Day 3: Samoa Bark

Let's talk yummy treats for a minute.

I usually make some type of foodie treat to give to the administrative staff at the boys' elementary schools.  

Last year it was instant lattes in a jar:

The year before that, it was trail mix in a jar:

And then the chocolate dipped spoons:

And these little ornaments attached to boxes that I think were filled with Lindt truffles:

This year, I made some Samoa Bark from Cookies and Cups.  You can get the recipe here.

I did a trial run of this one just to make sure it would all work out and that it tasted good.  I substituted milk chocolate for the dark chocolate that the recipe called for--just my personal preference.

Chill in freezer

Here is why I am not a food blogger: I miss photographing steps.  This is where you will melt the caramels and mix it with the toasted coconut.

 Here's where I used semi sweet chocolate chips for this step.  I also put the melted chocolate into a baggie and snipped off the corner to make it easier to drizzle (not those pictured up there, though; notice the big glops of chocolate?!)

Chill in freezer and cut or break apart.

One thing I did learn on my third batch (figures the first two batches were fine, but I messed up the third).  You really want to press the cookies into the melted chocolate and then you want to press the caramel coconut layer firmly onto the cookies.  I didn't do that to the third batch and my layers separated when I cut into it.  I also found that breaking the bark was very difficult (I might have gotten distracted with another project and left it in the freezer too long...maybe), so cutting it with a pizza cutter worked much better for me.

Then, wrap them in a cellophane bag

Place them in a gift bag

And add a coordinating hang tag

All ready to be given away.

 These were very yummy, and I think they will be in next year's holiday cookie rotation.

Enjoy!