Bake: Sam's Mom's Raspberry Coconut Bars

This year for Christmas, one of my bffs, Sam, brought over these bars made from raspberry jam and toasted coconut. She told me it was a famous recipe of her mother's and this year, for the first time ever, she attempted to recreate the bars on her own. To great success. By the next day only one bar remained, and I ate it.






So, I asked Sam for the recipe which she immediately emailed me, and today, again, I baked. This recipe is super simple and takes only about 15 minutes to throw together. You pat the dough into a baking sheet, add jam (next time I am going to try this with my grandmother's homemade apricot jam) crumble the remaining dough, and add more coconut. Oven it up, and 20 minutes later, freshly baked fruit bars. Yummmmmmy.







Sam's Mom's Raspberry Coconut Bars

1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold, unsalted butter, cut in pieces
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats (not instant)
3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam (or other jam of your choice)




Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Spread 3/4 cup coconut evenly on a baking sheet and toast in the middle of oven, stirring once, until golden, about 8 minutes. Cool.

Adjust oven to 375 degrees.

Blend together flour, sugars, and salt in processor. Add butter and blend until a dough begins to form. Transfer to bowl and knead in oats and toasted coconut until combined well.

Reserve 3/4 cup of dough. Press remainder evenly into bottom of buttered 13 x 9" metal baking pan and spread jam over it.

Crumble reserved dough evenly over jam, then sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup untoasted coconut.

Bake in middle of oven until golden, 20-25 minutes. Cool completely on a pan or rack. Loosen from sides of pan with sharp knife. Lift out in 1 piece and transfer to cutting board. Cut into 24 bars.