble: Roughly chop one box of Tagalongs. Place first layer, spread about 1/4 cup frosting, sprinkle one-third of the chopped cookies in the center leaving a 1/2-inch border. Repeat for remaining layers and frost the outside of the cake. Chill at least 2 hours.
- Make the ganache: Heat cream until just below boiling, pour over chocolate chips, let sit for a few minutes, then whisk smooth. Cool slightly and pour warm ganache over the chilled cake so it drips down the sides. Top with more chopped Tagalongs in the center.
Finally, the Thin Mint cake combines chocolate and mint: a chocolate cake infused with peppermint, layered and filled with chopped Thin Mints, frosted with mint buttercream, and decorated with whole Thin Mints.
Thin Mint Cake
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 2 cups hot water
- 1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 boxes Thin Mint cookies
- For the buttercream:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 drops peppermint extract
- Mint green food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour three 8-inch pans and line bottoms with parchment.
- Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time.
- Whisk cocoa powder with hot water and the peppermint extract.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Add one-third of the dry mix to the creamed mixture, mix, then add half the warm cocoa mixture. Repeat until combined.
- Divide batter between pans and bake 40–50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- For the buttercream: Cream butter and shortening, then gradually add powdered sugar. Add milk, vanilla, peppermint extract, and food coloring as desired; mix until smooth.
- To assemble: Roughly chop one box of Thin Mints. Spread about 1/4 cup frosting on the first layer, sprinkle one-third of the chopped cookies in the center leaving a 1/2-inch border, and repeat for the remaining layers. Cover the cake with mint frosting. Pipe a decorative border along the top edge and place whole Thin Mints on top of the piped frosting.
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Photos by Kelly Mindell | Recipe by Theresa Rountree
Every one of these cakes is indulgent in its own way. Which cookie cake is your favorite? And yes, those cookies have different names depending on the brand—Samoas are often also called Caramel deLites, and Tagalongs are sometimes known as Peanut Butter Patties—but whichever name you use, the results are delicious.
p.s. I love you more than Girl Scout Cookies.