Did you ever notice how much our palates change as we get older? When I was younger, I hated Brussels sprouts, disliked cauliflower, and didn't care for anything sour. Now, I enjoy all things tart, love Brussels sprouts, and eat cauliflower on a weekly basis. When it comes to desserts, I now steer away from chocolate and go for more fruity sweets like these pineapple coconut bars. These bars are the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Think of them as lemon bars but with pineapple and lime and a coconut crust. Sounds good, right?
Pineapple Coconut Bars
Ingredients
Coconut crust
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (180 grams)
- ½ cup butter, softened (113 grams)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (67 grams)
- ½ cup coconut, shredded (60 grams)
- pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoon water
Pineapple filling
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300 grams)
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour plus 1 tbsp (58 grams)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 cups pineapple juice (500 ml)
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- ¼ cup lime juice (62 ml)
- toasted coconut flakes for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Make the coconut crust. Pulse the shredded coconut in a food processor until it becomes small crumbs. Beat together the coconut with all-purpose flour, softened butter, sugar, a pinch of salt, and water until well combined. Press the crust into the prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Make the pineapple filling. Whisk together sugar with flour, 4 eggs, 1 egg yolk, pineapple juice, lime zest, and lime juice. Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 30 minutes or until no longer runny in the center and the edges have set. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
- Garnish the pineapple coconut bars with toasted coconut and cut them into 15 bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
**Helpful tips and common mistakes
If you're making these pineapple coconut bars during the summer, I strongly advise you to use fresh pineapple. Canned pineapple juice would work just fine but there's just something about fresh pineapple that makes it taste...fresher.
Just like lemon bars, this tropical version is just as easy to make. First, make the crust. Combine flour with softened butter, coconut, sugar, and a pinch of salt and press the mixture into a greased baking sheet. Bake the crust for 20 minutes or until golden brown and let it cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the pineapple filling. If you're using fresh pineapple, blend up the pineapple until smooth. Whisk it together with some sugar, flour, eggs, lime zest, and lime juice. You can also add more lime juice if you want the bars to be more tart. Pour the filling into the crust and bake until the center is set, about 20 minutes.
And that's it, folks! Seriously, this has to be one of the easiest desserts I've posted lately. Let the bars cool and slice them into 15 bars.
Top the pineapple coconut bars with toasted coconut for that extra something special. The bars may look thin but the ratio of coconut crust and filling is just right. These bars almost remind me of Taiwanese pineapple cakes, which is possibly one of the best desserts from Taiwan. Give this a try and let me know what you think!
For more dessert bars inspiration, check out these strawberry key lime pie bars!
Joyce
can i make this in a pie tart dish instead?
Cherry on My Sundae
I don't see why not! But I'm going to guess that the filling amount is going to be too much for a pie dish since it's meant for a 9x13 baking dish. Try half the amount of the filling unless you want a thicker layer of filling. It might also take longer than 20 minutes depending on thick the layer of pineapple filling is. You'll know it's ready when it's only slightly jiggly in the center, but should be pretty much set. Let me know if you have any other questions!