Samoas Cookie Bars

I love me some delicious girl scout cookies, and samoas have ALWAYS been my absolute favorite. After seeing a post by Michelle at All Home Cooking. All Year Long where she made homemade thin mints and trying the recipe myself (they were wonderful!), I decided to search for a samoas clone.

Knowing how much hard work goes into the samoas, I was delighted to find that there was a bar version!

Samoas Cookie Bars - Shared from Baking Bites

Shortbread Crust Ingredients:

• 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

Crust Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch 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. Pour crumbly dough into baking 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 Ingredients:

• 3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
• 12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp milk
• 10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli and it was delicious)

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.

Makes 30 bar cookies.

Note: You can simply drizzle chocolate on top of the bars before slicing them up if you’re looking for yet an easier way to finish these off. You won’t need quite as much chocolate as noted above, and you won’t quite get the Samoas look, but the results will still be tasty.