These rich and moist coconut bars are made of not one, but three different forms of scrumptiously healthy coconut, including shredded coconut, coconut oil and coconut milk in their ingredients list.
I have Shirley at Gluten Free Easily to thank for this recipe as it is based upon her famous gluten free Crustless Coconut Pie. I’m a big fan of Shirley’s crustless pie recipes. They’re perfect when I’m looking for a quick and easy, yet simply tasty, gluten free dessert.
I find that this coconut bar recipe tastes a bit like a macaroon bar. If you want to jazz up your coconut bars and get really decadent, try drizzling them with dark chocolate.
Coconut Bars
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- ⅓ cup coconut oil
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon stevia
- ½ cup blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- 1½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
Instructions
- Mix eggs, coconut milk, oil, honey, vanilla and stevia in a food processor
- Pulse in almond flour, coconut flour, shredded coconut and salt
- Transfer ingredients into an 8 x 8 inch baking dish
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes
- Cool for ½ hour, then place in refrigerator and serve when chilled
Here are some of the health benefits of coconut:
- Naturally gluten free
- Full of heart healthy fats that lower LDL cholesterol
- Anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-parasitic
- Reduces inflammation and promotes healthy absorption of nutrients
- High in minerals such as iron, phosphorus and zinc
It is also thought that eating coconut products speeds up the body’s metabolism, helping to prevent obesity.
Finally, Dr. Mary Newport has written an article on the remarkable results she believes she has achieved using coconut oil to remediate her husband’s early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
In this video Dr. Newport shares intriguing anecdotal evidence on the impact of coconut oil on neurobiological function. Her findings will be of particular interest to those of us who are working on our brain health in dealing with diseases and disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimers, Parkinsons, autism, ADD, etc.
So grab yourself a coconut bar and a cup of delicious dandelion coffee (that’s what I’m drinking right now) and settle in to watch the video of Dr. Newport. And be sure to let us know your thoughts in a comment below.
Cassidy says
These look sooo good! I’m printing off the recipe right now and I’m definitely making these this week!
Pat says
These look great, I love coconut, and am happy to see you also have almond flour in these to make them more hearty.
I’ll let you know how they come out without the honey…
Thanks, Elana!
Shirley @ gfe says
Perfection, Elana! I love how you took my “full of everything except gluten” pie and created this healthy recipe. Can’t wait to try these, dear! FYI–I’m making my crustless coconut pie much healthier these days. ;-) Thanks so much for the mention and link love! :-)
xo,
Shirley
misty says
elana,
thanks for all your work!! i love your recipes. almond flour has changed my life for the better (i’m gluten intolerant) and i’m an evangelist for it and your site/books.
so interesting about the coconut oil/alzheimers link. thanks for the video link & for helping spread the word.
blessings as you continue your important work!
misty
gig harbor wa
Kari Schmitz says
Oh My Goodness. Those sound amazing! I cannot get enough of anything coconutty- so will be making them for sure! Thanks for sharing!! Kari
Heather J says
Is it 1 cup or 1 can of coconut milk (or should that read ‘1 cup canned coconut milk’)?
Tasha says
I think you are correct with the 1 cup canned coconut milk. I bet the tetra-pack coconut milk would be too runny, although I haven’t made them yet to verify that. It’s on my to-do list for this afternoon :)
Christine says
i’ve been trying to work out how to make a macaroon in a bar to recreate a packaged bar made by Coconut Secret and here ypu’ve done it! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I will use a 9″ x 13″ ¼-sized baking sheet with 1″ sides as that’s what I’ve got. I’ll keep a close eye on the baking time since mine will be thinner but I’m sure they will be successful. I’m planning to include 80% dark chocolate chopped and sprinkled on top near the end of baking so it melts on top.
I wish I had more time to experiment beyond the cooking every meal at home. I have to schlep all my food everywhere to avoid reaction.
Kathryn says
This looks so wonderful. There can never be too much coconut. I looked in the pantry and have everything but coconut milk – used the last can for cocoa last night. Otherwise these would already be in my oven. Starting a new grocery list. . .
MaryBeth says
Wonderful recipe and on my must-bake-and-eat list! Thank you, Elana, for another fabulous recipe.
I have found The Coconut Research Center’s site and newsletter to be invaluable about nutritional information about the benefits of coconut products (and now, for me, the coconut lifestyle!): http://coconutresearchcenter.org/index.htm
Jay says
Seriously? You believe what you read on that link? It’s nothing more than a suck in, another “breaking news”, wonder food fad, that’s supposed to cure all our nutritional problems. Much like blue agave, now shown to be worse for you that corn syrup.
Did you take note of how many books Dr. ( I use that term lightly) Bruce Fife, is hawking on the coconut reasearch website? Did you take note that the man is not a medical doctor, that he claims to be a certified doctor of nutrition, yet, surprise, surprise, has no credentials to back that claim up.
Did you take note of Bruce Fifes so called “medical studies” videos, where he claims their coconut products will almost magically cure all our diseases & ailments?
Did you also take note of the disclaimer that’s hidden away about that very claim?
In case you missed it. Here you go.
[Products for sale which are foods or supplements for special dietary use, are not offered for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of any disease or disorder. We strongly encourage you to discuss topics of concern with your health care professional.]
Eva says
Well, gosh, Jay… why do you think the people that live in the tropics and consume loads of coconut products are so darn healthy? The coconut tree is called The Tree of Life for a reason. I lived in the tropics and understand perfectly well the health benefits with or without Bruce Fife’s input.
Erin says
The disclaimer is required by FDA. Notice every bottle of natural supplements has the same claim. Vitamin C cures scurvy, yet a manufacturer of this vitamin cannot claim it cures anything.
Marlise says
Wow, sounds absolutely delicious!!