Samoa Brownies

I love dinner gatherings.  I especially love dinner gatherings where I've asked someone else to make the dessert. :)  I'm almost never disappointed!  When I might throw together an apple crisp or a quick batch of cookies, they would go above and beyond and whip up something like this.  A little slice of heaven, thanks to Jen.  It was pretty scrumptious, just don't count calories... or steps involved. :)

SAMOA BROWNIES
1 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 stick salted butter, cold and cut into pieces

Box of Ghirardelli Brownie Mix (or other mix that only makes a small pan), plus ingredients to prepare

1 cup coconut, toasted

11 oz bag of caramel bits

1/2 lb dark chocolate almond bark (or a couple cups of dark chocolate coating wafers or candy melts)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a 7 x 10 pan (or 8 x 8 if you don’t have that size) with foil and spray with nonstick spray.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and butter until a dough forms. Alternately, you could use your hands and cut it together until it forms a dough. Pat dough evenly into the bottom of the pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown.

3. Place the pan in the refrigerator to cool for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare brownie mix according to box directions. Once crust is cool, spread the brownie mix in the pan and place back in the oven until brownies are fully baked.

4. Place caramel bits in a microwave safe bowl and melt according to package directions. Stir in the toasted coconut and spread evenly over the brownies in the pan. Place pan in the refrigerator to chill.

5. Once brownies are chilled and firm, remove from pan by grabbing the sides of the foil. Peel the foil from the brownies and cut into squares. Melt chocolate coating according to package directions and dip the bottom of the brownies in the coating. Place on a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper to set. Once all brownie bottoms are dipped, drizzle remaining chocolate over the top. Let chocolate firm before serving.

Notes:

To toast coconut, place in a cold skillet. Heat skillet over medium heat, stirring coconut constantly. Remove from heat once it’s lightly browned.

I prefer using Caramel Bits instead of whole caramels because they melt more quickly and don’t need unwrapped. You can find them in the baking aisle with the chocolate chips.

If you don’t want to use Ghirardelli Brownie Mix and instead prefer a mix or recipe that makes a large 9×13 pan, just double the crust and topping recipes and adjust baking times if needed.