Homemade Samoas for My Matt on his Birthday

Matt's birthday cake last year-Red Velvet Peppermint Cake- so Yummy!

Today is my husbands birthday- I am a lucky woman. My Matt is a great husband and father, who loves his family, his work and makes the world a better place. He is happy, fun-loving and just a wonderful person. I could go on all day about how great he is. Seriously- I am so glad that we found each other! It is kinda fun, because his birthday is today and mine is tomorrow. We are both Christmas babies, that came home in giant stockings. In his honor, I made one of his favorite cookies. My hubby could keep a few places and products in business, all by himself. Of course, McDonalds, but also Girl Scout Cookies. He buys quite a few boxes each year and has no problem downing a box at a time. I try not to get mad, because he has the metabolism of a teenage boy, so it doesn't affect him at all. I have to keep my eyes away from the cookies, because if I even look at them, I will gain at least a pound.

I saw these Homemade Samoas over at I heart food 4 thought, and I have mentioned before, how much I love Clara's blog. She has so many great recipes!

These cookies were a little time consuming, but worth the effort. I used semi-sweet chocolate to dip them in and for the drizzle and my hubby told me next time to use milk chocolate. If you have a Samoa lover in the house, these cookies will make them very happy! Happy Birthday, Matt~ I love you!

Homemade Samoas as seen over at I heart food 4 thought, who found the recipe at Baking Bites

INGREDIENTS
For cookies:

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

up to 2 tablespoons milk

For topping:

3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

12-ounces good-quality chewy caramels ( I used Wether’s Chewy Caramels)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons milk

8 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate
INSTRUCTIONS
To make cookies—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. 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 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.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set.

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make topping—Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
Spread coconut evenly on a rimmed baking sheet 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.

Coming Tomorrow- My Birthday- 2 Christmas Eve Treats!