Chewy Coconut Bars - The Brownie's Lesser Known Cousin

The holidays lend me so much to be grateful for, my family, good health, and coconut bars! Well, less than good health after you eat them. But isn't that what the holidays are about. We suffer and scrape by on atkins and or weight watchers for the better part of the year just so we can eat chewy coconut bars today. This holiday season don't you think your family deserves to indulge a little, and what better way to gain back those 3 pounds than with this scrumptious chow-fection.

So before I start this recipe I want to get something off my chest. It's been really bugging me and, I don't think I can hold it in any longer. Okay...sigh...I guess here it goes. I really don't like n...uts in my desserts. Am I the only one who feels this way. I don't like it when you try to take a bite of something moist and chewy and then there's a nut obstructing your chew. It's like when you're on a date and you want to have this intimate moment with someone but your creepy friend is tagging along. Nuts are creepy friends. Actually that's where the origin of the word came from. When someone is being creepy, borderline stalkerish, you call them a nut. But anyways that's why in this recipe I didn't add any almonds or cashews, although you totally could and turn this into an homage to "almond joys". Keep in mind though I'm not saying that nuts do not have their place in the kitchen. I'm simply stating that I don't like them in my bars. Regardless they're going to taste great. However, such as cooking we live and learn and I did have some improvements to this recipe but you're just gonna have to read the post to find out.

Preheat your oven to 350. To start I'm going to cream together my butter and my sugar with my handy dandy spoonula. I didn't have the patience to do this but make sure you're butter is up to room temperature because that will make it a lot easier to incorporate into the sugar. Hence the lumps of butter in my batter. (In hindsight it really didn't matter)

If you look at the bottom of the post the recipe asks for packed brown sugar. What's the difference if I just scoop out a cup? Well if you've played with brown sugar you know that if you squeeze it it'll collapse. Volume measurements for brown sugar can only be precise if as a baker you have a consistent way of measuring. Otherwise you'll have cookies that are too sweet on tuesday, while one wednesday they'll be bland. The correct way to measure dry ingredients however, like flour, is to pile it in as lightly as you can and level off. Once your butter and sugar have creamed add in your eggs and your vanilla and combine. Also, as you can see, I didn't do that either and mine was a little harder to cream. In my defense my job isn't to show you how to do it,  it's to be the guinea pig to show you what not to do, so technically I did that on purpose. (Nice Save) By the way I just want to add that I'm not sponsored by Rubbermaid. The spoonula was just trying to let his family know that he's fine and to call the authorities to look into his kidnap. Just for the record I call it surprise adoption not kidnap.   Anyways, once it's all combined we can add in our dry ingredients, that would be the flour, the baking powder, and the salt.

With a batter like this one you don't need to worry too much about over mixing because it's not something like a muffin which needs to be light and fluffy. Next combine your coconut and the chocolate. Nuts are to also be added at this stage if you're feeling in that mood.

Right now is as good as any to tell you that I made a third mistake by not putting enough coconut. Not only are these called Chewy Coconut Bars, but the coconut provides the stability that the bars need when they are being cut. So as beautiful as mine turned out enhanced by a light coat of Photoshop, they could have been a million times better. But you won't make that mistake because I made it for you, your're welcome.

At this stage you should have a thick tan mixture resembling that of a brownie batter. Pour this into a greased 9 by 13 inch baking pan and evenly spread it around making sure to touch the corners of the pan with the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden and a toothpick comes out cleanly. Please please please do not cut into these hot. Because the butter content in this is pretty high if you cut into them warm they will most certainly fall apart. Once they have cold down, about 20 minutes. Transfer them to the refrigerator where you should hold them until they are nice and hard. Slice them in the pan and use a spatula to remove them. You can get 16 good sized pieces but if you're serving a large crowd cutting them in half will not offend anyone.

So there you have it my chewy coconut bars perfect for any holiday gatherings or just sharing with your loved ones. They definitely live up to their word and the nice part about them is they weren't too sweet. Although mine turned out delicious there were some flaws, but I only have confidence that you will thrive from my mistakes. Keep scrolling down for my *improved* recipe and check back soon for another delicious chow-fection. And as always,

Chow!

