Samoas Copycat--caramel-coconut Shortbread Bars Recipe

How to make it

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• Make crust:
• Line a 13x9 inch baking pan with two pieces of parchment, leaving two inches of overhang around the sides. Spray with non-stick spray.
• Mix all crust ingredients together in a bowl, and press firmly and evenly into pan. Prick with a fork, and refrigerate until firm (30 minutes or 7 mins in the freezer).
• Preheat oven to 325.
• Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 300 and bake another 15, until crust is golden brown.
• Toast coconut--in a large skillet, place coconut over medium heat. Stir constantly, and watch it carefully, in a few minutes it will begin to toast and turn golden. Remove from heat when coconut is evenly golden but not burned. Set aside.
• In a heavy-bottomrd saucepan, bring remaining caramel ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally, taking care not to burn the mixture, until it reaches 240 on a candy thermometer--between soft and firm ball stages.
• Remove from heat. Carefully stir in coconut, and pour caramel over hot cookie crust.
• Allow to cool at room temperature at least 2 hours before garnishing.
• Ganache:
• Heat cream to just boiling. Pour over chopped chocolate in a small bowl, and let sit a minute. Whisk until smooth, allow to cool slightly, transfer to a baggie, and snip the tip. Drizzle decoratively over the caramel.
• Let ganache cool 30 minutes to an hour. Remove the bars by the parchment sling (handy, huh?), and cut with a very sharp knife on the diagonal to make pretty little diamonds.
• These will keep at room temperature for one week, although I like to store mine in the fridge, and let them sit out for a bit before serving.
• These are delicious! I only kept a few, and I had to ration myself, having one little diamond after dinner every day until they were gone. Very, very dangerous to have around--just like the real ones.
• www.mediocrechocolate.blogspot.com