Homemade Caramel Delights (oh yes, they're that good)

I love girl scout cookies.  It becomes really hard for me to resist the girl scouts when they set-up camp outside of the diag - but it's amazing how quickly they drain your bank account!  But ah-ha, I have defeated you little girl scouts, I made my OWN Caramel Delights & I've made my own Thin Mints.  I never have to (but probably will) buy them again.  One tip for making these cookies - try if you can to buy unsweetened coconut.  This cookie is incredibly sweet and I feel that sweetened coconut would be too much.  I also recommend that you use dark chocolate (what I did) to balance out the flavors.  As I am going on a cruise in less than two months, these cookies needed to get out of the house ASAP.  Hence, I ran them over  505 as soon as the chocolate was set.

As a side note, I have been requested to give a shout out to John Truesdell ('The Trues') & Sam Giraud (Mono-Ped).  So, HOLLA Trues & Mono-Ped.

Homemade Caramel Delights

Adapted by Once Upon a Plate

Ingredients for Cookie Base:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• up to 2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, next, the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk only as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (you may not need any at all). The dough should come together into a soft, pliable ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough seems sticky.
3. It's easiest to roll the dough out in 2 or 3 batches (between pieces of wax (or parchment) paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or a little thinner) using a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined (or on silicone mat) baking sheet and make a hole in the center. I used the small end of a large round piping tip. Nicole comments that you can use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat until the dough is used up (it's okay to re-roll, this dough is shortbread-like and very forgiving.)
4. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are very lightly golden brown around the edges.
5. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, to allow them to firm up slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Ingredients for Topping: 


• 3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

• 12-ounces good-quality chewy caramels

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 3 tablespoons milk

• 8 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips will do)

Directions:

1. If you prefer milk chocolate, by all means use that.

 Preheat oven to 300 degrees (F)


Spread coconut evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Watch carefully, especially near the end of toasting time; the coconut toasts very quickly once it begins to become golden.
2. 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. Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 teaspoons per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it begins to firm up, to make it soft and spreadable once again.
3. 
While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Melt the chocolate using the double boiled method.  Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper.  Use a spoon to drizzle on remaining chocolate (you may need to melt more).
4. 
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Red Velvet Shortbread Cookies

Yet another one of the cookies I made at 505.  I haven't had too much success making shortbread in the past... actually - I think the first (and last time) I made it was winter of 2007.  There was a recipe in this cookbook Alex bought me and all we had was a roasting pan to make shortbread in.  Alas - it didn't work.  Even though I should have realized roasting pan does NOT equal good shortbread - I was afraid of making it again.  Also, now that I have a food processor shortbread is a lot easier to make.

I cooked the shortbread for a little bit shorter than the recommended cooking time because I was soo afraid of them burning (ironically, a few of them still did)... but dear god, are these cookies good.  The buttery texture of the shortbread with the crunch of the white chocolate... Mmm.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1/2 cup butter, cut up

• 1 Tbsp. red food coloring

• 3 ounces white chocolate (with cocoa butter), coarsely chopped

• 1 1/2 tsp. shortening
• festive sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Cover and process with on/off turns until combined. Add butter and red food coloring. Process with on/off turns until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Then continue to process until mixture begins to clump together.
2. Scoop dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly until nearly smooth. Roll or pat dough to a 1/2-inch thickness. Using a floured 1-1/2-inch round cutter, cut out dough. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press scraps together and reroll.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until centers are set. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.
4. In a heavy small saucepan, melt white chocolate and shortening over low heat, stirring constantly. Place cookie in chocolate with fork, flip over, and remove with a fork and tap off excess on the side of the bowl. If desired, sprinkle with festive sprinkles, nonpareils or chopped pistachios. Let stand on waxed paper until set.