Coconut Lemon Bars
May 16, 2012 in bars
A few weeks ago I spent an entire weekend going through every cookbook I own and inputting each recipe that I wanted to make into a spreadsheet. I have some amazing cookbooks but I very rarely open them since recipes are so easily accessible on the internet these days. When I want to make something, I search Pinterest and bam, it spits out 50 different recipes of whatever it was that I wanted to make. So my cookbooks have been crazy neglected and I want that to change!
By day 2 of that little project I was pretty sick of going through recipes and started including recipes based solely on their name. Like these guys. They were called Lemon Bars and I added them to my spreadsheet because I love traditional lemon bars – the shortbread crust, a thick layer of lemon curd, and then a dusting of powdered sugar. I love those.
These are not those obviously.
Lemon Bars is probably the last thing I would have called these. They have a shortbread-esque crust but it’s made with brown sugar. Then – and this is going to sound completely crazy – you cover it with what basically amounts to German chocolate frosting (you know, the coconut pecan stuff), and then you bake it. And then finally the lemon comes into play when you glaze them hot out of the oven.
When these bars went into the oven I thought “Omg, this is one of the biggest disasters I’ve had in awhile” because they were so ugly. And then I said it again when they came out of the oven. But they are so tasty – I can’t even explain it. Coconut and lemon are perfect together anyway but for some reason it’s fantastic with the buttery crust and the slight crunch of the pecans.
You should make these. You’re going to call me nasty names as you’re making them but I promise you’re going to be pleasantly surprised.
(Also, can we talk about how cah-razy is it that I’m posting recipes from FOUR years ago down below?! Even crazier to think that it would be 5 years ago if I’d stuck with the same URL! I need a new hobby… Kidding!)
Four years ago: Cinnabon Knock-offs
| Coconut Lemon Bars |
- For the crust:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- For the filling:
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups coconut
- For the glaze:
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- juice of 1 lemon
- Preheat oven to 275F. Line a 9×13-inch bakng pan with parchment or spray with non-stick spray.
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat flour, butter, and brown sugar until combined. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes; remove from oven.
- Increase oven temperature to 350F.
- In another medium mixing bowl, beat together eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Sift in flour and baking powde; beat until just combined. Use a rubber spatula to fold in pecans and coconut.
- Pour the filling over the crust. Bake for 20 minutes or until set.
- Whisk together powdered sugar, melted butter, and lemon juice.
- Drizzle glaze on the bars as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Cool the bars completely before cutting.
