Homemade Samoas Cookies

Photo Credit: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com

Homemade Samoas Cookies

Original Recipe: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/09/23/pumpkin-cream-cheese-bars/

Ingredients:

• 1 lb sweetened coconut, toasted
• ½ cup of confectioner sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 11oz. bag of Kraft Caramels
• Chocolate Pouring Sauce (Recipe Below) and double it

Chocolate Pouring Sauce:

• 2/3 cups dark chocolate
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
• 4-5 tablespoons water, warm

Directions:
Chocolate Pouring Sauce:

Place chocolate and heavy cream in a bowl over simmering water. Let chocolate and cream sit for 2-3 minutes to melt without stirring. Then slowly stir mixture to combine. Add powdered sugar and mix to combine. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition until pouring consistency is reached. Set aside and let sauce cool to warm.

Samoas Cookies:

1. Place coconut on bakesheet and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 10-minutes. Make sure to stir the coconut half way through.
2. Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour and beat until combined. Place dough in refrigerator and chill for 20 minutes.
3. Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out the dough to an 1/8 of an inch in thickness. Using a two inch round cookie cutter stamp out cookies and for the center use the wider end of a piping tip if you don’t have a small enough cookie cutter.  Place stamped out cookies on parchment lined bakesheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire rack.
4. Place caramel squares in a medium size sauce pan over medium heat to melt. Once the caramel bits are completely melted  reserve ½ a cup of mixture in a shallow bowl; set aside. Add the toasted coconut to the remaining caramel mixture.  Fill a shallow pan with hot water and place saucepan filled with the finished caramel coconut  in it to keep the mixture at spreading consistency. Reheat mixture as needed to maintain spread consistency during assembly.

Assembly:

Dip tops of cookies into the reserved caramel bowl. This will help the sticky caramel coconut mixture to quickly adhere to the cookie. Place cookie on a flat surface and using an icing spatula or butter knife spread caramel coconut mixture on to the cookie. If necessary, use a spoon to guide the caramel coconut spread off the icing spatula and on to the cookies. Let cookies rest for 30 minutes before dipping the bottoms in chocolate and drizzling the striping on top.