Samoas Bars

It has become the tradition here on Chicken on the Green to post the special treat made to honor Meggo's Birthday! For her 25th, there was the Strawberry Chantilly Cake. For her 26th, I made Monster Cookies. And today.... SAMOAS BARS! I chose to make these because Samoas (or Caramel deLites as they are known in some parts of the country such as Wichita) are Meggo's favorite Girl Scout cookies! She would buy them at work and then hide them in her desk. Meggo, please don't hide these. They do not quite have the same preservatives in them!

 I found the recipe for these on Baking Bites. These bars start with a shortbread cookie crust, then are covered with caramel and toasted coconut, dipped in dark chocolate, and topped with a dark chocolate drizzle. Yummy. They are fun to make although they do take some time. They are very reminiscent of the original, but if I am going to be completely honest, I don't quite think they match up to the perfected recipe those girl scouts have come up with. Man, they must work hard on those.
Samoas Bars (adapted from Baking Bites)
Ingredients:
Cookie Base:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt

Topping:

• 3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
• 12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp milk
• 10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Directions:
To make the crust:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with nonstick foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. (I really didn't want it to stick).
3.  In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Add vanilla extract.
4. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together.
5. Scoop crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

To make the topping:
1. 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.
2. Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.
3. When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife.
4. Once bars are cut, 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 bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish. (I had to melt more chocolate because I had bits of shortbread that fell in my chocolate.)
5. Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.