Friday, February 3, 2012

Girl Scout Cookies: Samoas!


SAMOAS!!!
What time of the year is it?! GIRL SCOUT cookie time, that’s what! Except I didn’t feel like waiting till Spring to get my snack on, so I spent my day off making my favorite Girl Scout cookie….the beloved Samoas! Humongous in size and sweet with delight, just one of these cookies will leave you feeling satisfied :)
XOXO....little j Y
  
Girl Scout Cookies: Samoas!
*Adapted from: the little epicurean
Makes about 26 cookies

Cookie Dough:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 Tbsp whole milk

Coconut Caramel Topping:
2-3 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
1 cup granulated sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup heavy cream
pinch of salt

Dipping Chocolate:
1 bag dark cocoa candy melts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder salt, vanilla, and milk. Add in a sprinkle of flour if dough comes out too sticky.  Cover dough with saran wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes.

After chilled, roll out dough to desired thickness. Cut into 2-3 inch rounds then place onto the baking sheet. Cut a smaller hole out of the center. {Get creative if you don’t have cookie cutters lying around the house. I used a water bottle cap to make the holes!} Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

For the topping, keep oven at 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with layer of coconut. Bake until lightly toasted, occasionally stirring to keep from burning. Set aside to cool.

In a medium-sized saucepan, melt sugar on medium high heat. As sugar begins to melt, reduce heat to medium. Stir as needed with a whisk until sugar liquefies and turns amber brown. Add butter to pan and whisk until melted. Remove pan from heat. Whisk in the cream until combined. Reserve about 1/3 cup of the caramel sauce and set aside. Stir the toasted coconut into the rest of the caramel sauce in the pan until thoroughly incorporated.

Assembling the Cookies:

#1 Spread cooled shortbread cookie with thin layer of reserved caramel sauce.
#2 Add layer of coconut caramel topping. Set aside to harden.
#3 Melt dark cocoa candy melts according to instructions on bag, then dip bottom of cookie into melted chocolate. Flip cookie upside down to let chocolate harden and cool.
#4 Once chocolate bottom has cooled, flip cookies back over with the coconut-side up. Drizzle leftover chocolate over cookies using piping bag or zip lock bag with small tip cut off the end. Let chocolate cool.
TA-DAAAA!

7 comments:

  1. :)) the coconut topping on these is sooo addicting

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  2. Hi Little J! I have a surprise for you on my blog - hope to see you there!! :)

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  3. OMG! (I very rarely use that word, haha!), this might just be the most amazing and beautiful thing I have ever seen! These look absolutely perfect! Believe it or not I don't remember ever having a Samoa cookie before, but I sure want to try one :) I'm glad to have found blog, hope you have a wonderful day!

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  4. I believe I'm in love with this recipe.

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