By Brayden is one hundred and seventy-eight weeks old. Eden is thirty-six weeks old. The coconut raspberry bars are a small dessert-bar with a shortbread base, a raspberry-jam middle, a coconut-and-condensed-milk top, baked at three-fifty for thirty minutes.
Sunday I made a pan. The bars are the small kind of dessert that earns its place by being reliably-good.
Aunt Linda’s small twice-weekly Tulsa-visits continue. She arrives. She holds Eden. She plays with Brayden. She drinks the small coffee. We talk for two hours. The small Aunt-Linda-and-Roy small post-retirement rhythm has settled into the small comfortable-pace they have been building since Roy stopped driving.
Dustin’s small Tulsa-shop work continues. The small shop-manager-and-eventually-owner trajectory is in its small mid-phase. Bobby is moving toward the small retirement-handoff. The small five-year-buyout-structure is in its small operational-rhythm.
The small family-of-four routine continues. Brayden goes to school. Eden goes to daycare. Dustin goes to the shop. I do the small catering-and-cookbook-and-blog work. The small days have the small predictable shape that the small steady-state of the small family-with-two-kids assumes.
The small Tulsa-apartment continues to be the small home. We have not yet moved to a small house. The small house-search continues to be on the small slow-burn. The small five-year-down-payment-savings-plan continues to accumulate.
Coconut Raspberry Bars
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 24 bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup raspberry jam or preserves
- 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides for easy lifting.
- Make the crust. Whisk together flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add cold butter cubes and use a pastry cutter or your fingertips to work the butter in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Par-bake the crust. Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to turn golden. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Spread the jam. Spoon the raspberry jam over the warm crust and spread it in an even layer all the way to the edges.
- Make the coconut topping. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract (if using). Stir in the shredded coconut until fully combined. Drop spoonfuls of the coconut mixture over the jam layer, then gently spread to cover as evenly as possible.
- Bake. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 22–25 minutes, until the coconut topping is golden brown and set. A few darker edges are fine — that’s the toasted coconut doing its thing.
- Cool and cut. Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan before lifting out using the parchment overhang. Cut into 24 bars. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or refrigerate for up to a week.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 148 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 21g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 58mg