Homemade Samoa "Satan" Cookies

       Ok, I now officially realize why the Girl Scouts of America only sell the damn cookies and not bake them. These things took forever. Seriously, I swear I developed my first gray hair while making these. Although it took awhile to finish the little guys, they were absolutely delicious! Homemade shortbread cookie, delectable caramel-coconut topping, and sweet chocolate dip and drizzle really helped me gain an extra five pounds this week (I tried to convince myself it was just the weight of my new gym shoes, but who am I kidding?). Basically, if you want a baking challenge that will be well worth it in the end, this is the cookie for you.

      I have been lusting after this recipe for about as long as I have been lusting after Ryan Lochte, which is actually only about two months but still a serious fantasy of mine. Although it is not included in the "ingredients list", I strongly recommend starting with 16 oz. of wine. (For you of course, not the cookies). However, for the rest of this recipe, I suggest just sticking to what's listed. That is unless you find yourself needing more wine. 

Homemade Samoa Cookies:

Cookie:

• 1 c. softened butter
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. milk (I only used 1/2 tbsp. fat-free milk)

Coconut-Caramel Topping:

• 3 c. shredded or flaked sweetened coconut 
• 12-14 oz. caramel (I originally used 12 oz. but I ran out of topping and had to make more)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. milk 
• 8 oz. semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (I use a combination of both)

Directions: 

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2.  Cream together butter and sugar, then mix in the flour, baking powder and salt at low speed. Next, add in the vanilla extract and the milk, but only as needed. Dough should be soft, not sticky. If dough is too sticky, add some more milk until consistency is met. I ended up using just 1/2 tsp. of fat-free milk.
3.  Roll out the dough so that it is about 1/4 in. thick. (Honestly, who measures this? Just eye-ball it to whatever thickness you want and you'll be fine). Use a 1 1/2 in. round cookie cutter. Since I don't own any fancy equipment, I used the rim of a drinking glass. Next, create a small hole in the middle of the cookie. Again, I don't have the proper cookie cutters that many snazzy blogs have, so I used the bottom of a round pastry tip. It worked well until I realized I have no spatial awareness and all my cookies resembled the eyes of people in a Picasso painting. 
4. Place cookies on an un-greased baking sheet about 1 in. apart. Bake cookies 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are slightly browned. Transfer to parchment paper or wire cooking rack to cool completely. 
5. Place coconut in a pan on low heat and begin toasting coconut until golden brown. I learned quickly that coconut burns faster than hair left in a hot iron, so watch the pan carefully. 
6. DRINK MORE WINE. This is where you will need it.
7.  Unwrap the caramels (or enslave small children or willing friends to complete this for you). Place in a microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt and cook on high for 2-3 minutes or until smooth. Then, mix in the toasted coconut. 
8. When cookies are completely cooled, place about 2-3 tsp. of topping on each cookie. If caramel becomes too stiff, reheat. This step nearly killed me. It is difficult to place topping on the shortbreads because of the consistency. To aid in this process, I lightly spritzed oil on my spoon and fingers so that the caramel wasn't too sticky. 
9. Once topping is placed on each cookie, let stand for about 20 minutes until the ingredients set and harden. Melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl with a bit of milk. Heat on high for 30 second intervals until the chocolate is smooth and creamy. Dip the base of every cookie into the chocolate. Be sure to wipe the saliva from your mouth. I flipped my cookies upside down so that the chocolate side faced upwards. 
10. Once the dipped side of the cookie completely cools and hardens, flip over and drizzle remaining chocolate over the cookies in a horizontal fashion. 
11. Store in a container. Can refrigerated if needed.  
12. Yields around 24 cookies

      

          After about four hours of nearly wanting to give up and throw the cookies on my neighbor's lawn, I finished! It is time consuming, but after that first bite everything was worth it. I'm not a huge fan of children (Yes, I know), so now I have the perfect solution when it comes to obtaining Girl Scout cookies. No more hunting down that one person in the office with order sheets, or having to answer the door for the little girls in green hats when you're watching an "America's Next Top Model" marathon. Finally, Samoas right at your fingertips!

         Original recipe found at Rumbly in my Jumbly.Thanks a bunch for sharing.

    Number of Pinterest recipes conqured: 1
    I declare this recipe a: laborious success