Samoa bark

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Recipe: Samoa Bark

Ingredients

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate + 2 oz for drizzle
35-40 shortbread cookies (I used Lorna Doone)
14 oz bag of caramels
3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
3 Tbsp water
Instructions

Line a baking sheet with foil. Set aside.
Melt 12 oz of semi-sweet chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave. (I prefer double boiler).
Spread the melted chocolate to your desired thickness…I went thin-ish.
Top your warm chocolate evenly with your shortbread cookies.
Place baking sheet in freezer while you do the next steps.
In a non-stick skillet on medium-low heat, toast your coconut, stirring occasionally. This will take about 10 minutes or so, but be watchful because once it starts to brown it happens quickly and you do not want to burn the coconut! When the coconut is toasted, set aside.
Meanwhile unwrap all your caramels and place them in a medium saucepan along with 2 Tbsp of water over medium-low heat.
Stir continuously until the caramel has JUST melted. You don’t want to over heat the caramel, as it will make it hard. Immediately fold in your toasted coconut.
Remove your chocolate from the freezer and spread the caramel/coconut evenly on top.
Melt your remaining 2 oz of chocolate using whatever melting process you prefer and drizzle over the top of the caramel/coconut.
Put back in the freezer for 5 minutes to set the chocolate.
Cut and enjoy!
Quick notes

Cut using a sharp knife in the size/shape of your choosing. Store in an airtight container.

Snow day treats: Popcorn Cake

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I found this fun no-bake recipe in an old cookbook. We are stuck at home on this snow day, so I could not add m&ms or peanuts as called for in the original recipe. I just dug around in the pantry and used up bags of chocolate chips, mini chips, white chips, butterscotch chips and pecans to mix in the cake instead.

Popcorn cake

20 to 30 cups of popped corn
1/2 cup butter
21 ounces mini marshmallows
4 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips, Or a mixture of white, semisweet, butterscotch, mini or m&ms
1 cup chopped nuts or salted peanuts

Remove any unpopped kernels of corn from measured popped corn. Make a syrup from the butter, marshmallows and vanilla and pour over the popped corn. Melt the butter in the microwave for 45 seconds add marshmallows and microwave for 45 seconds, stir and then microwave again for 45 seconds and stir until smooth and add the vanilla. Stir in the candy and nuts.

With well greased hands, firmly press mixture into a well-greased large tube pan. An angel food cake pan works great. Allow to stand 10 minutes; then loosen and turn out onto a cake plate. If not using immediately, cool throughly and wrap in plastic to store or freeze.