Pardon my upcoming rant of sorts.
Many of you out there in blogger land will remember a time, back in the day, when Girl Scouts sold a cookie called the Samoa. Today, this cookie is called a Caramel Delight. I assume they changed the name because some person of Samoan decent complained, or filed a lawsuit, or basically threw a little hissy until the name was changed. But why get upset? The Samoa was and IS a fantastic cookie, if not the best Girl Scout Cookie in the lineup. I would have been honored if said cookie had been named Appalchian, or White Girl, or WestByGodVirginian Cookie. I would have taken no offense whatsoever. But, someone did. So now we have to call them Caramel Delights.
Not me, people. Not this baker.
I love this cookie too much to just give up the old name. Samoa, Samoa, Samoa.
Sah Moe Uhhh.
My husband Jon loves them way more than I do, and in the spring when these pricey cookies go up for sale, he buys as many as he can and hoards them all. He shares, but after looking at the caloric content, I try not to indulge too much. Geez Louise. Because he has been out of town for two weeks working nonstop, I decided to surprise him with a goodie based on his favorite cookie…the Samoa. What I came up with was a very decadent, bajillion calorie wonder that defies the laws of caloric intake…the Samoan Brownie Delight. (FYI: Bajillion is only slightly rounded up.) And now, for the recipe…
Samoan Brownie Delights
makes about 18-20
For Chocolate Brownie
1 box of your favorite Brownie Mix or your favorite recipe (I used Milk Chocolate Duncan Hines)
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp Coconut Extract
1/4 cup Good Quality SemiSweet Chips
1/4 cup Sweetened Coconut Flakes
Mix box mix with eggs, water, oil and extract. Once mixed, fold in coconut and chocolate chips. Set aside.
Cream Cheese, Coconut and Caramel Center
3 oz cream cheese, whipped
3 Tbsp Vanilla Sugar (or regular sugar is fine)
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 an egg, beaten (just guess, it doesn’t need to be exact)
2 Tbsp. Pina Colada Mix (optional)
1/2 cup mini caramels, or regular caramels cut into small pieces
Whip cream cheese, then mix in Sugar, egg, extract and Pina Colada mix on medium speed until well blended. Fold in caramels.
Pour small amount of brownie batter into prepared cupcake liners, approximately 1/3 full. Top with spoonful of cream cheese mixture, followed by another spponful of the brownie mixture. Cupcake liners should be around 2/3 to 3/4 full. Place in oven at 350 degrees for 28-33 minutes, or until toothpick registers done.
While brownies are baking, prepare Coconut Topping.
Samoan Coconut Topping
(adapted from Cupcake Bakeshop)
1 1/2-2 cups Toasted Coconut (to toast, place in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, stirring often to prevent burn.)
1/2 stick butter
5 oz. Heavy Whipping Cream
2/3 cups sugar
1 egg
Whisk egg in large saucepan, add remaining ingredients and stir over medium heat. Stir constantly until mixture is thick and golden, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in toasted coconut. Allow to cool.
Assembly
Once brownies are cool, top with melted caramel dip (available in tubs, usually by the apples…just microwave it to make it more spreadable) or, cut cone into brownie and fill with the caramel, then replace the cone top. When topping has cooled and is comfortable to handle, shape into disks and place on top of the caramel. Drizzle with melted chocolate.
It is a bit of a daunting recipe, especially since it starts with a box mix, but it is definitely worth the time and effort. Jon said they were great…and I gave a half dozen to our friend Eric for his birthday and he gave them high marks, too…so, give it a try…and let me know how it turns out! Enjoy!
(By the way, these are equally good without the topping – but why omit it? Don’t you need the extra padding? heeheehee)
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
ohmygod. I love samoas. What is a caramel delight? Its always gonna be samoa to me! Definitely starred to try this recipe soon!
/Clara
Ahh…
That is such ashamed! I would totaly agree with you. I thought it was beautiful name “SAMOA” I would be honored, if some cookie/cake name “BALI” not the other way around (I hope I don’t up set anybody here!). Oh well, you can’t really please everybody!
Anyway, look absolutely mouth watering….
Actually, they are still called Samoas in some parts of the country (i.e where my Mom lives they are Samoas).
There are only 2 bakeries who are licensed to make the Girl Scout cookies, Little Brownie and ABC Smart Cookie (formerly ABC Bakers, ABC stands for Americas Best Cookies) The two bakeries have different names for some of the cookies even though they are the same. Little Brownie bakery still calls them Samoas.
Each council receives bids for their cookies from the two bakeries and based upon that decides which to purchase their cookies from. Sounds like the council in your area switched from one baker to the other.
I love the brownies and I’m definitely making these very soon!
LOVE the Samoa! They truly are dangerous and I just can’t afford to have them around anymore…calorie wise. These look awesome and I would love to give them a try. The filling sounds too good.
Hey from Texas…
I was googling Girl Scout Cookies because I bought some cookies this year and they were not what we always got!! They were disgusting and they were CARAMEL DELIGHTS!!! I had never heard of them before and the Thin Mints tasted like pure dirt. Yes there are 2 bakeries but the ABC bakery is awful and yes the names are different but they do NOT taste the same. I did a taste test with some kids in my classroom…I had a box of thin mints (from last year) in my freezer. I got those and the ones from this year and all the kids picked the ones from last year. The Little Brownie Bakery ones. A lot of folks are peeved by this. Whoever has had Caramel Delights their whole life, is really, really, really missing out on some awesome Samoas!! And the Thin Mints you’ve been eating are impostors!!!! GROSS!!!