Raw Samoa Cookies

I started craving these around Christmas time, and have been waiting since for girl scout cookie season to arrive so I could try to replicate one of my favorites. If you have never had the Samoa girl scout cookie, please do, they will change your cookie life. If you have had them, this is very good news because you can now have them in a healthier, raw form! The flavor was outstanding, I don't miss the real things one bit. Oh so very excited to be sharing this recipe with you all and hope you get the chance to make these cute little cookies (or have someone else who dearly loves you make them instead!). 

Makes about 30 cookies.

Ingredients

Shortbread Cookies

1 cup raw walnuts

1 cup raw cashews

3 tablespoons raw agave

1 teaspoon water

Caramel

1 cup firmly packed dates, pitted

3 tablespoons water

Dried, unsweetened coconut for topping

Chocolate Drizzle

1/4 cup raw cacao powder

1/4 cup coconut oil, liquid form

1-2 tablespoons raw agave or honey

Begin making the caramel by combining the dates and water in a food processor and processing until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed. Transfer the caramel to a small dish and clean the processor bowl and blade to make the cookie dough. 

For the shortbread cookies, process the walnuts and cashews in the food processor until they resemble a fine meal. Then add in the agave, process until crumbly, and add in the teaspoon of water. Process until a large sticky ball of dough is whirling around in your bowl. Remove the dough, place it between two sheets of parchment paper, and roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut the cookies out of the dough using a small circle cookie cutter (mine was about 2 inches in diameter), and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet that will fit in your freezer. Spoon a teaspoon of the raw caramel on top of each cookie and sprinkle/press in a pinch or two of the dried coconut on top. 

For the chocolate drizzle, combine the above ingredients in a small bowl and then freeze for a few minutes to firm up the chocolate a bit (I had my bowl in the freezer for about 10 minutes, checking on it every 2-3 minutes and giving it a stir). Once the chocolate thickens up, its ready to be piped on top of the cookies. I used a fancy plastic sandwich bag with a cut corner, and it did the trick! The chocolate can be very messy and temperamental, though, and a lot of patience was needed on my part to work with it successfully. Since it contains coconut oil, it's all about working with it at the right temperature, so you may have to chill and thaw it a few times until you find the right consistency. 

Freeze the sheet of cookies for 30 minutes before transferring to an airtight container and storing in the freezer until real to serve.