SWEET TREATS
from the Kitchen of Kim Gunia
4-Ingredient Samoas
Ingredients:
1 cup pitted medjool dates 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips or a chopped bar 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (optional) 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400°F. Spread the shredded coconut onto a baking sheet for toasting. Place in oven for 5-10 minutes, until coconut is a light golden brown color. Make sure to stay in the kitchen watch the coconut, as it can easily go from toasted to burnt. Alternately, you can toast the coconut in a pan on the stove-top.
2. Add dates and toasted coconut into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until mixture is combined and starts to form a ball of dough.
3. Remove from food processor, roll 1 Tablespoon size pieces of dough into a ball and then shape into a round cookie. Using a straw or chopstick punch a hole in the middle of the dough. Move the straw or chopstick around a bit to make the hole wider, if needed. At this point you’ll likely need to reshape the cookie a bit.
4. Place all cookies on a sheet lined with parchment and transfer to the freezer to harden up a bit.
5. While cookies are in the freezer, add chocolate and coconut oil to a shallow microwave-safe bowl and melt in 20-30 second increments until the chocolate is melted enough to drizzle.
6. Grab cookies from the freezer and dip each one in the chocolate to coat the bottom. Place cookies on the parchment and use remaining chocolate to drizzle over top the cookies. Transfer cookies back into the freezer for 10-15 minutes to let the chocolate harden. Once they’ve hardened you’ll be able to easily remove the cookies from the parchment paper. If you want to enjoy right away, let them sit out on the counter for a few minutes. For enjoying later, store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to one week.
For the Thanksgiving cookie table, we add pumpkin purée to the food processor mixture. So many ways to change up this recipe, and make into your own Thanksgiving family favorite.