Homemade Samoas

  I always thought of Girl Scout cookies of magical and mysterious cookies that nobody could make. But not anymore, I have cracked the code! Beginning with the hardest cookie to make in my opinion Samoas. In my world there are really only 3 kinds of girl scout cookies- Samoas, Tagalongs, and Thin Mints. I know it's really easy to just buy some cookies from the lovely girls scouts. But what happens when the cookies are all gone?  Now with a little preparation and a little time you too can make your own samoas!
Lets get started this one has a ton of steps-

Shortbread cookie:
1 cup  unsalted butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups  flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
In the bowl of a mixer combine the butter and sugar and beat till light and fluffy- about 3min. In a different bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Once the butter/sugar is ready add the flour in 4 parts making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Once all the flour is in, add the milk and vanilla. Mix till combined (not very long)- At this point the cookie dough is made and needs to be chilled in the fridge for about 1 hour. Once the dough is chilled it will be ready to roll out to 1/4 inch thick and cut out. All you need is 1 large round cookie cutter and 1 smaller round cookie cutter. I didn't have a small one - but I did have a small heart- it worked out just fine. Bake them at 350 for 10-12 min. turning half way through. I got 3 1/2 dozen cookies. 

Caramely Coconuty Topping:
3 cups sweetened coconut shredded
15 oz store-bought or Homemade Caramel
3 TBS milk
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate 
If you are making the caramel try out this recipe Homemade Caramels. I did just because I had everything I needed, and I like to make things way harder then they are supposed to be. The only thing I didn't have was the heavy cream (kinda important in caramel) so I made my own heavy cream. Might I add probably not the best idea, but it worked out alright. 
To toast the coconut preheat the oven to 350 and spread it along a cookie sheet, bake for about 10 min turning half way. Coconut burns really easy so watch it.  If you bought caramels then melt them in the microwave or double boiler, add the milk and toasted coconut- if it's too thick add a little more milk.
 How to assemble:
Now that the cookies are baked and cooled, while the caramel coconut filling is still warm pour into a plastic bag and cut a smallish hole, big enough to let the coconut through but not too big that it's hard to control. and now pipe the topping in a circle shape onto the cookie. Once you have done a whole tray go back through and with a spoon flatten the topping out to the edges, it should begin to cool by this time.

The finishing touches:  Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave or double boiler, and dip each cookie in only covering the bottom half of the cookie. With a spoon drizzle the tops of the cookie with chocolate stripes. WOW! now that was a handful ! let the chocolate dry on the cookies and enjoy!