June 19th
Chocolate + Coconut Cookies
I know a quick way to my father’s heart it through his belly and with what seems to have become a tradition for Mother’s day and Father’s day, I fill my family’s bellies with sweets. After posting a recipe for Tagalong Girl Scout cookies I received a few requests for the Samoas. These cookies are probably one of my dad’s favorites – the whole box is usually eaten within minutes so I thought this would be the perfect time to whip up a batch or two of these.
Now I must warn you that when I say “whip up a batch” I do not imply that these are quick to make. In fact, these are probably one of the more time consuming cookies to make. However with that being said, try to keep in mind that cooking can be fun and most food sweets taste better when they are made with love.
Chocolate + Caramel Cookies
with toasted coconut
1 Cup of Butter, softened
1/2 Cup of Sugar
2 Cups of Flour
1/4 teaspoon of Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon of Salt
12 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Milk, optional
3 Cups of Sweetened Coconut, shredded
12 ounces of Wrether’s Chewy Cararmels
1/4 teaspoon Fleur de Sel
3 Tablespoon of Milk
8 ounces of Semi Sweet Baking Chocolates
Start be preheating the oven to 350°F and in a large mixing bowl combine the softened butter and sugar. Once evenly mixed, add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. After all these ingredients are mixed thoroughly then add the vanilla extract and up to 2 Tablespoons of milk to create a dough that comes together in a soft ball.
Work the dough into a ball and roll out in between two sheets of parchment paper to about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 1 1/2 inch cookie cutter round cut out as many cookies as the dough allows, which is approximately 3 to 4 dozen. Using a smaller 1/2 inch cookie cutter rough, cut a center hole out of each cookie.
Place the cookies on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies become a light golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet and transfer to a cooling rack to completely cool.
Turn down the oven to 300°F. Spread the coconut as evenly as possible on a parchment paper line baking sheet and toast for about 10 minutes. Check on the coconut and stir it about every 3 minutes. Keep a good eye on the coconut, there is a small time frame from when the coconut is “toasted” to “burnt” and I know this from experience. (I had a to make a second quick trip back to the market.)
Unwrap the caramel and place them in a microwave safe bowl and add the milk and fleur de sel. Cook in the microwave on high for about 2 minutes, stopping every 30 seconds to give it a good stir. Once it has a smooth consistency, fold in the toasted coconut.
This part is probably the most difficult and messiest. Using a small frosting spatula or tablespoon, spread the caramel topping onto each cookie round. I highly recommend reheating the caramel every minute or so to keep the viscosity low, this makes it much easier to work with – and trust me, you will have some trouble. Let the cookies sit and the caramel harden a bit.
Melt about 3/4 of the chocolate in a double boiler stirring often as to not allow the chocolate to burn. Dip the bottom of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean sheet of parchment paper. After dipping each cookie into the chocolate, use the remaining chocolate to drizzle lines over all the cookies. Here is a great tip, most of us do not have piping bags and a common trick is to use a Zip-Loc bag; however, most of the time the chocolate ends up melting the bag and creates a much bigger mess than you would like. Try this, melt the chocolate in the microwave in the bag it came in! These do not melt nearly as easily as thin little Zip-Loc bags. Just make sure to cut the top open to allow steam to release.
Drizzle the cookies with the remaining chocolate and allow the chocolate to harden. Store the cookies in an airtight container, if you given the chance to store them at all. Most likely, they will get eaten up fairly quickly.
