Coconut Bars are a new addition to my repertoire this year. Over the past month or so I’ve spent a bit of time trying to cook my way through The Gourmet Cookie Book: The Single Best Recipe From Each Year 1941-2009 by Gourmet Magazine.  I’ve liked a lot of the cookies, but I’ve been tempted to fiddle with each one of them.  Why?  I’m not sure—maybe I’m crazy.  Maybe I have too much free time.  Maybe I have serious gym avoidance issues—the latter is probably the closest to the truth 🙂

I loved the base of Gourmet’s Chocolate Coconut Squares on page 124—best cookie of 1997—but simply hated the ganache topping they used. It took a few tries, four or more, before I got a version I liked. My version has Gourmet’s base, a caramel layer from a Saltine Toffee Cookie recipe, and then some melted chocolate to gild the lily as my friend Louise is fond of saying. It’s decadence—candy bar decadence. The recipe is baked in a 9×13″ pan. Cut the bars small, and you can feed the neighborhood! Bars will keep a week or more when covered and refrigerated.

Several of the taste testers asked for the recipe and that’s always a good sign! So here it is, my recipe (inspired by Gourmet’s Chocolate Coconut Squares) for Chocolate-Caramel-Coconut Bars.  I’m thinking of calling them “Triple C Bars” 🙂 What do you think?

Chocolate-Caramel-Coconut Bars

INGREDIENTS

For the Bottom Layer

• 20 whole graham crackers—one 4-portioned cracker counts as one whole cracker
• ¾ cup melted butter—1½ sticks
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 10 oz. sweetened flaked coconut—about 4 cups

For the Middle Layer

• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup dark brown sugar

For the Top Layer

• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips OR approximately 5 oz. good quality chocolate chopped
• ¼ cup sweetened flaked coconut—optional

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Line a 9×13″ pan with baking parchment or foil.  Spray the paper with Pam or grease with a bit of softened butter.
3. Place the graham crackers in a food processor, and pulse until they are finely ground and no large chunks remain.
4. Melt butter in the microwave, stir in salt, and then pour mixture over graham cracker crumbs in food processor. Pulse a few times to blend.
5. Remove buttered crumbs from food processor and add to flaked coconut.
6. Press coconut mixture into the bottom of prepared pan.
7. Bake base layer in preheated 350° oven for 15 minutes.
8. About 5 minutes before coconut base layer is due to be taken out of oven, melt butter for caramel layer in a small saucepan.
9. Add brown sugar to the butter, stirring to dissolve, and then boil mixture for five minutes. Remove from heat.
10. Pour caramel layer over graham coconut base and then bake for an additional 5 minutes.
11. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips, or chopped chocolate, over caramel, and let sit for 5 minutes.
12. Using an offset spatula, spread the now melted chocolate evenly over the caramel layer. 
13. Sprinkle ¼ cup coconut over smoothed chocolate. Let bars sit to cool completely. 
14. Place in refrigerator to speed up the hardening of the chocolate, if desired.
15. When bars are completely cool, remove from pan with foil or parchment.  Remove foil or parchment from bars and then cut into desired size. I cut mine into 2-bite bars, about 1½” x ¾”.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today! I have lots more cookie recipes posted; keep browsing!