-
1
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350u00b0 F.
-
2
Start by making the shortbread cookie base: In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar using a wooden spoon, hand mixer, or stand mixer. Mix in the vanilla and salt, then add the flour and mix to combine. Bring the dough together and dump it onto a lightly floured surface.
-
3
Roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thick, turning it often to prevent sticking and adding extra flour as needed.
-
4
Using a doughnut cutter or two round cutters (2 1/2-inch and 1-inch rounds), cut the cookie dough into inner tube shapes.
-
5
Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until cookies are just turning golden brown around the edges. Let cool completely.
-
6
Keeping the oven on, toast the coconut (you can also toast it as the cookies bake). Spread the coconut into a single layer and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until golden brown. Let cool completely
-
7
While the cookies are cooling, finish the caramel topping. Before making the caramel, have all the ingredients measured out and ready to go. In a large pot, combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Do not stir once the mixture starts boiling. Let the liquid bubble until the sugar turns amber in color, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and quickly add butter, cream, vanilla, and salt. The caramel will sputter quite a bit, so stand back and be careful.
-
8
Set aside 1/4 cup of the caramel in a small bowl. Add the toasted coconut to the remaining caramel in the pot. Let cool slightly. Using a spoon, drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon of the reserved caramel on top of each cookie. Using your hands, put about 1 tablespoon coconut-caramel mixture on top of the caramel. Once each cookie has coconut topping, place in fridge to set for 10 minutes.
-
9
Melt chocolate in microwave on 30 second blasts. Dip bottoms of each cookie in the melted chocolate, leave to set upside down (chocolate side up) in the fridge for 5 minutes.
-
10
Once the chocolate has set, drizzle the remaining chocolate over top of the cookies. You can do this with a spoon or a fork, or you can pop the remaining chocolate in a plastic bag, cut a small hole in the corner, and pipe the chocolate on each cookie.
-
11
Place back in the fridge to set, about 5 minutes. They'll keep for one week in a sealed container, and for many more weeks in the freezer.
