Homemade Samoas

Home. Made. Samoas.  Yes, you read that correctly!  I'm so excited to share this recipe with you!  If you have been waiting for a reason to add a candy thermometer to your kitchen collection, grab one of those prolific Bed Bath & Beyond coupons and head to the store and get one today!  These cookies are quite possibly the best cookies I have ever made. 

I am going to be honest - they might just be better than the ones that come in the purple boxes.  Now, don't get me wrong - I am a sucker for Girl Scout cookies.  I really struggle to pass by a group selling cookies outside of the grocery store or Metro stop.  Is there anyone who can resist?

I was also a Girl Scout once, dragging my cookie deliveries around the neighborhood in the Radio Flyer.  So, naturally, I feel a little bad telling you that these are actually something you can make at home.  Say though, that somehow you missed cookie season or that, like me, you don't have enough freezer space to store a year's supply of cookies and you are capable of eating two boxes of Samoas in one week by yourself.  What are you to do?  Buy some from the Girl Scouts and then make your own of course! 

These cookies are a bit of work, but the end result completely outweighs the effort.  Besides, they are pretty baker friendly in that you can make the cookie one day, smoother it with caramel the next day, and then coat it with chocolate the following day!  In other words, they are perfect.  So, I highly recommend that you put on your favorite apron and get started!  The people you share these with will love them! 

Notes:
Don't be afraid of all of these steps-- homemade Samoas are within your reach!  If you don't have a cookie press, you can scoop out a tablespoon's worth of dough, roll it into a ball, and then flatten the ball to about ½-inch thick with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar.  This dough is very stiff, so I recommend using a manual cookie press for these cookies (my electric cookie press wasn't able to handle the dough).  You will need a candy thermometer to make the caramel.  If you're not up to making your own caramel, you could melt down some high-quality caramels over low-heat and stir in the toasted coconut and extracts.  I haven't tried this though, since I enjoy making caramel.  I imagine that you would maybe need about 1 caramel square per cookie.  If you don't feel like coating the bottom of the cookies with chocolate, you could skip that step, but the cookie won't be as chocolaty.  The cookie press plate I used for these had a hole in the center.  As you can see, the hole ended up being filled in with caramel.  I think the next time I make these, I will probably just use a solid cookie press plate because the hot caramel dripping through the hole made a bit of a mess.  Since these cookies are assembled over several steps, it can be helpful to spread the job out over 2 or 3 days.  By the way, if you're into making your own Girl Scout cookies, you should check out this great recipe for Thin Mints!

Adapted from Great Cookies: Secrets to Sensational Sweets and Creative Candy Making

Cookie Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon coconut extract

Toasted Coconut Caramel:
1½ cups unsweetened coconut flakes, divided use
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup honey
1 cup heavy whipping cream, warmed
4 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon coconut extract

Chocolate Coating and Drizzle:
8½ ounces (~1½ cups) dark chocolate chunks

Yields ~5½ dozen cookies, depending on the size you make them

Sift, Cream, Mix, Press, Bake:
Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy.  Gradually add the sugar and mix for 1-2 minutes until it is fully incorporated.  Scrape down the bowl and beater, add the egg yolk, and mix just until no streaks remain, about 30 seconds.  Add both extracts and beat until they are incorporated.  Add the flour mixture in halves, mixing just until no flour streaks remain.  Scrape down the bowl and beater in-between the flour additions.  Transfer some of the dough to your cookie press, and press out the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 1 inch apart.  Each cookie press is different, so use the instructions that came with your press.  Bake the cookies at 350°F for 8-10 minutes until they are lightly browned, rotating the sheets halfway through.  Allow the cookies to rest on the cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.  If you're not going to coat the cookies with caramel right away, store the cookies in an airtight container in-between layers of wax paper at room temperature.  

Toast, Reserve, Cook, Add, Cook, Add:
Place all of the unsweetened coconut in a large dry skillet, and toast, stirring regularly, until the coconut is lightly browned.  Immediately dump the coconut onto a plate to cool.  Once the toasted coconut has cooled a bit, measure out ⅔ cups and set it aside to use as a topping for the cookies.  (The remaining coconut will be stirred into the caramel later.)  In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the sugar and honey.  Cook over medium-low heat, stirring regularly, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to boil.  Clip the candy thermometer to the side of the pan, and cook, stirring regularly, until the mixture is 250°F (firm-ball stage).  Next, gradually add the warmed heavy whipping cream, stirring constantly.  Add just a little cream at a time so the mixture never stops boiling.  Continue to cook and stir until the mixture returns to 250°F.  Once it reaches the correct temperature, add the butter a tablespoon or so at a time, and then add the remaining toasted coconut (it should equal ½ cup plus ⅓ cup).  You should still have the ⅔ cup of the toasted coconut that you measured out earlier set aside for the cookie topping.  Again, the mixture should never stop boiling.  Continue to cook and stir until the mixture returns to 250°F.  Once it reaches the correct temperature, remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the vanilla and coconut extract.  Allow the caramel to cool for a about 3-5 minutes so that it won't be as likely to burn you when you work with it.  Then move on to spooning the caramel onto the cookies.

Spoon, Dredge, Set:
Pour out the reserved ⅔ cup of coconut onto a plate.  In the 3-5 minute interval, set up your area to assemble the cookies.  I like to have the cookies on my left, the pan of hot caramel right in front of me, the plate of reserved coconut just to the right of the hot caramel, and two cookie sheets lined with Silpat mats (or parchment paper) to my far right.  I use the Silpat mats to make sure that the caramel doesn't stick to the cookie sheets.  Pick up a cookie.  Use an offset spatula or spoon to transfer about 1 teaspoon of the caramel (this will depend on the size of your cookie) onto the top of the cookie.  Smooth the caramel out so that it covers the entire surface.  Immediately place the cookie into the toasted coconut, caramel side down.  Pick up the cookie, gently tap off any excess coconut, and place the cookie caramel and toasted coconut side up onto the prepared cookie sheet.  Repeat with the remaining cookies until all of the cookies or caramel is gone.  The caramel may begin to firm up as you go along.  That is ok.  Just place the pan back on the stove and warm it over low heat until the caramel is more fluid.  By the time you have coated all of the cookies with caramel, more than likely the caramel on the first cookies you coated will have set.  If the caramel hasn't set, take a break for a little bit until it does set.  If you're going to coat these with chocolate the following day, just store the set caramel-covered cookies in an airtight container in between layers of wax paper at room temperature. 

Melt, Coat, Chill Drizzle:
Once the caramel is set, fully melt the chocolate in a double boiler or (very carefully!) in a medium-sized pan over low heat.  Be careful not to get any water or steam into the chocolate or it will seize.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Use an offset spatula or knife to smooth out some chocolate over the bottom of each cookie.  Be sure to fully cover the cookie bottom.  Set the cookie chocolate side up on the cookie sheet.  Once all of the cookie bottoms have been covered, place the trays in the refrigerator to quickly set the chocolate.  Once the chocolate is set (~10-15 minutes), remove the trays from the fridge.  Flip all of the cookies over so the coconut side is up.  Check on the remaining chocolate; if it is still fluid, move on to the next step.  If it has started to firm up, place it back over low heat and warm until it is fluid again.  Spoon the remaining chocolate into a small Ziplock bag, and cut the tiniest bit off one of the corners.  Gently squeeze the bag and pipe stripes or zigzags over the top of each cookie.  Place the trays back in the fridge to set the chocolate stripes.  Once the stripes are set, store the cookies in an airtight container between layers of wax paper at room temperature.  These cookies freeze well.  

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