Totally from Scratch Samoa Bars (100% whole grain) #bars #cookies

Ingredients
For the cookie base:

1. 3/4 cup (169 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2. 1/3 cup (67 grams) dark brown sugar
3. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4. 1/4 teaspoon salt
5. 1 3/4 cups (219 grams) white whole wheat flour, whole spelt flour or all-purpose flour

For the coconut caramel topping:

1. 1 1/2 cups (120 grams) unsweetened shredded coconut (sweetened is fine if you like things on the sweet side)
2. 3/4 cup (150 grams) packed dark brown sugar
3. 2/3 cup (158 milliliters) whipping cream
4. 7 tablespoons (98 grams) unsalted butter, cut into 7 pieces
5. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6. 3/8 teaspoon salt

For decoration:
3/4 cup (128 grams) + 1/4 cup (43 grams) semi-sweet chopped chocolate or chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and line an 8"x8" (20cmx20cm) pan with parchment paper.
2. Prepare the crust. Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until well combined and light and fluffy. Add the remaining cookie base ingredients and beat until well combined. It will be very dry and crumbly. Pat this onto the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges have just started to brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely while you prepare the coconut caramel.
3. Place the coconut on a rimmed pan and with the oven still at 350 °F (175 °C), toast the coconut for 5-10 minutes, stirring after every few minutes. Keep a close eye on it as it turns from perfectly browned to burned in moments. Once lightly browned, remove from the oven.
4. in a heavy bottom saucepan (not a non-stick pan!) over medium heat, mix together the caramel ingredients. Keep stirring until no chunks of butter remain and then simmer for 8 minutes. Do not stir during this time. If necessary, tilt the pan in order to redistribute the mixture. Remove the pan from the heat. The caramel will be quite thin at this point. Let cool for 20-30 minutes or until considerably thickened and you can just barely pour it. Stir in the toasted coconut and stir until combined.
5. Spread this evenly over the cooled cookie base and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until the caramel topping is firm. This refrigeration step may or may not be necessary. Cut into squares.
6. Melt 3/4 cup (128 grams) chocolate in a small bowl that's large enough to dip the bars in. Dip each square in the melted chocolate and place on a piece of parchment paper. Once all the bars have been dipped, melt the remaining 1/4 cup (43 grams) chocolate and pipe over the top of the bars.
7. Once the chocolate has set (it should only take about 30-60 minutes in the refrigerator or a few hours at room temperature), place the bars in a container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Notes
Some crumbs of the cookie base got mixed in with the chocolate during the dipping, which I think would make piping the chocolate on top more difficult. If you prefer, you can just melt the full cup of chocolate all at once and drizzle the chocolate on top with a fork.

For more detail texanerin

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