Chocolate and Coconut Macaroon Bars

This is me every time somebody (namely, my husband) says they don’t like coconut:

"You don't like coconuts? Say, brainless, don't you know where coconuts come from???" — “You don’t like coconuts? Say, brainless, don’t you know where coconuts come from???”

I was really desperate for some coconut macaroons tonight. I’m not sure why. Sometimes the mood just strikes. I keep the two essential ingredients for macaroons (coconut and eggs) on hand at all times for just this reason.

I decided to get crazy and do something wild tonight though. I’m over 30 now, and I have two toddlers, so baking experiments qualify as crazy and wild. I decided to double my macaroon recipe, fill it with chocolate, and then bake it as bars.

Ohmygoodness. So good.

My breakfast this morning. I'm not even ashamed. — My breakfast this morning. I’m not even ashamed.

Not only were these delicious, but they were super easy to make. They were ready to go into the oven before the oven was done pre-heating, which is always a plus.

This recipe makes an 8×8 pan. If you’re taking these somewhere, you can easily double it for a 9×13 pan, but for that, you’ll need like 8 cups of coconut and a dozen eggs. Wouldn’t be a problem for me, but….. 😉

Hope you enjoy!

A Rumbly in my Tumbly original

Ingredients:
4 cups of sweetened coconut
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
6 egg whites
1 teaspoon of almond, coconut, or vanilla extract – pick your flavor! I did coconut tonight.
1 cup of milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350°. Grease an 8×8 baking dish and line with a greased foil or parchment paper sling.

In a large bowl combine the coconut, sugar, flour, salt, egg whites, and extract. Mix it together really well.

Place half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Press it down so it is nice and flat. Top it evenly with the chocolate chips.

Drop the remaining half of the coconut mixture evenly over the chocolate chips and press down evenly so it is completely covering the top and no chocolate chips are poking through. This might take some patience and redistribution on your part.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for a bit before slicing. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Enjoy!