Recipe

Chewy Coconut Bars
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips (semi-sweet is substitutable)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or almonds (optional)
1 1/2 cup shredded coconut


This recipe was modified from from the amazing allrecipes.com so click the link to see the original

You Might Like:

How To Prepare A Coconut
Assorted Macaroons
Homemade Sweetened Coconut Flakes

Coming Soon - Chewy Coconut Bars

Maybe I have a coconut fetish, or I accidently bought too much but here I am again will another coconut recipe. In the coming days I'll be showing you the perfect holiday, work, potluck offering that will not only be delicious, but easy to make. These relatives of the fudgy brownie are chewy and gooey, filled with coconut and chocolate. After a heavy thanksgiving meal you want to have something you can carry around while you do your black friday shopping. These bars are so delicious that it's been reported to be deployed to distract shoppers from deals. Reported by me. Nevertheless I hope you make these for your big day, please stay tuned, and as always,

Chow!

Assorted Macaroons - Welcome to America

Oh boy! Macaroons! I sure love me some of those mini french sandwich cookies that are soooo in style right now. You're really showing us how to make those Chef Chow? EH-UH! That was supposed to be the sound a buzzer makes. No I'm showing you how to make the american coconut macaroons. You know the you always shy away from because they're way too sweet macaroons. The only difference is, mine are delicious!

Now I know not all of you think that they're overly sweet but I do, and so do the members of my weekly, overly sweet macaroons club. But you don't have to worry because I found two tricks to cut the sweetness of the macaroons so they taste just perfect! The first trick is to toast your coconut flakes before you actually bake the cookies. This way the initial sugar from the sweetened coconut gets caramelized, and all you're left with is a deep coconut flavor. My second tip is to add different flavorings. Macaroons are often too sweet because there's no flour or butter to absorb the sugar. Adding citrus or nuts can balance the flavor, and not to mention show people that you aren't just a one-trick pony. 

This year I made three different flavors, and at the end I couldn't pick a favorite. I made cranberry orange, double chocolate, and an homage to one of my favorite candy bars, "Almond Joy" macaroons. Dare I say they were all equally delicious. So to start these cookies we need to make our macaroon base. Which starts with the toasting of our sweetened coconut shreds. Which will go in a 350 oven. By the way if you want to use fresh coconut click the link to read my previous post on how to do that.

Sweetened Coconut Flakes

Sprinkle your coconut evenly on a baking sheet and slide them into the middle rack of your oven. Of course I took a picture of my greased mat but I ended up forgetting about it in the sink. Lucky for me though my coconut did not stick so I'm pretty proud of that. Yes, those are things that I'm proud of. Every 5 minutes stir the pan so everything crisps evenly. Your coconut flakes should take between 15- 20 minutes but don't leave the room. Coconut is notorious for burning. If it doesn't see you looking at it it'll get upset so watch it like a hawk...because it'll be watching you. *Dramatic Music*

But on a less creepy note after 15 minutes my coconut flakes looked like this. Oh so beautiful. You could really just eat them like this as a snack but your patience will be rewarded. So the next step is to make the meringue. A meringue is just egg whites beaten with sugar until thick and glossy. This is one of the few things I take out my hand mixer for because it's gonna take a while. Approximately 8-10 minutes with a hand mixer, or a stand mixer. Stop when you've reached stiff peaks. Which basically means that they should be able to hold their shape. You'll know when the wake of the meringue stays it's place. If you're still confused just look at the picture. Remember if your bowl is dirty or if some yolk leeches itself into your egg whites you won't reach desired stiffness. 

It's important that you whisk your eggs long enough because then your macaroons will fall apart. After your meringue has tripled in volume and has reached stiff peaks whisk in your vanilla and salt. 

