Samoas Bars

Dear Girl Scouts,

      Why are your cookies so crazy addictive? 
                     
                       Sincerely,
                             Em&M 

P.S. Also, why are they getting smaller and smaller?!!!!

But seriously. They are really addictive. I think I could eat five of them at once. And then eat ten more.   

To avoid the travesty of the shrinking Girl Scout cookies, a simultaneously shrinking bank account, and get my Samoas/Caramel deLite fix, I began making my own version of the delicious cookies last year.  

Now, getting the Samoas ice cream does help the craving, but these bars really do the job! Of course, you can always cut the dough into cookie shape so it looks more like what comes in the box. 

But being a lazy bum, I've made them into bar form for the easiest and most efficient process!

The process takes some time -you have to wait for things to bake, toast, cool, and cool some more before the final product.  Attempt these when you have a free afternoon or just when you're craving some Samoas and no girl scouts are in sight!

Cookie bottom out of the oven!

Toasted coconut!

An innovative way to cool the cookie bottom a little faster!

Caramel and coconut mixed together!

Dipped in chocolate!

 

Recipe

Cookie base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cup flour

Topping: (in all honestly, I usually just eyeball this part)
3 cup shredded coconut
12 oz caramel
3 tbsp milk
10 oz chocolate


Preheat to 350 degrees and butter a 9 x 13 pan.
In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter together.
Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
Gradually beat in flour until crumbly.
Pour dough into pan and press into an even layer.
Bake 20-25 minutes and cool completely.

Preheat to 300 degrees and spread coconut on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Toast for 20 minutes and stir every 5. Cool completely.

Melt caramel and milk and fold in toasted coconut.
Put dollops of topping on the cookie base and spread. 
Cool in the fridge.
Cut into squares and dip the bottom in melted chocolate. Set on parchment paper for the chocolate to solidify.
Melt more chocolate and drizzle on top. 

Make sure to use a completely dry bowl when melting the chocolate in a microwave! Otherwise, it will seize.  For why chocolate seizes, see here.

 

 

Kay has really gotten me hooked on The Hollywood Reporter with all of its behind the scenes and more business side of movies and TV. In anticipation of the Emmys (wait, it's in September?!!!),  THR has been doing roundtable interviews with showrunners, actors, and actresses in drama or comedy. 

After watching the comedic actors roundtable and the roundtable for actresses in drama, the roundtable for comedic actresses is my absolute favorite. It's really refreshing and so funny to see these actresses interact with each other and answer questions about what they do. 

I loved when Jenna Fischer from The Office answers the question, "what do you find most annoying about the business?" and she replies that she's most annoyed at the Oscars, "the first thing they ask women is 'what are you wearing?'" but that also she cares what the women are wearing.  

Sadly, you'll have to follow the links to enjoy the discussions, but for some good laughs, here's Conan speaking at Dartmouth and Amy Poehler speaking at Harvard. 

Enjoy!

Linked to Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Something Swanky, Sweet Indulgences Sunday, The Sweet Details, Mangia Mondays