Do It Yourself - it's the Girl Scout Way. Probably. I Wouldn't Know.

Actual Cookies (Not actual size)

Look at that picture. You know you want one.

GIRL SCOUT COOKIES.

Sometimes, you get a craving and there is nary a girl scout in sight. So, you have to take things into your own hands.

I present to you - Homemade Samoas.

Overall review: Tasty, but not a replacement for the real thing. Also, they are a pain in the ass.

I apparently did not take any pictures of making these, probably because I wanted my camera to be free of carmel and chocolate. Delicious, yet messy.

Deconstructed Review if the process:

The cookie

The actual batter produced a light, crumbly, melt in your mouth cookie. However, shaping it into anything other than a ball is pretty difficult. Making it a uniform disk with a hole in the middle is darn near impossible. I was going through drawers and cabinets trying out anything vaguely circle-shaped to help me make the disk, and remove a small hole from it. In the end I was using a cookie cutter with one of my tips set in the middle, and had to hand-form EACH cookie this way by pressing the dough into my ghetto-fabulous mold, which I had placed directly on the baking sheet, because a transfer would be laughable. A sane person probably would have thrown in the towel and bought some Oreos, but I get inordinately determined when cooking is involved.

The Topping

First reaction - toasting coconut is the best-smelling thing on earth. Also, no one is going to notice if there are a few less carmels in the mix. Nom nom nom.

Second reaction - holy heck, it is like napalm. Seriously. The carmel, mixed with condensed milk and the coconut, produces a fast-hardening, boiling hot mass. As I was frantically wiping off tenacious bits sticking to my fingers, I was forcibly reminded of my encounters with hot glue guns. Getting that carmel onto those cookies is a trip. It easily took 2/3 of the total time to complete this step. Of course, 1/3 of that time as spent chasing David, trying to keep his fingers out of the carmel and away from the cookies. If he's this bad, I can't wait for his kids. I'm going to be like a mom ninja.

Anyway, the dipping/drizzling chocolate part was a relief. Dip. Drizzle. Repeat. No burning or breaking. I was too lazy to use an actual piping bag, so us home cooks just used a Ziploc bag with a corner snipped off. Easy cleanup.

In the end, you get these:

They are pretty impressive, if you don't reveal that they nearly killed you to make them. It was fun to have around, and David reported that they lasted a whole 2 1/2 minutes at his office. Always a good thing.

I think I will probably just stock up on Samoas the next time I'm confronted by a little girl in a green beret. But in case you want to attempt this yourself (they DO help the craving) here's the recipe. I recommend making 1 1/2 times the topping amount, or maybe even 2x as much. I felt that I had to skimp a bit to make sure all the cookies got covered.

Homemade Samoas

Cookies

1 cup butter, soft

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

up to 2 tbsp milk

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 (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). 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. (They definitely have a theme here - 'Stickyness! It's the New Black!')

Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) 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. Alternatively, use scant tablespoons of dough and press into an even layer in a mini donut pan to form the rounds.

*Tiffy Note* Maybe I did something wrong here, but the second this dough met my rolling pin and wax paper, it clung on for dear life. Just find what works for you!*

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. If using a mini donut pan, bake for only about 10 minutes, until edges are light gold.Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Topping

3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

12-oz good-quality chewy caramels

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp milk

8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (Candy melts are even better, easy-wise)

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.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 Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.