Homemade Samoas

It's Girl Scout Cookie time!!  I certainly buy my fair share of Samoas and Thin Mints, but when I saw this recipe on the internet recently, I just had to try it.  The website I was reading also had a recipe for Thin Mints, so I'll surely try that soon too!    Don't these look scrumptious!!

I'll not lie.  This is a time-consuming recipe.  But if you're like me, you *like* this kinda messy fun!!

Homemade Samoas

Shortbread:

            1 cup butter, softened             2 cups flour

            ½ cup sugar

            ¼ tsp. baking powder

            ½ tsp. salt

            ½ tsp. vanilla extract

            2 Tbsp. milk

Topping:

           

            3 cups shredded coconut, toasted

            1 bag caramels (16 oz), unwrapped

            ¼ tsp. salt

            3 Tbsp. milk

            12 ounces semisweet chocolate or milk chocolate chips

            1 Tbsp. shortening

Also needed:  

            Two round cookie cutters, one smaller than the other, to cut a round cookie with a hole in the middle.

Prepare shortbread dough:   Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and milk and beat until combined.  Dough will seem dry.  Form into a flat disk with your hands and refrigerate wrapped in wax paper for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Roll half of the shortbread dough between two sheets of wax paper to about 1/8-1/4 inch thickness.  Cut with cookie cutters.  Place on cookie sheets with ½ inch between each.  (Dough will puff some, but not spread.)  Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden.  Cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.   Repeat with remaining dough.  Reroll scraps and refrigerate again if dough seems too soft .

Prepare topping:   melt unwrapped caramels, salt, and milk in a microwave safe bowl, on high for 1 minute.  Stir and microwave again in 30 second to 1 minute intervals, stirring between, until caramels are melted and smooth.  Stir in toasted coconut.

Using an offset spatula, spread coconut-caramel topping on cookies.  Return to wire rack to cool.  Repeat with all cookies.

Line cooled cookies sheets with wax paper.

Prepare chocolate:   in a medium sized bowl, melt together chocolate chips and shortening, in microwave, on high, for 1 minute.  Stir and heat again for 30 second intervals until smooth.

Dip bottoms of cookies into the melted chocolate and allow excess to drip off.  Place on wax-paper lined cookie sheets to cool.  Once you’ve dipped all the cookies, pour remaining melted chocolate into a Ziploc baggie.  Snip off the tip of one corner.  Drizzle chocolate on tops of cookies.

You may want to refrigerate cookie sheets to help set the chocolate.  Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!!