The Baker Chick

Baking up a delicious life.

Samoa Bars

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Anyone who loves Girl Scout cookies loves Samoas (or “Caramel DeLites” where I grew up.) Since I love the flavors so much, I wanted to create a spin on my old favorite. I had thought about doing a cupcake or even a cheesecake, but in the end I chose a cookie bar.

Now- I must say, this recipe was pretty time consuming. Even though it looked hard, I was sure that it wouldn’t be as hard for me. In fact- I decided to make the caramel from scratch instead of using store bought, thinking I could handle the extra challenge.

Well- two hours into this debacle, after 3 failed batches of caramel and chocolate sauce EVERYWHERE I was ready to throw everything away and scream! Tough this was probably the most frusterated I have ever been while baking….I am SO glad I got it together to finish because they tasted great! I wish someone had a camera in my kitchen to document what a mess I was…

Overall- I am really pleased with the end result. Though these don’t taste exactly like my favorite G.S. Cookie- all the flavors are all represented and they were delicious!

I am posting the exact recipe that I made. The link to the recipe that I (basically) used can be found here- at the blog “Baker Bites.” Unless you are an expert caramel maker, I recommend going that route and just using store-bought.

*I also found that melting chocolate chips in the microwave was not as easy as it should have been. In the future I would either try buying melting chocolate or using a heatproof bowl over a pot of boiling water.

So here it is! Good luck! :)

Print
Samoa Bars
Yield: 30 bar cookies.
 
Ingredients
  • Cookie Base:
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¾ cup butter, softened
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • Topping:
  • 3 cups shredded coconut (I used sweetened)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 6 tablespoons of butter cut into cubes
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla
  • 1 12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in 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 prepapred pan and press into an even layer. (I used the bottom of a flat glass to help with this.)
  3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely before topping.
  4. Reduce 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.
For the caramel:
  1. Melt sugar in a heavy bottomed pan at medium-high head. Whisk it frequently to keep it from burning.
  2. When the sugar turns a dark amber color add the butter and stir until melted.
  3. As soon as it is melted remove from heat and slowly add the cream and vanilla stirring gently.
  4. Once the caramel cools for 10/15 minutes mix it with the toasted coconut. Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled. (I stuck mine in the freezer for 10 mins to speed this along.)
  5. When cooled, cut into 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

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Comments

  4. The one (and only) time I made homemade Samoas, I believe that I cried in frustration! However, yours look so yummy that I might be brave and try again. :)

    Reply

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