Sometimes, I just can’t bear to keep a recipe from you for one more second. This is one of those times. I just enjoyed one of these for dessert and it feels wrong that you don’t know about them yet. I don’t even know how much Girl Scout cookies go for now but I’m certain that they are way more than the $2.50 they cost when I was hustling them. (Insert depressingly accurate statement about how I suddenly feel super old.) While we still happily support the Girl Scouts whenever we are approached to buy cookies, we almost never end up eating them. The boxes get shoved farther and farther back in the pantry, resorted to only in the most dire of dessert emergencies. My overall experience of them is nostalgic but I always end up feeling a bit disappointed by the actual taste. Like, did I really just waste calories on that? This might make me crazy, I know. I am what I am, and I’m cool with it.
Samoas were always my absolute favorite of the cookies. I loved them dearly. I’ve made homemade versions of the cookies in the past and, while they are wonderful, I prefer a simplified version that still has that amazing flavor combo I love so much without rolling, cutting, dipping, etc. I decided to experiment with a bar version of this beloved cookie. I ended up taking various elements from the samoa cupcakes I made not too very long ago, and adapting to bar cookie form. In case you were wondering, this is the perfect reason to make a batch of homemade vanilla bean caramels. They definitely take the flavor to the next level. These bars turned out even better than I could have hoped for and now I’m just going to stop talking so you can make them ASAP.