Chewy Coconut Bars

Chewy Coconut Bars - made August 25, 2021 from Cookies and Cups 

1/2 cup butter

2 cups light brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 9" baking dish with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Continue cooking and stirring until completely melted and butter foams with the melted bits turning golden brown. Remove from heat and add brown sugar. Stir to combine. Add eggs, vanilla, salt and baking powder, stirring to combine.
3. Stir in flour until incorporated then fold in coconut. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top in an even layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes until edges are golden brown and center is almost set. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

You're going to see a bunch of posts go up, perhaps almost daily, in the near future. I'm still working at my consultant job but I'm close to wrapping up and going back to retirement (at least I think so, my boss feels differently, lol). But as I wind down, am in fewer meetings and don't have to work as many hours, I've had more time to bake. I've ramped up the number of care packages I've been sending out to deployed military service members as a volunteer for Soldiers Angels (sending out my 9th package for the month today) and I've been able to contribute more regularly to the weekly food distribution for the houseless population in my area.

These bar cookies went into care packages on behalf of Soldiers Angels. They're a very good brown sugar blondie stuffed with coconut. In other words, they deliver on the "chewy" and the flavorful. I underbaked them slightly but more out of paranoid over-caution not to have dry blondies. They would probably have been a tiny bit better if I had baked them a few minutes longer but they were still good.