Samoa Girl Scout Cookie Layer Cake

Once upon a time, a year or two ago, I stumbled upon a recipe for homemade samoa girl scout cookies. They looked incredible, so I bookmarked the page and have occasionally dreamt of making them. Finally, with Sam's birthday, the opportunity presented itself. I decided to mesh the cookies and his birthday cake! And it was pretty amazing. It's kind of a labor of love, but if you have a few hours to spend in the kitchen, I definitely suggest giving this one a try!

I made two chocolate cakes, two samoa cookies the same size as the cakes, smaller cookies for the top, and caramel buttercream frosting. Then I layered them all together and drizzled caramel sauce on top and pressed toasted coconut on the sides to complete it. Now I'm just working on handing out the leftovers. That much cake is dangerous for a pregnant lady to have on hand!

Chocolate Cake

Mix together:

2 c. sugar

2 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Bring to a boil:

2 sticks butter

4 Tbsp. cocoa

1 cup water

Pour over the flour mixture and add:

2 eggs

1 c. buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix well and pour batter into two 8-inch round pans lined on the bottom with parchment paper, greased on the sides. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

For the frosting:

(Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats)

2 sticks butter, slightly softened

1 lb. powdered sugar, plus more as needed

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. caramel sauce (I used this homemade caramel, but you can use store bought)

pinch of kosher salt

2 Tbsp. evaporated milk

Whip together butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in remaining ingredients (make sure caramel sauce is not warm enough to melt butter). Add powdered sugar as needed to make frosting a good consistency.

For the cookies:

(Recipe adapted from Once Upon a Plate)

Shortbread Layer

2 sticks butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

up to 2 Tbsp. milk

Cream together butter and sugar. Add flour, baking powder, and salt at a low speed. Add vanilla and milk, adding only enough milk to make dough stick together well (you may not need any at all). The dough should not be overly sticky.

Press a layer about 1/4 inch thick into the bottom of 2 well-greased 8-inch round pans. You can cut a hole in the middle if desired, but since it will be covered it isn't necessary. Bake at 350 for approximately 15 minutes until edges are golden. Allow to cool 5 minutes in pan and remove from pans and set aside.

With the remainder of the dough, roll out and cut out smaller cookies about 1/4 inch thick. I cut them out using the lid of the non-stick cooking spray and cut out the middles using the large end of a frosting tip. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 12 minutes until edges are golden.

Caramel Topping

3 cups shredded coconut

12 ounces caramels

1/4 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. milk

Toast coconut by spreading on a baking sheet and baking at 300 degrees for 20 minutes or until coconut is golden, stirring every 5 minutes. Watch coconut frequently at the end, as it toasts quickly! Note: you should toast 4 cups of coconut and reserve 1 cup for decorating the cake.

Melt together caramels, salt, and milk in the microwave by cooking on high for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until smooth. Fold in 3 cups toasted coconut.

To assemble:

Melt 2 c. chocolate chips in the microwave and spread on the bottoms of the small and 8-inch cookies, reserving about 1/2 c. for drizzling. Allow to harden in the fridge. Flip cookies over and top with the warm caramel mixture. I found this easiest to do by smearing it on with wet fingers. Just dip your fingers in water as needed to prevent mixture from sticking. If mixture is too firm, microwave for a few seconds to soften it up. Put remaining melted chocolate in a plastic ziploc bag, snip off a tiny corner, and drizzle over cookies. Allow to harden in the fridge.

To assemble cake:

Place one 8-inch samoa cookie on a cake plate. Top with a thin layer of frosting and set one cake on top. Top with another thin layer of frosting, set the other 8-inch samoa cookie on top of frosting, and top with one more thin layer of frosting. Place other cake on top. Cover the entire cake with frosting, press reserved 1 c. toasted coconut onto the sides, drizzle caramel sauce on top, and finally top with smaller samoa cookies.

Lastly, ignore the fact that your finished cake has 7 sticks of butter in it and enjoy. :)

Grandma's Grape Salad

Grandma Campbell used to make this salad for family gatherings and I think I'm the only one who has the recipe. It's even more delicious when you don't think about how much cream cheese is in there!



Grapes (one large bunch)
2 cubes cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
Juice from one lime or lemon
Chopped walnuts

Cream together the cream cheese, sugar, and lime/lemon juice. Pour mixture over grapes and gently stir together. Stir the walnuts in last.

When I served this at a dinner party everyone raved over it, and someone asked me if it was made with Greek yogurt. Unfortunately, it wasn't that healthy! However, I think it would also be delicious with just one cube of cream cheese and a container of Greek yogurt.

Mango Jicama Salad

This delicious salad is like a party in your mouth. The sweetness of the blueberries and mangoes balances out the blandness of the jicama and the spicyness of the chile powder. Just a warning, though--it takes forever to chop up the mango and jicama into thin strips! I think if I ever make this again, I'll just cube everything (and it will be easier to eat, too). I think it tastes better with more lime juice and less chile powder (this is reflected in the recipe below).

Recipe originally from Whipped the Blog.

1 mango, peeled and cut in slices
1 jicama, peeled and cut in 1/4 inch strips
1/2 cup of blueberries
Juice of 1 lime (6 Tablespoons)
1 teaspoon chile powder (mild or spicy, whichever you prefer)
1/4 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
Sea salt

Put the mango, jicama and blueberries in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine lime juice and chili powder. Drizzle the dressing over the fruit. Sprinkle the cilantro on top. Gently toss together and season with sea salt to taste.

Mexican Haystacks

An old friend posted this recipe on her Facebook and I knew instantly it would be a hit here! As the recipe says, "It's a party in your mouth!"

Adapted from Whole and Free

2 cups brown rice, uncooked

1 bunch cilantro

1-2 lbs ground beef or turkey or diced chicken
1 onion, diced
1 Tbsp. garlic powder

2 cups salsa

2 avocados

2 mangoes

2 red peppers

Cook brown rice according to package directions (I always add another 1/2 c. water to mine to make it more sticky). Chop cilantro and stir together with rice. Cook meat together with onions, drain fat if necessary, and stir in garlic powder and salsa. Cook until heated through and slightly thickened. Dice avocados, mangoes, and red peppers. Assemble as desired and enjoy!