Magical Coconut Bars

{Magical Coconut Bars photo credit: Post Punk Kitchen}

Or as I labeled them for the school bake sale, Coconut & Dark Chocolate Gooey Bars (Vegan: no dairy, no eggs).

I thought law school was competitive, but that was before I participated my first school bake sale.

I remember as a child my mom participating in the school bake sale, and how I would watch to see how quickly her items would sell.� Entire classroom reputations hinged on having moms who could bake.� My mom could bake well enough, but a homemade chocolate cake frosted in home made dulce de leche wasn’t something that flew off the table in the late 70s.� A fact John Mendolia, a freckly-faced precursor to the ADHD pandemic, quickly pointed out.

“What’s that on your mom’s cake?� Is that caramel?� You don’t put caramel on a cake!”

“It’s not caramel.”

“It looks like caramel to me.� What is it?”

“Dulce de leche.”

“Whaaa?”

“It’s like milk, but kind of sweet, like candy.”

“MILK?!� Ewwwww!!� Hey, everyone!� Julieta’s mom puts BROWN MILK on her cake!”

{insert chorus of laughter here.}

The lesson?� Bake with an eye to your audience.� My mom would have been better off whipping up some Betty Crocker.� This lesson, mind you, is one I completely disregarded twenty nine years later on the eve of my first bake sale.

I have had Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s recipe for Magical Coconut Bars saved in my reader since Spring. Shortly there after, we discovered Nicholas is severely allergic to pine nuts, meaning the safest thing for him is to avoid all tree nuts, including items made in a facility that handles tree nuts. Bummer, because The Mister and I both love coconut anything.

Still, I really wanted to try them and figured I could make them, try a corner, and send them off to the bake sale. (And really, I don’t need a plate full of gooey bars in my house.) They were a snap to make, and The Mister about slipped into a blissful sugar coma when I gave him one bar.� I tried a bite and found them very tasty, albeit rich for someone who hasn’t had anything sweeter than a peach in 5 months.

I am happy to report that one bite was not enough for everyone at the bake sale, despite the scandalous vegan label.� When I showed up for my shift, the booth chairwoman was talking about the coconut bars and how they sold out in minutes.� (She didn’t know I made them.)� The best part is that these bars have, essentially, a quick and dirty dulce de leche inspired filling made from coconut milk.

Forgive me as I take a moment to stick my thumbs in my ears, wave the rest of my fingers in the air, and cry out to John Mendolia (where ever he may be) na-na-na-na-naaaaa-na.