If you, dear reader, have ever been a Girl Scout, you will understand when I say that selling cookies is serious. How well I remember racing down the street against fellow Brownie Brenda Walesky as we both fought to get to Mrs. Johnson’s house first because she always bought 30 boxes of cookies and froze them but then I tripped on my shoelace and fell ripping my Brownie sash which had like three badges already and getting my new Brownie beret covered in dirty slush and crying because Brenda Walesky always sold the most anyway because her dad was like the foreman at the factory and it was really unfair that she had to take Mrs. Johnson who was on my side of the street anyway. Not that I’m bitter.

Thirty years later nothing has changed and so when we got our cookie sale packs late and had one week to sell which, of course, was the week when no sane person went outside because we got 9″ of snow and the thermometer hit 14 below, we still managed to sell $73 dollars worth of cookies to a kind hearted soul who took pity on my daughter (yes, that would be me).  Not that we wouldn’t have bought them anyway.  My husband and daughter wait all year for those Girl Scout Samoa cookies.   And since I got tired of my daughter asking when they’ll be in, I thought I’d give a try at making them myself to tide us over until they arrive.   If you’re jonesing for a bite of coconutty goodness, today is your lucky day.

I cheated and started with chocolate covered shortbread cookies.  I used Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies.

Here’s the official version:

Almost Girl Scout Samoa Cookies

• 1 box chocolate covered shortbread cookies (like Keebler Chocolate Stripes)
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. light corn syrup
• 1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups toasted coconut (I toasted mine in the oven for about 10 minutes at 400 stirring occasionally)
• 1 cup chocolate chips for drizzling

Put a cookie into each tin of a muffin pan.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the butter, sugar and corn syrup and heat to a full boil while constantly stirring.

Boil for three minutes, stirring constantly.

Slowly pour in the sweetened condensed milk and continue cooking until the mixture reaches about 200-210º Farenheit on a candy thermometer.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Immediately stir in toasted coconut and mix well. Spoon teaspoonfuls over shortbread cookies. Let the cookies chill a while (you know, give ‘em some space).

Melt chocolate chips and drizzle stripes over cookies. Try to control yourself.

My daughter’s verdict?  Better than the real ones!

Take that, Brenda Walesky!