I never reached full-fledged girl scout status, but for a couple of years I was a brownie with a bad attitude.  I liked the crafts (who doesn’t love making Christmas ornaments out of tuna cans) and hanging out with fellow brownies, but I HATED the uniform.  Actually I hated two specific parts of the uniform: the brown, elastic-waisted, polyester pants (I mean come on, we were 6 not 60) and the felt beanie.  Thank-fully I had the fashion option to wear the polyester jumper, rather than pants, but I was obligated to wear an inane beanie at various Brownie functions, which at six-years old was a devastating experience.  I was a bit of a diva then.  I hated it so much that after a year of enduring a brown, felt bowl on my head, I begged my mother to let me retire from brownies.  Alas, she was a co-leader and there was  no way she was going to suffer through selling cookies, organizing crafts and going to weekly meetings without me suffering as well.  So for another year I endured the mud-colored skullcap and my mother enduring me whining and complaining about it. Here is a photo of me sulking before a parade, and yes, I’m sulking because I have to wear the beanie.  Bless my parents for having to deal with such a drama queen. I actually think Girl Scouts is an amazing organization.  Don’t be a diva ladies, you will miss out like I did.  Right now is Girl Scout cookie season, so I have paired up with DirtPlate to create a post about Girl Scout Cookies.My favorite cookie then and now is Samoa cookie.  It has everything wonderful in it: caramel, chocolate, coconut, and deliciousness.  I used the Samoa as my inspiration for caramel apples.  They were almost as amazing as the cookie.Girl Scout Inspired Samoa Caramel Apples

5 wooden craft sticks or you can be like me, forget to buy the sticks and have to cut branches out of your tree in the front yard.  Looks cool, but make sure you don’t pick a poisonous tree.  

4 medium apples, washed and dried  

Cooking spray  1 (11 oz) bag caramel bits (Kraft)  

2 tablespoons whipping cream  

1 (7 oz) tub dipping chocolate (Baker’s)  

1/2 cup toasted coconut (toast coconut by spreading flaked coconut on a baking sheet and bake at 350F for 6-8 minutes. It burns quickly {seriously, it can burn in 5 to 10 seconds so watch it closely} let cool)

Insert wooden craft sticks into stem end of each apple. Line baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper; spray paper with cooking spray. Place caramel bits and cream in a medium saucepan. Cook on medium-low heat 3 minutes or until completely melted, stirring constantly. Dip apples into melted caramel, spooning caramel over apples. Allow excess caramel to drip off. Place apples onto prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate 1 hour. Melt dipping chocolate according to package directions; drizzle chocolate over apples. Immediately sprinkle with toasted coconut.Recipe Options 

Options-Mix the coconut into the hot caramel and then dip in chocolate once caramel is cooled.

Options-Dip the caramel apple in the chocolate, then sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Behind the Scenes