Thursday, April 15, 2010

Samoas Bars

My all time favorite Girl Scout cookies are the Samoas. I also like the Thin Mints, but if I had to choose, I think I would choose the Samoas.

I came across this recipe on Baking Bites and just had to try them out. They were sooo good! I actually took some into work the other day, and they were gone very quickly! Everyone loved them. I admit though, they are kind of time consuming, but were well worth it!


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Samoas Bars

Cookie Base:
-- 1/2 cup sugar
-- 3/4 cup butter, softened
-- 1 large egg
-- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-- 2 cups all purpose flour
-- 1/4 tsp salt

First, make the crust. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Topping
-- 3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
-- 12-oz good-quality chewy caramels (or I found some baking caramels in the baking aisle which worked out just fine, no need to unwrap!)
-- 1/4 tsp salt
-- 3 tbsp milk
-- 10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300. 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. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

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. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled. When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).

Once bars are cut, 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 bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper (actually I just spread the chocolate onto the base, the shortbread bottom was a little crumbly so it was easier to just spread; I then turned the bars upside down onto a baking rack).

Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off (wonderful idea!!) and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish. Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 30 bar cookies. (although I cut mine into larger bars and got 16 bars)

1 comment:

  1. yum!! i love meeting other girls who love to bake!! i think i actually like baking more than i like eating the baked good!

    ReplyDelete