Spurious Samoa Squares

Here's a new word I learned today-- "spurious" is a synonym for "fake"! ;)

I wanted something with alliteration for my post title!

 

ANYWAY-

It's been a cold winter here in Ohio, and one of the great things about the cold is that it's a great excuse to turn on my oven!! ;)

 

Girl Scout cookies won't be delivered for several weeks, and today, I had a craving for some Samoas, (the coconuty/caramely/chocolatey cookies), so I made this QUICK and super-easy recipe that I heavily adapted from Martha Stewart.

 

Preheat oven to 375*F; line a 10x15" pan with parchment paper.

Crush graham crackers in your food processor, OR buy pre-made ones.

          The original recipe calls for:

           1/4 Cup sugar

           1 and 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 Cup total); melted

           3 Cups graham cracker crumbs

 

BUT today I took OUT the sugar (who needs the extra calories?!), and did something I think I will ALWAYS do for the rest of my baking life!

Wanna hear my healthy trick of the day?! :)

(I'm super pumped about it.) :)

 

Ground Flaxseed is literally THE SAME TEXTURE as Graham cracker crumbs.  Replacing some of the cookie crumbs with the ground flaxseed helps provide amazing nutrients for your body AND cut down on sugar!!  YAY!

 

Today I replaced 1/3(ish) cup of the Graham cracker crumbs with ground flaxseed-- but maybe in the future I will do more?! :)

 

Another great substitute I could have done, but didn't think of until afterward, was to substitute some/all of the butter for coconut oil. (Next time!)... :)

 

 

Anyway, after combining the ground flaxseed/Graham cracker crumbs and melted butter (and/or coconut oil), spread in your parchment-lined 10x15'' pan until it looks like this:

 

 

Then, bake at 375*F for 5 minutes, then rotate the pan, then 5 more minutes.

Take the crust out and let it cool a little.

 

 

Sprinkle 1 cup of pecan pieces AND 1 cup  (I probably did 1 and 1/3 cups... haha) ;) of chocolate chips.

 

 

Then you'll need a regular 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk. Have I ever mentioned that this can opener is one of my FAVORITE kitchen gadgets?! Completely life-changing. :)

 

 

Anyway, open that can of sweetened condensed milk and pour it over everything.

 

 

 

Sprinkle the "spurious Samoas" with 1 and a 1/2 cups of shredded coconut (I love to use unsweetened because with all of this... do we really need extra sugar?! I think not.)

Bake in your oven (which you left at 375*F) for 10 minutes-- until your coconut is gloriously toasted!

 

 

COOL-- and then cut into squares/bars/whatever --- and enjoy! :)