I cannot tell a lie. I love March. Not for the reasons that any of you would be thinking (first day of spring, warmer weather....end of winter) No, it is girl scout cookie time. I heart Samoas. I know they do it on purpose only selling them once a year. Absence definitely makes the heart grow stronger. Every year I buy my two boxes and then eat them slowly. These have honestly got to be the best cookies ever. Throw the diet out the window for a few weeks, and really enjoy the most delicious cookie on earth. Well, the wait is over. Now you can enjoy the best cookie ever year-round.
Homemade Samoas
Cookies
1 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
up to 2 tbsp milk
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.
Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat with remaining dough. Alternatively, use scant tablespoons of dough and press into an even layer in a mini donut pan to form the rounds.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. If using a mini donut pan, bake for only about 10 minutes, until edges are light gold.
Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)
Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.
While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.
Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.
Note: These cookies are fairly time consuming to make, but if you take your time and have fun with them, the results will be worth it. That said, if you want something a little bit quicker, try baking a batch of
Samoas Bars instead, which require no rolling and cutting of the dough!
Thank you to baking bites.com for the recipie.
For my niece Allison's birthday, I decided to take her out for a night on the town! We had such an absolutely fantastic time. After giving Alli several choices on where to eat for dinner she decided on The Olive Garden. She had so much fun. I think she thought it was really cool to be able to order from a menu and get whatever she wanted. Initially she was not going to get a drink, but I talked her into the frozen raspberry lemonade which was absolutely delicious (she let me take a sip). Yum! She ended up ordering Chicken Fettucine Alfredo and I ordered Chicken Scampi. She loved the salad that they initially brought and absolutely loved the warm breadsticks. I told her we could get more and she was pretty excited about that. 
After our delicious dinner, we headed to Barnes and Noble where I let Alli browse through the young readers section. She was able to pick out a great book which I got for her. After that, we headed out and got some delicious dessert. Then she got her other gift from me. A fun new springy dress. I couldn't resist. It was so cute and fun. I think she really had the time of her life tonight, I know I did.
