samoa brownies aka german chocolate brownies

the question on your mind is, "do they taste as good as they look?" the answer, yes.... yes they do. they are caramely and chewy and pretty much as sweet as you can possibly make something. i converted this recipe from one i found called samoa brownies but in retrospect they are much more like german chocolate brownies than anything else, so if you like caramel, chocolate and coconut, read on brother, read on. there are basically 3 elements to this decadent dessert, making the brownies, toasting the coconut and making the caramel, the rest is just flair to make it look good. i started with the caramel first because it needs to cool a little before adding the coconut and being poured on the brownies. a word to the wise, this dessert needs time to cool, you can't just eat it hot or it will be, literally, a hot mess. so here we go!

the caramel sauce is the same that is in my previous post, i doubled the recipe and that was the perfect amount for topping of the brownies. let it cool in fridge but not till it gets hard.

Fudgey Dark Chocolate chip brownies (amazing by themselves too!)

Ingredients:

1. 5 unsweetened chocolate squares
2. 1 1/2 sticks of butter
3. 4 eggs
4. 2 cups of white sugar
5. 2 teaspoons vanilla
   
6. 1 1/3 cups gluten free flour combo (i use 2/3 cups potato starch 2/3 cup brown rice flour)
7. 2 pinches of salt
   
8. 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
9. 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350
2. grease 9x13 baking dish
3. in saucepan over med heat melt together unsweetened chocolate squares and butter, stirring occasionally. set aside and let cool slightly.
4. in a large mixing bowl whisk together eggs, sugar and vanilla until creamy
5. whisk in melted chocolate, slowly pouring in the chocolate (so you don't cook the eggs)
6. switch to a large spoon and mix in the flours, salt and xanthan gum
   
7. fold in cup of chocolate chips
   
8. pour batter into pan and smooth top
9. bake for 20-30 minutes (check after 20, do not over cook, the world hates a dry brownie) test with a toothpick in several places
10. let cool (for this recipe put in the fridge to cool quickly)

melted chocolate squares and butter

eggs
sugar added to the eggs
vanilla

adding the chocolate to the eggs
the flour
flour added to mix
mix till smooth
add chocolate chips

pour into the pan

toasted coconut:

1. take 3 cups of shredded coconut (i use sweetened, next time i might do unsweetened since it is smothered in caramel anyway!) and place in a large non-stick pan
2. turn burner to med high heat and stir coconut continuously until golden brown
3. set aside

coconut in pan

the toasted coconut

the toasted coconut added to the caramel

assembly:

1. take all but 1/2 cup of the toasted coconut and pour into the bowl of caramel, stirring until the coconut is covered thoroughly
   
2. pour and smooth the coconut/caramel mixture onto the brownies
3. let cool in fridge for at least an hour
   
4. once cooled , take 1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips (i did not mention this earlier but you should have some left over from the bag you opened to add to the brownies) put in a bowl and microwave it until melted and smooth
5. drizzle the chocolate over the bars, not to cover completely but so you can see little chocolatey squiggles over the top of them.
6. take the 1/2 cup toasted coconut that you had put aside and sprinkle over the top of the bars.
   
7. get a HUGE glass of milk and enjoy!