Coconut Pecan Bars

I searched for quite a while to find which cookies to bake this week. I had planned to not make a bar cookie, but that’s what I ended up with anyway! My husband the other night was asking if we had any cake, and the cake (well the frosting really) we like a lot is chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting. We didn’t have cake, but when I came across this bar cookie with a topping very similar to coconut pecan frosting, I knew I couldn’t resist.

I made the base as originally was stated in the recipe, but I couldn’t get it to cover the base of the pan. I made a little bit more of the base and then I was ok. The amounts in the recipe below reflect the larger quantity of base ingredients. There seemed to be plenty of topping, so I didn’t change anything from that part of the recipe. 

These do bake up quickly, which is nice. Mine got a little too browned along the edges, where there wasn’t as much of the coconut pecan topping. These bars don’t look super fancy, but they are the perfect bar for me. The shortbread crust remains crisp but the topping turns into a gooey, brown sugar topping, similar to the filling in pecan pie. These bars are really wonderful and while they aren’t quite cake with coconut pecan frosting, they have some of the same flavors.

Coconut Pecan Bars

1/2 cup butter, softened

1-3/4 cups packed brown sugar, divided

1-3/4 cups flour, divided

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

1-1/2 cups sweetened coconut

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, cream together the butter and 3/4 cup of the brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add 1-1/2 cups of the flour and mix on low until the mixture comes together. It may be slightly crumbly. Press evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 12 minutes. Make the topping while the crust is baking.

In the same mixer bowl, mix together the remaining cup of brown sugar and ¼ cup of flour. Stir in the eggs, vanilla and salt. Add the chopped pecans and coconut and stir with a spatula. Carefully spread the mixture over the partially baked crust.

Bake for an additional 15 minutes, until browned. Cool completely.

Lift the bars by the foil and remove from the pan. Peel away the foil and cut into bars.

Recipe from Taste and Tell