Homemade Samoas Bars

It's that time of year again where we all are ordering those delicious Girl Scout cookies. I tend to have a few favorites that I buy hoards of each year. I end up throwing them in my freezer and we try to slowly eat them. That doesn't happen very often, the slowly part. Girl Scout cookies never last very long in my house.

One of my family favorites is the Samoa cookies. You know those cookies with the chocolate bottom and the coconut caramel topping. Whenever we have those in the house we practically fight over them. Someone is always accusing someone else of eating the whole box.

Now I think I've found a recipe that is pretty close to the famous Girl Scout cookie. It is in the form of a bar instead of a cookie, but they are still yummy none the less. I found this particular recipe on Baking Bites and she does have other mock Girl Scout cookie recipes. This one just happen to also be a bar recipe.

The only issue I had with this bar was the cookie part was a little crumbly. I had a really hard time with the dipping of the chocolate bottom, so I kind of just spread chocolate on the bottom. I'm thinking that I shouldn't have baked the bottom quite so long. I think my oven is just a little bit hotter.

Now this recipe will no way deter one from purchasing a box of cookies from your local Girl Scout, but it sure might help the time pass quicker as you wait for your order. It also might help you make through those times that you are craving them, but have none left in the freezer. So still put your cookie order in and in the mean time bake up a batch of these and enjoy.

Homemade Samoas Bars
1/2 C sugar
3/4 C butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 C flour
1/4 t salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9 X 13 baking pan. 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 prepared 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 C shredded coconut
12 oz caramels
1/4 t salt
3 T milk
10 oz dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)
Preheat oven to 300 F. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet 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.
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 into a bag or ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.