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Let's Get Your Homemade Samoa Fix
Get ready to relish in a sweet symphony of flavors with our take on the classic Girl Scout Cookie, Samoa! Here's a step-by-step guide on how to whip up these decadent treats in the comfort of your own kitchen.
Equipment: Besides your standard kitchen tools like a spatula, bowls, and measuring cups, you'll require a kitchen scale and a chocolate thermometer, such as CDN's.
Ingredients: Professional pastry chefs often use high-quality couverture chocolate, which is readily available at specialty grocery stores or online.
Game Plan: Cookies can be baked up to 24 hours in advance and stored for later use. However, working in an air-conditioned space is recommended for best results.
For a visual guide, check out our Samoa project.
Yield: Approximately 48 Cookies
Difficulty: Advanced
Total: 3 hrs 15 mins (1 hr 50 mins active)
Cookie Base:- 1 Large Egg- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract- 1 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour, plus more for dusting- 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder- 8 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (1 Stick), chilled and cut into small pieces
Caramel Topping:- 1 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar- 6 Tablespoons Water- 1/4 Teaspoon + 1/8 Teaspoon Salt- 6 Tablespoons Heavy Cream- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Chocolate and Assembly:- Ice- 1 1/2 Pounds Semisweet Chocolate Couverture, separated into 1 18-ounce portion and 1 6-ounce portion- 1 1/2 Cups Sweetened, Flaked Coconut, toasted
For the Cookie Base:1. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and vanilla until combined. Set aside.2. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder in a food processor and pulse to aerate. Add butter and pulse until dough resembles sand. Stir in egg mixture until a ball forms. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.3. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Roll out dough, dusting with flour if necessary, and cut out 2-inch circles with a small cookie cutter. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until edges are golden. Cool completely.
For the Caramel Topping:1. In a small saucepan, heat sugar, water, and salt until deep amber. Stir in cream and vanilla, remove from heat, and set aside.
Chocolate and Assembly:1. Prepare an ice water bath. Bring a medium saucepan filled with 1-2 inches of water to a simmer, then add the 18-ounce portion of chocolate and stir until melted. Achieve tempered chocolate by cooling to 80°F, then reheating to 88°F.2. Dip the bottom of each cooled cookie into the chocolate, scrape off excess, and place on a baking sheet. Allow the chocolate to set, then dip the top into the caramel and sprinkle with toasted coconut. Drizzle with remaining chocolate.
Enrichment Data:- This recipe follows the classic Samoa structure, with a cookie base, caramel topping, and chocolate drizzle.- For a healthier twist, consider swapping the traditional shortbread cookie base with a coconut and date alternative. To do so, process toasted coconut and pitted dates into a paste, shape into rounds, coat the bottom with melted chocolate, and decorate with chocolate drizzle.
- For an illustrated guide on making homemade Samoa Cookies, you can refer to the project featured on aussiedlerbote.
- The caramel topping in this recipe is made by heating sugar, water, and salt until deep amber, then stirring in heavy cream and vanilla extract.
- The cookie base for the Samoa recipe consists of a mixture of all-purpose flour, powdered sugar, salt, baking powder, unsalted butter, egg, and vanilla extract, which is then chilled and cut into small pieces before being rolled out and baked.
