Caramel de-Lites Girl Scout Cookie Copy Cat Recipe

These are my favorite Girl Scout cookies to buy! I don't think this recipe tastes EXACTLY like them, but they are close enough I guess. I would totally make them again, but with a few changes. I did use less coconut than the original recipe anyway, I think 3 cups would have been too much. I did tell you what changes I would make next time, below, but you can compare it to the recipe that I tried HERE. The cookie by itself is delicious too, and I had to stop myself from eating too much dough!

Caramel De-Lite Girl Scout Cookie Copy Cat Recipe (formerly known as Samoas):

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
2 T. 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. 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.

Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. (MY TIP: The original recipe calls for cutting out the whole in the middle of the cookie, but I didn't bother doing that. Not worth my time to have the same cookie but with the middle missing.)

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Topping Recipe:

2 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
4 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok, I used a Ghiradhelli semi - sweet baking bar)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 15-20 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. (MY TIP: So, I hate taking the time to unwrap caramels. If my son hadn't already been in bed, I would have had him do it. Next time, I may try caramel ice cream topping with 1/4-1/2 c. flour mixed in instead of the unwrapped caramels, milk, etc. I think it would produce the same results and take less time.)

Spread topping generously on cooled cookies. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with (I didn't have to do this).

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. (MY TIP: Here the original recipe calls to dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. I did that, BUT will not do it again. After you get the chocolate on the bottom and drizzle it on the top, the chocolate overpowers the cookie. The cookie and the caramel topping have a great flavor all on their own, and the chocolate doesn't even let you taste it. So, next time, I will just drizzle it over the top. If you still want to dip the bottom of the cookie in chocolate, you will need 8 oz. of chocolate instead of 4 oz.) Put your chocolate into a piping bag or a ziplock 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.