Chewy Lemon Coconut Squares.

 These bar cookies were one of my mother's favorites when I was a teenager. She would make them for bridge parties and other "ladies" occasions. Yes, it was that era. I LOVED these addictive little squares of wonder. I don't remember her making them just for us...so I would sneak into the fridge at night and shave little bits off each bar so she couldn't tell I had been in there, or so I thought.😂

 I am not sure why I didn't just make them myself. I began baking and cooking in my early teens.

The other day I had a hankering for these cookies and could not find them on this blog. 

Heaven forbid !!! I expect all of my favorites to be recorded here 😉 I had to search deep into some old files on the computer to find the recipe. 

Chewy Lemon Squares

 

Crust ingredients

1 ½ cup flour

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup softened butter

½ teaspoon salt

 

1) Preheat oven to 350 F

2) Cream together in a large mixing bowl the butter and brown sugar.

3) Add the flour and salt, mix until crumbly.

4) Place and pat down evenly into a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.

5) Bake for 20 minutes.

 

Filling ingredients

3 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup  chopped walnuts

2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

 

1) While the crust is baking, mix together the eggs and brown sugar.

2) Add the flour, baking powder, and vanilla, mix.

3) Add the walnuts and coconut, mix.

4) When the crust is done baking, pour this mixture over it, gently spreading it to cover.

5) Bake for 20 minutes.

 

Glaze ingredients

1 cup powdered sugar

Juice and zest of one or two lemons

( depending on their size)

 

1) Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice until smooth and free of lumps.

2) Pour over the baked bar while still warm.

3) Allow to cool (or refrigerate) for several hours before cutting into bars.

4) Try not to eat the whole pan in two days.

5) Freeze the remainder after binging half the pan in 2 hours.

Coconut Bliss Balls

Coconut bliss balls is not the best name for these simple sweet treats, but it is the name they came with so that's what I will call them until I come up with a better name.
My friend Laurie made them for me once upon a time, then made me promise not to blog about them until she did. She has a wonderful food blog herself, check it out. I just looked and she posted about these treat back in December 2014...I guess it's OK if I post about them now ;-)

I was so impressed when I first ate them, then made them, with how simple they are...few ingredients and simple prep, almost too easy. They do need to chill several hours before serving, so take that into consideration if you plan to use them for dessert. They are vegan and gluten free, in case that matters...

Coconut Bliss Balls

Ingredients

    •    2 cup finely shredded coconut
    •    3 Tbsp. coconut oil
    •    2 Tbsp. maple syrup
    •    ½ tsp. vanilla extract
    •    1  cup dark chocolate chips
    •    sea salt

 Makes about 25-27 balls

1) Combine coconut, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract in a blender or food processor. Blend until well combined into a thick ‘crumb’.

2) Use your hands to mold the coconut crumb into bite-size balls. They should stick together nicely. Place the balls on a piece of wax paper. If you are having trouble getting them to stick together try chilling the mixture for an hour.

3) You can chill them once you formed them into balls or try to coat them now. It depends on the temperature of your kitchen. If you are in Baton Rouge like one of my favorite people, then chilling them will make them easier to dip.



4) When you are ready to dip the balls, melt chocolate chips, I like using the microwave for this, start with 1 minute, then stir, heat for 30 more seconds, stir, until you have a nice soft texture. You can use a double boiler if you prefer. I had trouble getting my soupy enough one time and found that a teaspoon of coconut oil added to the chocolate worked wonders.

5) Use a spoon to dip each ball into the chocolate. This is the messy and sometimes tricky part. Persevere ;-)

6) Sprinkle each ball with a bit of sea salt while the chocolate is still moist. I used this wonderful lavender rosemary sea salt my friend Joni made for me.

7) Refrigerate the balls for two hours (to harden) and enjoy!

Coconut Curried Rice

Coconut curried  rice has become a favorite around here...it makes our usual stir fry dinners much more exciting. Don't let the coconut in the title throw you off. My husband claims to dislike coconut in most dishes, when I first served this rice to him, I didn't mention the name or the ingredients. He loved it and was surprised it had any coconut at all. In fact it has coconut oil, coconut milk and unsweetened shredded coconut.

I first had a version of this recipe at a recent yoga retreat, Talya our Ayurvedic chef, served it for one of our dinners. I have made my own modifications, of course, mostly to make it quicker.

Curried Coconut Rice

Ingredients
2 cups white basmati/jasmine rice or 1 cup brown basmati rice
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds*
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds *
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut

* I love having these whole spices in my cupboard, if you don't have them use ground cumin and skip the mustard. I'm sure it will still be tasty.

1) In a small saucepan or caste iron skillet, melt the coconut oil and add the spices, both whole and ground. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring to keep from burning. Set aside.

Here are all the spices before cooking.

2) I use a rice cooker which is soooo easy. If you cook much rice at all I recommend getting one, they are not that expensive.
If you don't have a rice cooker at this point you will place the water, coconut milk and salt into a pot and bring to a boil.

3) Rinse whatever kind of long grain rice you plan to use, remember 2 cups for white rice and 1 cup for brown rice.

4) Place the rice, coconut, cooked spices into your boiling water/coconut milk. Stir well, cover and simmer for 45 minutes for brown rice and 20-25 minutes for white rice. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving. Salt to taste.

OR

 Place the rice, coconut, cooked spices, water and coconut milk into your rice cooker and turn it on. Once it is done, allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving. Salt to taste.

5) Gently mix it around a bit and serve.

Decadent bars searching for a name...

Hard to believe these bar cookies don't have a name...partly because I just made them up. They are a combination of two different bar cookies and the marriage worked very well ;-)

Sooo, if you can come up with a very clever name and I use it, I may just make you a batch of them !!

They are very gooey and dense, chewy and rich, packed with coconut, walnuts and chocolate chips.

Ingredients
The Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oat bran or rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2  tsp. salt

The Filling:
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1  cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 350 F.
2) Mix together all the crust ingredients thoroughly and press into 9 X 13 inch baking pan.

3) Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven.
4) In a mixing bowl combine the eggs, brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, flour, baking powder, and vanilla, beat together.
5) Stir in the nuts, coconut, and chocolate chips and pour onto warm crust.

6) Bake for 25 minutes.
7) Here comes the hard part, you really should allow them to cool before you cut them into squares.

Didn't happen for this batch. They are sticky and very gooey if you try to cut them too soon Bob didn't care he wanted to sample them warm ;-)
They store well in the fridge or even in the freezer, if they last that long.