I made another banana bread yesterday, but I was preoccupied, and forgot to add the coconut, which is what I did the last time I made banana bread. I loved how it came out (cranberry coconut banana bread), so I had planned to replicate it, but I also forgot to put the dusting of cocoa on top. However, I had some blackberries here, since they were on sale at Kroger, so I sliced those up and added them to the mixture. I haven't tasted it yet, but the bread looks moist and delicious. Since I have extra coconut now, I have decided to bake up a batch of coconut bars. My neighbors have been helping me a lot lately, and I'm going to give them at least half of the banana bread and some of the coconut bars. They love coconut, but she's trying to cut back on carbohydrates, so I don't want to overload them with both, and if I split them half and half with them, that should be good for us both. Since she doesn't make many treats, her hubby's always happy when I share mine. I'll freeze about half of what I keep, so nothing goes bad, and that helps keep me from overindulging. Here's the recipe for the Coconut Bars. I don't recall where I got the recipe because I forgot to note that on the recipe, which I came across it in my Recipes folder while I was looking for the Cranberry Banana Bread recipe the other day. Coconut Bars 1 cup (250 ml) all-purpose flour 1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder 4 Tbs (60 ml) butter 1 cup (250 ml) light brown sugar 1 egg, lightly beaten 1/2 tsp (2 ml) vanilla extract 1/2 cup (125 ml) coconut 1/2 cup (125 ml) chopped pecans or walnuts Combine the flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Add the to the flour mixture and stir to combine thoroughly. Stir in the coconut and nuts. Press into a lightly greased 8×8 inch (20×20 cm) baking pan and bake in a preheated 350F (180C) oven for 25 minutes. Cool and cut into bars. Serves 8 to 12.
View attachment 11726 Sounds delicious Diane, I'll have a try of this... ...but I'd have to leave the nuts out....and what about chocolate have you ever tried dipping the coconut bars in a thick chocolate casing..
My mouth is watering already Diane Lane! I think I would like these bars a little bit too much. I kind of think they would taste like Mounds bars. I love the Reese's Cups you can make at home, also known as Buckeyes, they are an easy recipe and the results are pretty fantastic. I try not to make too much of this kind of thing, because nobody I know needs it. They really are delicious though.
Oh my, those look amazing, @Holly Saunders. No, I've never tried dipping the coconut bars in a thick chocolate casing, but that looks like something I'd like to try. I'll have to see how the bars I make look when I'm finished, but if you have a recipe for what you posted, I'd like to try making those, as well. I was going to add chunks of chocolate into the mix for the coconut bars, but maybe I should just put a layer of chocolate on top. @K E Gordon I don't think I've ever tried making Reese's Cups at home, but I do think I've made some sort of truffle type of chocolate filled with peanut butter, and that might be similar to the Buckeyes. You can't go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate or coconut and chocolate, in my opinion.
Here's a very easy video recipe Diane... ( I use dark chocolate to coat instead of the Milk chocolate he uses in the video, but you can use anything you like, even white chocolate if you wish)
Well I'm not much of a candy maker or a baker either, so our home is a big fan for sugar free Russel Sover's candies and no sugar added or sugar free store bought desserts (we do cheat once in a while like getting Safeway's parfait for 1.79) The recipe looks delicious-thanks for the recipe! I love reading recipes.
@Krissttina Isobe I'm sure you could make them sugar-free if you wanted to. There are plenty of conversion charts online for doing so. There are even some major food blogs that specialize in sugar-free, vegan, etc., it seems there's a niche for every diet. I have a problem with artificial sweeteners exacerbating my symptoms, and have converted some of the sugar-free ones to sugar ones for that reason.
[ind again about acesulfame-5QUOTE="Diane Lane, post: 82300, member: 75"]@Krissttina Isobe I'm sure you could make them sugar-free if you wanted to. There are plenty of conversion charts online for doing so. There are even some major food blogs that specialize in sugar-free, vegan, etc., it seems there's a niche for every diet. I have a problem with artificial sweeteners exacerbating my symptoms, and have converted some of the sugar-free ones to sugar ones for that reason.[/QUOTE] Be very careful about sugar substitutes...found out aspartame is poison like formaldehyde & acesulfame-5 causes cancer! * http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/diet/artificial-sweeteners-fact-sheet * http://www.mercola.com/Downloads/bonus/aspartame/report.aspx I found an article that I can't find now that I can't find just now that acesulfame-5 causes cancer test.
Hallelujah, I finally made the coconut bars. I used sweetened coconut flakes, since that's what I had on hand, although they probably would have been fine with unsweetened, as well. I thought the mixture wasn't liquid enough once I mixed it, but it ended up turning out fine. I'm not used to making just an 8 x 8 pan of anything, since I tend to make larger batches and share, or at least freezing some of what I've made, but this was fine for a trial run. I had a little difficulty removing the center bars, so next time, I would probably lower the temperature a bit and cook them for a few more minutes, so the bottom could firm up just a bit more. I might also double the recipe and make them in a 9 x 13 pan, baking them a bit longer, to compensate for the increased volume. All in all, I like them, and will probably make them again. I'd considered adding some chocolate, but my stomach's been iffy lately, so I left that out, and didn't add the nuts called for in the recipe, since I didn't have any available.
My mother liked coconut, but I am not a big fan. However, I do appreciate people who know their way around a kitchen. The inside of the bars remind me of a sweet I used to purchase when I went to the movie theater. Almond Joy without the nuts?