Switch to your handy dandy spoonula and divide into three parts. Separate into bowls and fold in whatever flavorings you want, including your coconut. You can be as creative as you want in this step. Meringues are basically blank canvases so you can't really go wrong - unless you go wrong. The only thing you want to be mindful of is not to alter the consistency of the meringue. If you add too much liquid then your cookies will fall apart, and the same goes for adding too much other stuff. It's also important not to over mix these. All you want to do is fold the mixture until it's barely combined. Your mindset should be, I still have about 3 mixes left, I'll stop here. Remember when you're scooping these out they will continue to mix. The key is not to destroy those little air bubbles that are trapped in the meringue. You worked hard for those. By the way the variations and flavorings that I conjured up are in the recipe below so pop down there if you can't figure out what to put in yours. 

Now we are going to take our 1 inch ice cream scoop and plop them on a well greased cookie sheet. Try to make them all the same size, you should get about 12 macaroons per flavor. It depends on how precise you were at dividing those meringues, which in my case was not very well, but I have faith that you will do better. You can place these guys fairly close to each other because they won't expand, but for photography reasons I kept them a good distance apart. Place these in the middle rack of your preheated 350 oven, and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the macaroons are golden brown. When you take these out they will be dry to the touch, the outsides will be golden, but they will still jiggle. That's normal as they cool they will firm up substantially and you'll be looking at one hell of a cookie, if I do say so myself. 

If you made these in the flavors that I suggested you should have three ascending shades of goldenness. The "almond joy" will be the lightest colored, the orange cranberry will be slightly tanner, and the chocolate will be the Tracy Morgan of the three. If you don't know who that is you should know I'm not a racist, but that's the first place my mind went. Just for the record I'm a huge fan so if you're reading this please comment below. 

Once you've finish taking pictures - which is optional, you're done!

I like to serve my assorted macaroons along side some coffee or on a festive holiday platter. Make sure you alternate flavors so people know you took the effort to create different types of macaroons. Why go through all the trouble if the message that, "I'm better than you", isn't getting across. 

Your friends and family will be so impressed that you knew how to make these and so will yourself. These macaroons are lightly crispy on the outside, but super chewy on the inside. My guests said that they weren't overly sweet and that the orange cranberry was there favorite. I still can't choose a favorite, it's like asking someone who there favorite 1 Direction member is, you can't decide. 

But in all seriousness I'd like to thank everyone who read today's post, leave a comment below on how I can improve or if you think I'm perfect. Subscribe if you haven't, and check back daily for new chow-fections. And as always, 

Chow!

Recipe

For Macaroon Base
3 cups of toasted sweetened coconut flakes
4 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For Cranberry Orange Macaroons

1/3 cup of dried cranberries

the zest of one orange

For "Almond Joy" Macaroons

1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup of chopped or sliced almonds ( I used cashews and they were still delicious)

For Double Chocolate Macaroons

1 1/2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

*Measurements for each variation are for a third of the base*

You Might Like:

Sweetened Coconut Flakes
Chewy Coconut Bars
Momma's Sour Cream Cookies

Sweetened Coconut Flakes - Better than Store Bought

Now if you've been following me since the last post on how to prepare a coconut, you probably have a container of coconut meat hidden in your fridge so take that out now. To turn this fresh coconut into sweetened coconut that you buy from the store you need to boil a cup of water. Add 16 teaspoons of granulated sugar and mix until dissolved, shut the stove off. While your water was boiling you should've taken your coconut and shredded it on a grater or in a food processor. You want small flakes of coconut, it depends on how merciful you are feeling today. Pack cups of coconut and throw them into the sugar water. You should have 4 cups. Buy more if you don't, and eat the remainder if you have extras. The coconut should absorb all of that liquid. Spread them on a lined cookie sheet until dried. To speed up the process every thirty minutes shuffle the flakes around with a spatula.

Now if you know that you are going to be using toasted coconut you don't even need to let these dry. Just throw these in the oven at 350 stirring every five minutes until golden brown. In the end you should have 14 ounces of homemade sweetened coconut and house that everyone on the block will envy. By the way this recipe will yield the same amount of sweetened coconut that they sell in the supermarkets.

Recipe

1 cup water
16 teaspoons sugar
4 cups of packed fresh coconut

You Might Like:

Chewy Coconut Bars
Assorted Macaroons
Roasted Strawberry Tart