Everything you love about Samoas cookies wrapped up in a delicious cookie bar! These Samoas Bars are rich and delicious. Toasted coconut, caramel, short bread, and chocolate!
Tips for Making Samoa Bar Cookies
There’s nothing too difficult about making these Samoa bars, but some of the steps are optional for an easier recipe.
- I like making the crust in a food processor, then pressing the crumbs into the bottom of the baking pan. If you don’t own one, use softened butter and a hand held mixer. The results will be more of a dough that easily presses into a crust.
- I like using the softer Werther’s Original Caramels. If you can’t find them, use Kraft caramels instead, but you may want to add another tablespoon of water when you melt them as they are much firmer.
- Toasting the coconut is also optional. Sweetened angel flake coconut is quite moist and the toasting dries it out along with bringing out some of the natural oils and flavor. Beware that it can easily get too dark, so watch carefully when toasting.
To Make this Recipe You’Il Need the following ingredients:
Ingredients:
Cookie Base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
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:
Cookie Base:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
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.
Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned.
Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.
Topping:
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.
Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.
When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).
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.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.
*Makes 30 bar cookies.