Coconut Lemon Bars

There is a pretty common theme for my recipes. They’re born out of necessity. Necessity to use up ingredients that I don’t use often. Mainly because I can’t handle the clutter in my pantry! For the past few months I’ve been on a journey to clean out my pantry. All of the “stuff” I wanted to work through has been sitting on the table. This also creates more clutter which forces me to use them up even more! The next ingredient that I was looking at – shredded coconut. I knew it was going to be some sort of dessert and I was thrilled with how this one turned out. My husband and I both enjoyed these coconut lemon bars.

Without Coconut?

These can absolutely be made without coconut if you prefer. I do love a good plain old lemon bar! However, the coconut adds a slightly different taste to these and it is divine. It’s a very sweet treat but oh my goodness it is worth it. I promise you won’t regret adding it. If you do choose to leave out the coconut I’d increase the sugar by about ¼ to ½ cup since you’ll be missing a little of the sweetness.

Coconut Lemon Bar Ingredients

Shortbread Crust Ingredients

½ cup butter (room temp)
1 cup flour
¼ cup powdered sugar

Filling Ingredients

½ cup lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup flour
1 ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut.

Directions

Mix the crust ingredients.

Spread into the bottom of an 8×8 pan.

If you are using a metal pan you may want to put it in the freezer while your oven warms up. If you are using glass you can skip this step.

Heat oven to 350.

Bake the crust for 15 minutes.

While the crust is baking, mix all of the filling ingredients together.

Pour the filling on top of the crust.

Bake for an additional 30-40 minutes.

Tips & Tricks

Only one trick for these coconut lemon bars.

You don’t have to bake the crust separately.

That’s right, I’ve baked it all together and it turned out just fine. I do think the crust is slightly more crumbly but taste wise it is still the same. Save yourself some time and effort and throw it all in the oven for 45 minutes.

In Summary: Coconut Lemon Bars

Going with this KISS method to share this recipe. Keep it simple, stupid! No long stories or background, just a wonderful dessert for you to love. One of the best parts about this recipe is that it’s just so easy. They are quick and simple to make, with ingredients that should mostly be on hand. These bars are very rich so make sure that you cut them pretty small. Who am I kidding, I could eat the whole darn pan in one sitting! These have been a wonderful summer treat and extra special for me while I’m pregnant.

What was your big pregnancy craving?

To be honest, the main one was peanut butter but it changed quite frequently. I love anything sweet- especially in the third trimester!