Healthier Samoas

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 42
• 1 cup margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar substitute
• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3 cups shredded coconut
• 12 ounces sugar-free caramel topping
• 8 ounces dark chocolate

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350°f
• 2 in a large mixing bowl, cream together margarine and sugar substitute. mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and water, adding in the water as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky. the dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.
• 3 roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. repeat with remaining dough.
• 4 bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set.
• 5 cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• 6 take oven temperature down to 300.
• 7 spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. set aside.
• 8 place caramel sauce in a large microwave-safe bowl and fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
• 9 spread the topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie.
• 10 while topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper.
• 11 transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.
• 12 let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.