Samoa Coconut Bars

    Oh man, have I been crazy busy lately! I got a new car on Saturday! People keep telling me that I drive "the hamster car" now. It's a white 2016 Kia Soul and it is absolutely beautiful! Ok, back to these coconut bars. It's Girl Scout Cookie season!!! Woot!! I spent the better part of my youth as a girl scout and I still remember vividly, standing outside of stores and asking everyone and their mother to buy our cookies! My favorites when I was little were the Samoas. I decided to try making something similar. I love anything with toasted coconut! Hope you love them too!

Samoa Coconut Bars

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1 and 1/2 stick of butter (3/4 cup) at room temperature

- 1 egg

- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 2 cups of flour

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt, divided  

- 3 cups of shredded sweetened coconut

- 12 ounces of chewy caramels (I used the caramel bits)

- 3 tablespoons of half and half

- 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. First, make the crust by creaming together the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Once fluffy, add the egg and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the flour and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. It may be crumbly. Then, press the mixture evenly into the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake for about 25- 30 minutes or until the edges start to lightly brown. Cool completely before topping. While you are baking the crust, you can toast your coconut. I like to toast it in my toaster oven. I spread all of the coconut out evenly on a small pan and set the toaster on dark. Then, I just watch it until the edges start to brown and I stir it. I repeat the process until all of the coconut is a golden brown color. You can totally do it in the oven while your crust is cooling or over the stove top in a dry skillet. Toasting coconut is not rocket science, google it. Next, place the caramels in a large microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave on high for 1 minute and then stop to stir. Keep melting it in 30 seconds intervals (stopping to stir) in the microwave until it's completely melted. Then, stir the half and half and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into the caramel, you may have to put it back in the microwave for one more round. Just keep stirring until it is combined and melted, but be careful not to burn the caramel. Add the toasted coconut into the caramel and mix until combined. Once combined, spread onto the cooled cookie crust. I pressed it on there pretty tightly. I cut it into bars at this point. Then, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals, put the completely melted chocolate into a piping bag, and drizzle it over the top of each bar. Let the chocolate set (or not) and enjoy!

My new car you guys!
Omigod, she is so beautiful!