samoa bars

These Samoa Bars are the essence of minimum work for maximum flavor. A melt in your mouth shortbread crust topped with homemade caramel (you can do it, it&#039;s foolproof) chock full of toasted coconut with the bottoms dipped in chocolate.

Simple Samoa Cookie Bars

coconut

water

corn syrup

sugar (100 grams)

unsalted butter (30 grams)

heavy cream

vanilla extract

Werther caramels if not making the caramel

all-purpose flour (160 grams)

sugar (45 grams)

butter, refrigerator cold (114 grams or 1 stick)

semisweet chocolate (170 grams)

crisco

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Arrange 2 cups of desiccated coconut in a single layer in a sheet pan.   Make sure there are no stray shreds of coconut at the edges.  Just scoot them into the pile.  Toast the coconut until uniformly medium brown.  I did not need to stir mine but I did turn it front to back about 3/4 through baking.  If the coconut is not baking uniformly, then stir as needed. Set aside to cool.Reserve 1/2 cup of the coconut.

Heat the cream until hot.  Set aside,

Bring to a hard rolling boil and boil until the syrup turns a medium golden brown.  (see the photo in the step by step photos)

Remove from the heat and add the butter  Stir until it has melted.  Add the cream and vanilla extract, stirring to combine.  If the cream seizes, it will be corrected in the next step.

Return the pan to the heat and bring back to a boil.  Boil to a temperature of 230°F.  Pour into a medium size bowl and cool.

Coconut Caramel

Line a 9x9 inch baking pan with parchment paper letting the excess hang over the edges to form a sling.  Set aside.  Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine the flour and powdered sugar in the bowl of a processor.  Pulse several times to mix.

Cut the cold butter in smallish pieces.  Add to the flour mixture and process until it forms large crumbs.

Arrange the shortbread crumbs evenly over the bottom of the pan.  Push them together to form an even solid pastry base.  Make sure there are no seams showing as they make crack when baked.

Bake for about 25 minutes until an even golden brown, turning halfway through.  Cool.

Shortbread Base

Add the 1 1/2 cups of coconut to the caramel, stirring to blend well.  Spread this evenly over the shortbread base.  If the caramel has set up too hard, microwave it briefly before adding the coconut.

If using the  Werther caramels, unwrap them, place them in a microwave dish and microwave to melt.  Proceed as above.

Spread the Coconut Caramel evenly over the shortbread base.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of toasted coconut on top, pressing it lightly into the coconut caramel.  Cool completely.

Remove the Samoas from the pan, lay the sling flat.

Assembly

Combine the chocolate and 1 teaspoon crisco in a small bowl wide enough to dip the bottom of a bar in. Microwave to melt.  Stir to combine.  If the chocolate is still really thick, add the second teaspoon of crisco.  The chocolate should be thick enough to coat with the excess barely running off.

Place a small amount in a pastry bag fitted with a small writing tip.  Alternatively, use a heavy plastic bag and cut a very little off the tip.  Do not make it too big.

Pipe diagonal lines over the top of the coconut.  Let it set up. To speed it along, place it in the fridge for a few minutes.  Cut 7 across and 3 down for 21 bars or cut any size you wish.

Dip the bottoms in the chocolate.  Holding the bar just above the rim of the bowl, lightly swipe the excess chocolate off. Place it on a piece of waxed or parchment paper.  Let the chocolate set up.  Again, pop them in the fridge for a few minutes to harden.  After that they will hold at room temperature

These hold well at room temperature lightly covered or even in an uncovered container.

Chocolate Finish

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Simple Samoa Cookie Bars

Top 1 samoa bars recipes from across the web

The most viewed samoa bars recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Simple Samoa Cookie Bars

The most viewed samoa bars recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine