As many of you are aware, the season of delicious cookies sold by excited Girl Scouts is upon us! I grew up in Girl Scouts, and have always had a special place in my heart for these delightful treats that only come once a year. While I was lamenting the fact that nary a Girl Scout has solicited us for a cookie order, I decided to whip up a tasty treat of my own. I had never made blondies before (*gasp*), so I decided to try them out. I fell in love with these super simple, rich, chewy cookie/brownie hybrids. They were so easy to make! As we were reveling in the light caramel notes that come from the volume of brown sugar, I knew that blondies inspired by one of my favorite Girl Scout cookies would be next on my list of things to bake. Here’s how to make your own!
You will need:
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Salt
1 ½ cups Brown Sugar (I used light brown sugar)
¾ cup Unsalted Butter
2 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla
1 cup Dark Chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup Coconut Flakes
Optional (and by optional, I mean necessary):
Caramel Sauce for topping
Melted Chocolate for drizzling
Toasted Coconut for sprinkling
To begin, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Set out your ingredients, and whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Next, melt your butter and let it cool just a bit. Once it’s not piping hot, thoroughly incorporate the brown sugar into the melted butter. Next, whisk in the eggs and vanilla.
Now, fold the butter mixture into the flour mixture. Don’t over-mix this. Now comes the fun part! All of the delicious add-ins!
Sprinkle in the chocolate pieces and coconut, and make sure they are evenly dispersed through the batter. (Also be sure to make a giant mess. Some flour on the floor, spilled butter on the counter, and dirty bowls abounding really adds to the fun!)
These will be baked in a 13″x9″ pan outfitted with parchment paper. Make sure that the parchment paper has some overhang. This will make it easier to lift the blondies from the pan.
Bake the blondies for about 25 minutes. Make sure to rotate the pan halfway through baking.
When they are done, the blondies will look somewhat like brownies. They will have a shiny crust on top, and lightly browned edges.
Let the blondies cool in the pan for about 15 minutes to let them set up a bit before lifting them out.
Use the edges of the parchment paper to help you lift the blondies from the pan. Let them cool a bit longer before cutting them. I like to put mine on a cooling rack to make this process quicker.
Once they have cooled for 15 additional minutes, cut the blondies into squares. I like to use a pizza cutter. It makes clean edges, and it’s less work! You could be reasonable and cut them into 24 squares or so, but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like a giant blondie, so we cut ours into 12 squares. Just know that it *can* serve more than 12.
Next comes the blondie “embellishment,” as I like to call it. I based my toppings on the classic Girl Scout cookie, and went with caramel, chocolate, and toasted coconut. Just give them a zig of caramel sauce, a zag of melted chocolate, and a little sprinkle of toasted coconut. You can use store-bought caramel for the topping, or you can make your own. I love Pioneer Woman’s caramel sauce. It fits perfectly with this blondie recipe because it uses 4 tablespoons (½ stick) of butter, which is exactly what you will have leftover after using 1 ½ sticks in the actual blondie recipe. You can also keep the leftover caramel sauce in the fridge and use it to top ice cream, apple slices, or a cheesecake (that escalated quickly).
However you top your Samoa blondies, they are sure to be a hit with those Girl Scout cookie lovers! Happy baking!
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