OK, Girl Scout cookies only come around once a year in the states. So come on, how often do you think they come around in Japan? Extremely rare commodity, I just had my first taste in five years. Shanita gave me a box of the originals a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, she gave them to me right in front of two other American friends, so I did what I had to do, I split my loot three ways. That left me with five precious, perfect samoas. Shoulda been one for each family member, right? Wrong. Naturally, I ate all five. (Yeah, Andrew was pretty upset when he found the empty box.) Well, it still didn’t satisfy me and I was feeling more than a little guilty. How can my kids have a childhood devoid of Girl Scout Cookies? Of Samoas? Not only is it un-American, it’s just plain wrong. Luckily, these babies more than made up for it. The recipe (from Baking Bites) is spot on, I can honestly say they were probably better than the real thing. I shared them with my American friends and their kids too. However, these woulda sent my Japanese friends into a sugar coma for sure.
Homemade Samoas
Calorie estimate: 230/bar
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
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)
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. 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 and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.
