Those dang Girl Scouts, amirite?! My husband loves the Samoa cookies and I’ve been trying to recreate them at home for him so he doesn’t have to wait until it’s Girl Scout cookie season. To be honest, I’ve been struggling with an actual cookie and was going to throw in the towel all together. Then I was like, duh, Hailey, just make them into a bar. So. much. easier.
You know I love an easy dessert recipe and these are definitely easy. The hardest part is making the short bread, which is really NBD. I used premade caramel sauce because I wanted these to be something I could quickly throw together from ingredients I typically have on hand. I used finely grated coconut, so if you have thicker shredded (unsweetened) coconut I think that would be best – you’ll get more coconut flavor.
So you make the short bread, bake it up, then combine caramel and coconut and layer it on top. Melt some chocolate chips, pour it over and then refrigerate for about an hour until the chocolate is very hard. Then it’s easy to slice!
Keep them stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They are such a treat cold!
If you want thinner shortbread, you can use a bigger pan – just keep an eye out on the browning and you’ll probably want to double the topping so you have enough to cover the surface area!
Homemade Samoa Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread
- 2 sticks cold butter, cubed
- 2 c flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 c sugar
Coconut Filling and Chocolate
- 1 1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 c caramel sauce
- 1 c chocolate chips, melted
- flakey salt, such as Maldon, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Line 8×8 pan with parchment and butter or spray parchment, set aside.
- Combine butter, flour, salt and sugar in a stand mixer with dough hook attachment. Work until a ball of dough forms (be patient, it will happen!).
- Press shortbread dough into prepared pan. Bake 45 minutes until sides are slightly golden.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool until you can easily touch the pan and shortbread.
- Meanwhile, combine coconut and caramel. Spread evenly over the cooled shortbread.
- Melt chocolate chips; pour over shortbread/coconut caramel evenly. Top with flaky salt if using.
- Chill an hour or until chocolate is hard. Slice into desired size. Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Enjoy chilled!
