Giant ‘Girl Scout’ like Samoa Cookies!! You can have them all year round!!

I love Samoas. But, they are only around once a year and are pretty expensive. So, I made some. Mine are MUCH BIGGER than the Girl Scout version! But, taste great.
What a Samoa is: A shortbread cookie, covered in toasted coconut and caramel. Then the bottom is dipped in chocolate and more chocolate is drizzled on the top. Yummy!!
For the cookie, I used my William-Sonoma Cookie Press and recipe for Vanilla Cookies found in the box. You could buy some shortbread cookies if you are short on time or patience.

William-Sonoma Vanilla Cookies
· 2 sticks on softened unsalted butter (I used salted. It’s all I had.)
· 1 cup White Sugar
· 1 egg
· 2 ½ tsp. Vanilla extract
· ½ tsp Salt
· 2 ½ cups of Sifted All purpose flour

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2) In a bowl, combine butter and sugar. Mix on high speed until light and fluffy.
3) Add the egg, vanilla and salt. Beat until well mixed.
4) Add in Flour, a little at a time and mix until just blended.
5) Bake for 14 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown.
 
I used my Cookie press, but you could use a cookie cutter or make snakes and shape them into a wreath. Make sure it’s about ¼ inch thick when you put them in the oven.

I like the wreaths because they are similar to the original. But, the disks were a lot easier to cover.
Next, the Caramel!! You could use 2 bags of good store bought caramel. I used my caramel recipe found here.
Now, to toast the coconut. I used 2 cups of sweetened coconut. I spread it on a pan and placed it in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. You will need to stir it every minute or so. Don’t wait until it is brown to remove it from the oven. It will continue to brown a bit while it’s cooling.

To make the caramel soft and spreadable, I combine the caramel and 4 tablespoons of Evaporated Milk in a microwave safe bowl and heated it up in 30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval. If your caramels are hard, you may need more evaporated milk. I would start with 3 tablespoons and add more if you need it. You want it to be thin enough to spread but too thick to pour (about the consistency of frosting).

You may think it is never going to mix together. Be patience and it will. It took me 4 or 5 intervals to get the mixture nice and smooth.
Once the caramel is warm and spreadable; stir in your two cups of toasted coconut. Now, you are ready to ‘frost’ your cookies! I placed a bit on the peaks of the cookies and allowed the caramel to ooze down the sides.

After the caramel has hardened (it’s still soft but workable), I got my chocolate ready. You could use milk chocolate, dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate. I did a taste test with my family and we found we like a 50-50 mixture of dark chocolate and milk chocolate.
Once I melted the chocolate (I needed 8 oz of milk and 8 oz of dark) in the microwave (50% power for 30 second intervals. Stirring in between each interval), I dipped the bottoms in to the chocolate and placed the cookie on a Silpat, chocolate side down. If you are using wax paper, I would place the cookies chocolate side up and allow to dry. After they are all face up, I used a Ziploc bag, with the corner cut off) to drizzle more chocolate on the top.

Enjoy!! They rock!!

I love Samoas. But, they are only around once a year and are pretty expensive. So, I made some. Mine are MUCH BIGGER than the Girl Scout version! But, taste great.
What a Samoa is: A shortbread cookie, covered in toasted coconut and caramel. Then the bottom is dipped in chocolate and more chocolate is drizzled on the top. Yummy!!
For the cookie, I used my William-Sonoma Cookie Press and recipe for Vanilla Cookies found in the box. You could buy some shortbread cookies if you are short on time or patience.

William-Sonoma Vanilla Cookies
· 2 sticks on softened unsalted butter (I used salted. It’s all I had.)
· 1 cup White Sugar
· 1 egg
· 2 ½ tsp. Vanilla extract
· ½ tsp Salt
· 2 ½ cups of Sifted All purpose flour

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2) In a bowl, combine butter and sugar. Mix on high speed until light and fluffy.
3) Add the egg, vanilla and salt. Beat until well mixed.
4) Add in Flour, a little at a time and mix until just blended.
5) Bake for 14 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown.
 
I used my Cookie press, but you could use a cookie cutter or make snakes and shape them into a wreath. Make sure it’s about ¼ inch thick when you put them in the oven.

I like the wreaths because they are similar to the original. But, the disks were a lot easier to cover.
Next, the Caramel!! You could use 2 bags of good store bought caramel. I used my caramel recipe found here.
Now, to toast the coconut. I used 2 cups of sweetened coconut. I spread it on a pan and placed it in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. You will need to stir it every minute or so. Don’t wait until it is brown to remove it from the oven. It will continue to brown a bit while it’s cooling.

To make the caramel soft and spreadable, I combine the caramel and 4 tablespoons of Evaporated Milk in a microwave safe bowl and heated it up in 30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval. If your caramels are hard, you may need more evaporated milk. I would start with 3 tablespoons and add more if you need it. You want it to be thin enough to spread but too thick to pour (about the consistency of frosting).

You may think it is never going to mix together. Be patience and it will. It took me 4 or 5 intervals to get the mixture nice and smooth.
Once the caramel is warm and spreadable; stir in your two cups of toasted coconut. Now, you are ready to ‘frost’ your cookies! I placed a bit on the peaks of the cookies and allowed the caramel to ooze down the sides.

After the caramel has hardened (it’s still soft but workable), I got my chocolate ready. You could use milk chocolate, dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate. I did a taste test with my family and we found we like a 50-50 mixture of dark chocolate and milk chocolate.
Once I melted the chocolate (I needed 8 oz of milk and 8 oz of dark) in the microwave (50% power for 30 second intervals. Stirring in between each interval), I dipped the bottoms in to the chocolate and placed the cookie on a Silpat, chocolate side down. If you are using wax paper, I would place the cookies chocolate side up and allow to dry. After they are all face up, I used a Ziploc bag, with the corner cut off) to drizzle more chocolate on the top.

Enjoy!! They rock!!