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.
Amy says
I am slowly learning to like coconut. Usually I find that it’s sweetened or sweet beyond recognition and the sweetener marrs the taste of the coconut to the point I just can’t enjoy eating it. However when I saw this recipe I was immediately intrigued and just knew I had to try to make these bars! I just finished more servings than I care to share here and Elana, these are marvelous! Thank you for sharing the recipe. My goodness – I only used half the amount of honey and yet these are good enough to be a cupcake I think. I am going to freeze the remainder (if I can stop eating them) and take them to work for mid morning snacks. Thank you again for this and all your recipes shared on your site!
kimberly Pilkington says
I have made these a couple of times now and everyone loves them. I followed the recipe the first time and they were good but a little to moist? the next time I made them i did not put in the oil because the coconut milk has oil in it. I also added 1/3 to a 1/2 cup of the coconut flour. They turned out great and not to moist. Thank you so much for sharing this yummy treat.
Jamie says
Made these and my husband said, “This tastes just like coconut cream pie filling.” They were so good, I ate the rest of them in one hour. This will definitely be on my short list of recipes! Yum
Monica Cruz says
Haven’t tried the final product since I just got it in the oven… But judging by the fact that I couldn’t stop until I ate all that was left on the food processor bowl, including licking the blade (yes I did it, it’s a pretty big one but it was worth it, and no I didn’t get hurt at all), this thing is really really amazingly good!
Because of the low temperatures here in the Pacific NW, my local raw honey is hard as a rock, so I used Coconut Nectar instead… Can you tell I’m a coconut fanatic? You can buy it at Whole Foods or online.
Link: http://www.coconutsecret.com/nectar2.html
Thank you Elana!
Rachel Rausch Johnson says
Hi Monica,
I too live in the PNW and I did the same thing with the coconut syrup. Mine also came out too moist but that did not stop me from eating a whole row before bed.
How can i get it to look like Elana’s, with the crumbly top? Anyone?
Rachel Rausch Johnson says
And I’m totally doing the chocolate drizzle next time!
Kellie says
They are in the oven right now and I can’t wait. I grated a little dark chocolate over the top!
Isabelle says
Tried those this weekend, really yummy. Everyone said “you can put that one in the ‘keep’ folder” (we have two folders in the kitchen: recipes to try/recipes to keep.
Thanks Elana
Twisterpated says
Swap the stevia for coconut sugar. Low GI and so delicious.
Sarah says
I found these to be kind of bland. I used Xylitol instead of honey, so perhaps that is why. I was going to toss them, but then decided to try melting some dark chocolate and spreading it on top of the bars. It was exactly what was needed! Now they’re kind of too delicious:) I was thinking of trying to add some lemon juice and zest next time. I think the lemon/coconut combo could be interesting.
Sarah says
I also found mine a bit bland, and I did not alter the recipe at all. And, like you, I had the idea that lemon might make it a bit snazzier–my bars had a wonderful consistency and texture, but just tasted like baked coconut oil. For my tastes they needed something else. Have you tried the lemon variation? I do plan to make the recipe again, just with some adaptations to suit my tastes!
Elizabeth says
This looks delicious! I love coconut, the smell, taste and texture Ummmm:) I have all the ingredients in my pantry. This will definitely be a hit with friends and family.
Nadine says
I made these yesterday…absolutely delicious!!!
Curious as to why some people had great success while others found theirs too runny…
mine was a little to runny in middle…next time I will try cooking them a little longer…I also wonder if “light” coconut milk might have been the problem?? is the higher fat coconut milk best?
As soon as this pan is gone, I am making another one…:))