Easy Girl Scout Samoa Bars

Shortbread Cookie
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
up to 2 TBSP milk

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.

Roll the dough out on a flat cookie sheet with a piece of wax paper between the dough and rolling pin to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less). Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookies are set.

Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
Caramel
1 heaping cup dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300 F. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 10 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler (or microwave). Spread a thin layer of chocolate on the top of the cookie crust and place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to cool completely.

Warm caramel, then fold in toasted coconut with a spatula. Using a small offset spatula, spread topping over cooled chocolate. Cut into 1x2 inch bars. Freezes well.



*****
My sister in law had a great idea to make these cookies into bars. I made a batch this weekend and they were so fast and easy. Very easy to roll onto the cookie sheet, easy to assemble and easy to cut. If you aren’t looking for a look-a-like Samoa cookie but want the taste, I would highly suggest these bars.
You may find that you need to adjust the caramel/coconut amounts depending on how thin you roll out the shortbread. I needed all of the caramel and only 1 ½ cups of coconut but my sister in law needed extra of both caramel and coconut.
Recipe adapted from www.bakingbites.com