Vegan (almost Raw) Girl Scout "Samoas" Cookies

How are you doing today?  I am glad that yesterday’s Vegan Bananas Foster had you thinkin’ about drinkin’…your dessert that is.  Thanks to all who chimed in on whether you drink and why or why not.  And thanks to all my commenters, both old and new alike.  I love your support & thank you!

Pre-Skylar, I was quite the drinker.  Even though I was very much into yoga and I was a vegetarian, I definitely imbibed.  Alot.  It was fun, but now that I have a small child, I’ve grown up a little, and getting sloshed doesn’t hold the appeal it once did for me, but I do have fond, raucous memories that I wouldn’t trade for the world of my past party days.

But on to today’s hotly anticipated recipe:  (almost) Raw Vegan Samoas!!!

This recipe is based on Shannon Marie’s creative genius.  I pulled it from We Like It Raw’s, the “Samoraws” recipe which was Shannon Marie’s contribution. I printed it out and referenced it but of course had to tweak it up, just a little here and there…

This is sorta a 3 part recipe.

First, you need to create the cookie base.  In and of itself, this is good enough to eat on it’s own and no dehydrator is needed.  Reread that. 

To make the cookie base I combined
1 c almond meal
1/4 c coconut flakes (I used sweetened and thus, not fully raw)
2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
2 Medjool Dates
1 Tsp Vanilla

And then I blended everything in the VitaCookieMaker 

And formed my cookie bases by hand.  I got 24 silver dollar sized cookies.

 

Again, this is a lovely dessert right at this point and you can stop at this point and still go to coconut heaven. This is your 1st dessert out of this recipe if you wanted to just call ‘er quits now.

I did not put these into my dehydrator like Shannon Marie’s recipe.  Instead, I let this tray just sit out on my countertop to dry out overnight.

In the morning I made the Samoas Topping.  This is a mind-blowing little diddy on it’s own and could be eaten by the spooooonful, no further action needed.  Nor do you even need to add to the cookie base.  You’ll see why.

To make the Somoas Topping I combined
12 Medjool Dates that I soaked…

And then

2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp Sunflower Seed Butter (Shannon Marie uses Almond Butter, but since I already had Sun Buttah open so I just rolled with that)
1 Tbsp Vanilla (she uses a Tsp)
1/8th cup (splash) of the date soaking water

1/2 c coconut flakes on toppa that

Blend

After powerblending, stir in another 1/2 c coconut flakes by hand in a bowl.  And again, this is the Somoas Topping.  Good enough to freakin’ devour on it’s own by the cupfull spoonful.  This is where you are getting a whole 2nd dessert out of this one recipe.

But to just finish off the job, let’s combine the cookie bases and the Samoas Topping.  I spooned a huge dollop of topping on each base.  If you wanted to, you could cut the Topping Recipe in HALF and still have plenty to work with. And I love my sweets, but this recipe, for me, made waaaaay more than necessary.  We entered glutton stage.  Oh well.

 

Next, I popped the 24 super heavy, gluttonous cookie bases all topped so heavily with the Topping Mixture into the Magic Box for 6 hours at 110F.  When I took it out, I had pure, unadulterated, Somoas Heaven. 

The bases were crunchy and the tops were moist, gooey, decadent, with the awesome flavor of Sunflower Butter and coconut and vanilla…

OMG the Girl Scouts would be proud of me.  And no, I don’t wanna be a Troop Leader.

But Mommy, will you help us get our Raw Cooking Badge for our Brownie Sash?

This mommy would rather go to 105 but in a pinch I can troop lead I suppose.

Oh and you can of course top these vegan yummies with chocolate icing or just smoosh some choco chips or dark chocolate chunks into that soft coconutty topping…..yum.

Final Comments:  I love making raw desserts and this one turned out delish but if you’re not into putzy futzy desserts, don’t embark on this.  I have to be honest that this one is quite a bit of work because you do have to make the bases, the topping, assemble, clean your VitaMonster, dehydrate and clean that up, ya know, it’s a full blown bakery in your kitch.  However, to really impress your friends, try the recipe just once!  Or better yet, impress yourself and prove to yourself that you are woman, hear you roar, and dammit, you can make Samoas!  

Things today were brought to you in VeganMofo spirit.

Yoga today is a floating version of Maricyasana A.  Kinda like I tweak recipes, I tweak yoga poses, too.  Float if you want to is my motto.

Tip of the Day: Brag about yourself…see my question….

What’s something that you never thought in a million years you could do or would do?  Easy answer for me would be making Vegan Samoas.  A little deeper would be running a half marathon for the first time, becoming a yoga teacher, or better yet, becoming a mother. 

What’s something you can’t believe you’ve accomplished?  I wanna hear you pat yourselves on the back, please!  Don’t be shy, brag!  Tell the world about how great you are!  As women I believe we can be a bit too gracious, a bit too humble, and we try to sweep our accomplishments under the rug and although no one likes a bragger all the time, every once in awhile it’s ok to let it all hang out.  Not only is it ok, it’s healthy and necessary to allow yourself the space to say yeah, dammit, I’m good enough, smart enough, and people like me!  Start bragging please & fill me in!

 Stay tuned for a saucy post…..

P.S. Michele’s Got an Amazing Kinda Contest going on…check it out! 

& Ellie has Yogurt Mania going on…check that out!