My Granny Neal made a version of these Sticky Coconut Maple Bars every Christmas. They’re really perfect for any occasion, but when I was a little kid they were a special treat reserved for Christmas morning. Enjoy!
These are inspired by my Granny’s holiday coconut bars, which I later realized came straight from the pages of Ladies’ Home Journal. I took her traditional bars and gave them a modern spin.
For this recipe, I brown the butter in the crust, so the cookies have a toasty, rich nuttiness. In homage to my hippie Vermont roots, I also added a bit of pure maple syrup to the sticky coconut layer to give it a more complex flavor and hit of nostalgia.
They are still very much reminiscent of the delicious layered Christmas bars my Granny made, but sometimes traditions can be added to and made anew, without losing their original magic. My Granny has long passed, and with her went the wine and cigarettes, but my memory of her fondly lives on. I was just at my dad’s house, and he still has her set of Norman Rockwell books prominently displayed. Every time I make these cookies, I do so in her honor.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1/4 cup / 56g brown butter melted and slightly cooled
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 cup / 100g lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 cup plus 3 Tbsp / 140g all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Maple Coconut Filling
- 1/4 cup / 80g pure maple syrup
- One 14-oz / 396g can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg white at room temperature
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon + 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg + 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 2 cups / 200g loosely packed sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup / 170g finely chopped semisweet or dark chocolate or mini chips
- 1 cup / 120g chopped pecans toasted
Instructions
Crust
- Prepare an 8- inch square cake pan with greased aluminum foil that completely covers the pan and goes up the sides, then line with a parchment-paper sling.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown butter and yolk until combined. Add the brown sugar, flour, and salt. Blend with a spoon or your fingers until it is uniformly mixed. It may be a bit crumbly, but not dry. Distribute the dough evenly and press it into the prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap so you can easily smooth it.
- Freeze until solid, about 5 minutes. Bake in the middle of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Allow the crust to cool on a rack while you make the filling. Leave the oven on.
Filling
- In a large bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, condensed milk, vanilla, egg white, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in the coconut, chocolate, and nuts. Spread the mixture over the baked crust.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until the topping turns golden brown.
- Cool slightly before removing from the pan. Cool completely on a cooling rack before cutting into bars.
These are absolutely delicious and a big hit at work. Is the maple syrup replacing another sweetener that your grandmother used, or simply an addition? I tried one batch with maple syrup and one with Lyle’s Golden Syrup. The Lyle’s is a little sweeter, but equally yummy.