A Samoa Dream...

A recipe for homemade Samoas!! I cannot TELL YOU how happy I am to have stumbled upon a recipe for this magnificent concoction...originally brought to you by mini girl scouts...

I guess I just never though of it myself... my favorite cookie out there, which fyi, also comes in delicious vanilla ice cream brought to you by Edy's, could be made in my very own home!

This divine recipe comes from Sweetly Serendipity, who also blog about other delicious delicacies...

I'll be making these soon...girl scouts honor.

Homemade Samoas (aka Caramel de-Lites)
Cookies
1 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
up to 2 tbsp milk

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
 

2.) In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky. The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.
 

3.) Roll the dough out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less — the thinner the cookies, the crispier they are when baked) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds.

4.) Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. .

Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

1.) Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Be careful not to burn the coconut! Check frequently to make sure it’s not getting too toasted. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

2.) Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. Alternatively, you can melt the caramels with milk and salt on the stove-top  in a saucepan over low-medium heat. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

3.) Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.

4.) While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.

5.) Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.