Vegan Samoa Bars

I was never a Girl Scout, but my parents always bought Girl Scout Cookies when I was little.  I had a few favorites, Tag-a-longs, Thin Mints and Samoas are usually what we would buy.  This one year they had these really good strawberry cream sandwich cookies but those were short lived unfortunately. The Samoas were my all time favorite though.  What's not to love about caramel, cookie and chocolate with coconut?!  I make my own now, just because most commercial cookies are a little too sugary for me even if they happen to be vegan.

But this year I decided to do something a little different and make Samoa bars!  I thought they might be a bit easier than shaping the cookies.  It would be an experiment, but I had my fingers crossed and hoped for good results.  I actually just modified the cookie recipe for bars and it worked out great!  For the crust I used my vanilla cookie recipe and baked it in an 8 inch pan. That is the only part of the recipe that required baking though the rest is no bake.

For the filling I made the date caramel I used for the cookies, but I make a little more to make a thicker layer.  Because it is the best part after all!  At least as far as I am concerned, I love date caramel so much I could just eat it with a spoon.  After that portion of the bars were made, I cut them into squares before I added the chocolate because I wanted to dip the bottoms into it just like the cookies.

They were looking so good once I added the chocolate drizzle!  I could not wait to try them!  Lucky I did not have to wait long, the chocolate set fast. They were totally heavenly!  Plenty of gooey sweet coconut caramel on top of a crunchy sugar cookie and rich dark chocolate!  If you are a Samoa fan, definitely give these a try!

Vegan Samoa Bars
Makes 16

• 1 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 3 Tbsp filtered water
• 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, warmed to liquid
• 3/4 cups maple sugar or coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

Caramel:

• 1 1/2 cups soft, pitted medjool dates (if they are not soft, soak them in filtered water 30 minutes and drain before using)
• 3 Tbsp almond butter
• 3 Tbsp virgin coconut oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp  filtered water or as needed
• 3/4 cup finely shredded dried unsweetened coconut

Chocolate:

1 cup chopped vegan dark chocolate chips or chunks

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flax seed and filtered water.
2. In a large bowl, mix coconut oil with maple sugar and mix until well combined.
3. Mix in the vanilla extract and flax mixture until well combined.
4. Add the baking soda, salt, then the flour, until well combined.
5. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 inch square pan with parchment paper.
6. Press the dough into the bottom of the pan.
7. Bake for about 30 minutes, until set and just starting to brown slightly.  Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack to cool completely.
8. To make the caramel, combine all ingredients but the coconut in a high speed blender or food processor and process until smooth.  Stir in the coconut.
9. Spread the caramel mixture over the crust.
10. Put the bars in the freezer until the caramel is a little more firm, about 20 minutes.  Cut into bars, place on a parchment lined tray spaced out slightly and freeze until firm, at least 30 minutes.
11. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler until smooth.
12. Drizzle the chocolate over the top of the bars.
13. Place the tray in the freezer for a few minutes to allow the chocolate to harden.
14. Enjoy!  Store any extra cookies in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.