Sweet Baked Life

It’s that wonderful time of year when girls in our communities are out in full force, wearing green and selling sweets! We love their boxed cookies and are more than happy to support them each and every year. But these big Homemade Girl Scout Samoas Cookies are truly decadent and my family devoured them instantly! It must be because of the irresistible combination of rich sugar cookies, silky sweet chocolate, heavenly coconut and gooey caramel!

Do ya think? Well, this year I decided to make my Samoas cookies in my whoopie pie pan. As if you know me, I am not the kind of person that likes to roll out dough and cut perfect cookies. So, I thought this pan would be a perfect alternative. To make these tasty Homemade Girl Scout Samoas Cookies, you start by making a basic sugar cookie, them you’ll turn your chocolate chips into a hot, sweet chocolate pool to dunk the cookies in, meanwhile you’ll whip up some amazing caramel coated coconut to pile on the top, then of course, you’ll finish them by drizzling more chocolate all over! Not much more to say, but these are truly yummy!

Homemade Girl Scout Samoas Cookies

Sugar Cookie Base:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a whoopie pie pan (mine has 12 openings) with non-stick spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Then a large bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the sugar and butter until fluffy – about 2 minutes.  Beat in the egg and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. At low-speed, gradually add the flour mixture until combined. Note the mixture will be a bit crumbly.

Scoop mixture into each opening and press the dough into the bottom, making sure that there is enough dough to cover the bottom. I used about 2 tablespoons each. Bake for approximately 15-18 mins, until the base is set and they are lightly browned.  Do not over cook, as they will become hard. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to completely cool on wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Chocolate Sauce for Dipping and Drizzling:
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon coconut oil

Place chocolate chips and coconut oil in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 30-second intervals, and stirring in-between to ensure you do not burn the chocolate. When chocolate is melted remove from microwave and stir until smooth. Place cooled cookie on a large fork, then dip the bottoms into the chocolate, tapping to remove excess chocolate. Immediately place on a piece of parchment or wax paper. With the remaining chocolate, pour into a plastic bottle with tip (this will be used to drizzle on top at the end).

Coconut Caramel Topping:
3  cups shredded coconut
24 KRAFT caramels, unwrapped
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons almond milk

Turn your oven down to 300 degrees. Spread coconut evenly on a baking sheet (with sides). Toast about 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside. (Note, you can toast the coconut first before you make the cookies, so it’s ready to go when you put this topping together, that is how I did mine.)

Place the caramels, milk and salt in a large microwave-safe bowl. Cook on high for 2-3 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, remove from oven and fold in the toasted coconut with a spatula. Let cool slightly so it’s easier to work with.

Scoop out approximately 1 tablespoon of the caramel coconut and top each cookie base.  Gently press topping onto base. Repeat until all bases are topped. Then with the chocolate in your plastic bottle, drizzle the chocolate over the tops of each cookie. Let cool completely before eating. These can be stored in an air-tight container (if they last that long!).

Here’s to the girls in green (I was once one of them by the way) for inspiring me to make these Homemade Girl Scout Samoas Cookies!

(Recipe adapted from BakingBites and my previous post)