Coconut

Coconut Dream Bars

by:
March 18, 2015
4.7
3 Ratings
Coconut Dream Bars
Photo by Mark Weinberg
  • Makes 9 bars
Author Notes

This classic back of the box recipe (adapted from the Baker's Angel Flake coconut bag) gets a modern makeover with flaked unsweetened coconut. —Posie (Harwood) Brien

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the shortbread layer
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • For the coconut layer
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350° F and line a 8-inch square pan with a parchment sling. Grease the parchment liberally (YOLO).
  2. Mix together the softened butter, flour, and brown sugar. Press the dough into the base of your pan, making sure to keep the layer even. Prick the dough in several places with a fork.
  3. Bake the bottom layer for 15 minutes.
  4. In a stand mixer, beat the two eggs on high until very pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add the brown sugar and beat for several minutes, until light and thick.
  5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add it to the egg mixture along with the coconut, vanilla, and nuts. Mix until thoroughly blended.
  6. Pour the coconut mixture over the shortbread crust. Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Let cool, then slice and remove from pan.
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See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Jeffrey Bowen
    Jeffrey Bowen
  • Trav Wisniewski
    Trav Wisniewski
  • Donald Partlan
    Donald Partlan
  • Posie (Harwood) Brien
    Posie (Harwood) Brien

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10 Reviews

Gabriela
Gabriela December 25, 2016
Excellent! Even better when you substitute chocolate chips for the walnuts.
 
Vicki
Vicki April 28, 2016
I'm back to say it worked. I baked them an additional 8 minutes and pressed the bars down. Now they are more like cookies, crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. Lovely!
 
Vicki
Vicki April 28, 2016
The bars have a nice flavor, but came out too sticky and have an under cooked taste? I'm going to try baking the cut bars some more hoping to make them more dry and crunchy. I did the full baking time on both parts of the recipe and my oven is perfectly calibrated.
 
Jeffrey B.
Jeffrey B. March 30, 2016
Made this the other day. The only change I made was I added melted 4 oz chocolate bakers to the top. Nice little candy bar
 
Trav W.
Trav W. February 16, 2016
My grandmother used to make these & they were my favorite. Been looking for a recipe. Thank you!
 
recho
recho October 8, 2015
These are delicious, thank you for the recipe! The base has almost a brown-butter flavor. I love the texture contrast with the flaked coconut
 
Megan
Megan April 2, 2015
I used all unsweetened coconut and did not add walnuts. Added dark chocolate chips. Mixed all by hand. Very good! Still very sweet/rich though. Next time I will try cutting back the sugar in the coconut mixture. Thanks for the recipe!
 
Donald P.
Donald P. March 24, 2015
I liked the shortbread, but that's too much coconut on top. Also, my results didn't look like the photo above. Not that much texture...a smoother look of just the batter.
 
fearlessem
fearlessem March 22, 2015
I wanted to love these, but I guess I was hoping for a little more textural contrast between the base and the topping. They both blended together into one semi-crumbly semi-cakey mass. I think this might be better with a graham cracker base...
 
Posie (.
Posie (. March 22, 2015
Sorry they didn't turn out for you! If you want more distinction between the layers, you could try using all sweetened shredded coconut instead of a mix of flaked and shredded -- that would make the top layer more moist and chewy compared to the shortbread base.