Coconut bars: Not your average cookie

This past weekend I was visiting some family and doing some other cool stuff in my favorite American city that is not Chicago- Washington, D.C. Since my cousin was nice enough to let me stay with his family, I agreed to whip up some goodies for dessert one night.  I thought about what a good dessert would be, that would appeal to kids and to adults alike... and I came up with these:

not the greatest picture and the only one I got of the final product.
But what can I say, I was traveling!

Coconut bars. Mmm.  They have a crunchy, crispy chocolate graham cracker crust and are topped with a dense and chewy coconut layer.  Then, to make it even more delicious, some chocolate drizzled on the top. Its like a little taste of a sophistication, with a country charm to it.  Don't question, just make these.

my wonderful helpers, who were amazing at crushing graham crackers into crumbs.

For once, I had some helpers in the kitchen.  I am not going to lie: it was great having extra hands.  It made the process go faster  slower more fun.  Have any of you ever cooked in a kitchen you don't know before?  I was a little worried about that... not knowing where things were, would the whisk be like Whiskie, would there be enough ingredients?  Well, I needn't have worried.  My cousin and his wife took care of everything perfectly.

Preheat the oven and prepare a pan by greasing the bottom and then lining it with parchment paper.  If you don't have parchment, just grease the bottom, it will still work out okay.  The first thing you need to do to recreate these delicacies, is to find two little kids to smash the graham crackers into oblivion.  If you have two angry kids, it probably works best.  I had to settle for the two happy go lucky cuties above. :)  Once its all crushed, add the butter and press it into the pan firmly.

A crust in the making....

... just pat pat pat... 

... until its firmly packed and voila!

If you are worried about crushing the graham crackers and want to pull out your food processor DON'T.  You really don't need to.  Using the rolling pin, it takes about five seconds to get it into the wonderfully sandy crumbs you want.  And if a 6 and 3 year old can do it, so can you.

This is proper crushing methodology

Set the pan aside.  Then take the evaporated milk, egg, vanilla and sugar and mix together then add the flour and coconut.  Try really hard not to eat this batter.  It is pretty delicious.  So try really hard.  You know, eggs and salmonella and all that.

Pour the mixture over the crust you already made and cook in the oven until the coconut mixture is firm and golden brown.  Take it out of the oven and let cool.

I made a double batch of the bars since I was taking this to a family dinner, but the recipe below makes about 9 to 12 bars, depending on how you cut them.  Just a warning... they are simple, quick and very addictive.  You might also want to double the recipe when you make it... if so, then just cook in a 13 x 9 pan and cut down a little on the graham cracker crust.

Don't worry about how the drizzled chocolate looks.  Once you cut it, it will look awesome.

Coconut Bars

Ingredients:

• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 8 ounces chocolate graham crackers
• 7 fluid ounces evaporated milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup self rising flour
• 1 1/3 cups flake coconut
• 1 3/4 squares semisweet chocolate

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter and line 8 inch square pan.

Crush graham crackers in a plastic bag using a rolling pin.  Melt butter and mix with graham crackers.  Allow mixture to cool slightly and press into prepared pan.  Set aside.

In a large bowl combine evaporated milk, egg, vanilla and sugar.  Beat until smooth.  Stir in the flour until well combined, then add coconut.  Stir until the coconut is distributed evenly throughout the mixture.

Pour wet mixture on top of prepared crust.  Put in oven to cook for 30 minutes or until the wet mixture is set firm and golden.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in pan.

Melt chocolate and drizzle over cooled coconut bars.  Cut and enjoy!