Copycat Girl Scout Samoas Cookies!

Have you ever just craved your favorite Girl Scout cookies when they are not in season or you just cannot seem to find a local Girl Scout? Well now you do not have to stress anymore. At the comfort of your own home, you can make a copycat version of the famous Girl Scout Samoas cookies.

It's always a great idea to support your local Girl Scouts when you see them, but if we are being honest those boxes never last long.

Sometimes we just need to have our favorite Girl Scout cookies year round. These caramel, coconut, and chocolate cookies are my favorite out of all of them! So here is how to make them at home.

Okay first, you will need to gather all your ingredients to make your shortbread and the delicious caramel, coconut, and chocolate topping for your cookies. Listed below is everything you will need:

To make the shortbread you will need:

• 2 tablespoons (Tbsp) of 2% milk (or your choice of preference)
• 2 sticks of butter
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon (tsp) of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon (tsp) of vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon (tsp) of baking powder (roughly about 2 pinches between your thumb and both index and middle finger)

For your topping:

• 3 tablespoon (Tbsp) of 2% milk (or your choice)
• 1/4 teaspoon (tsp) of salt
• 2 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut shavings, toasted
• 8 oz (1 cup) of semisweet chocolate
• 5 oz of soft caramels ( may need more depending on how many cookies you make) this worked for me

Now, cream together your butter and sugar. This definitely would be much easier with mixer, but if you are like me and do not have one, doing it by hand is what you have to do. Since this is by hand, this is what you need to do. So get those muscles ready to get to work!

First you need to soften the butter:

• Place your butter out on the counter to soften up for about 2 hours (could take less time depending on how warm the counter is) just keep checking on it

Once the butter is softened:

• Add 1 stick of butter at a time to the 1/2 of sugar
• use a fork in the same motion you would a whisk to mash the butter together with the sugar
• mix together until you have no clumps of butter

Grab another bowl and mix together the flour, salt, and the baking powder.

Slowly add this to the mixer of butter and sugar

Finally, once that is sort of mixed together add in the milk and the vanilla extract

Once you have your dough formation, separate them into 2 halves and either wrap them in plastic wrap or store them in tupperware (like i did) and place them in the fridge.

When the dough is the same firmness as a stick of butter, that is when you know it is good to start rolling it out

Preheat the oven 350F, while the dough is refrigerating

Toast the shredded coconut shavings on a baking pan lined with a baking sheet for around 2 minutes or until golden brown. Stirring them frequently in between to not burn them (learn from me, they burn easily).

Set them aside to cool off, while you roll out your dough and shape the cookies

Start off by flouring a surface well, that way your dough does not stick to the counter.

Then roll out your dough

Cut out circle shapes with a round cookie cutter and then a smaller one (I used a knife since I did not have a small round cutter).

Place the cookies on parchment paper on the baking pan and bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes (mine took 10 minutes). Rotate the pan 180 degrees every so often that way they get an equal amount of exposure to the heat.

Set cookies aside to cool off

While the cookies cool off you will start making the caramel coconut topping

Place the caramel, milk, and salt into a microwavable safe bowl. Heat for 45 seconds to a 1 minute at a time, stirring in between, until fully melted.

Next, add in the toasted coconut shavings and stir them in

Time for the fun part.

Take a knife or any utensil of you liking to spread the mixture on the cookies.

Don't be scared, be generous. More the merrier!

While you prepare the chocolate, place the cookies in the fridge to help secure the caramel mixture to make it easier to apply the chocolate.

Lastly, do not forget the chocolate bottom of the cookies!

Place the semisweet chocolate chips into a microwavable safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until fully melted (Try not to burn the chocolate!).

Dip the bottom of the cookie into the chocolate to cover the bottom and place on parchment paper.

Use the leftover melted chocolate to drizzle it over the top of the cookies. A spoon will get the job done for you!

Place the cookies in the refrigerator once you are done, to let the chocolate and caramel harden.

Enjoy!