I was never a huge baker till very recently. I had a fear of baking that kept me from delicious recipes. It all seemed very complicated and too scripted for me. To over come this fear, I looked for baking recipes that were simple, had few ingredients, didn’t require special tools and that didn’t require any kind of rise (the words baking soda, yeast and baking powder would send shivers down my spine). The plan was to succeed with simple recipes to build confidence before moving to more complex ones.
These raspberry coconut squares were my ticket to freedom from my baking phobia. They are simple, have few ingredients which I usually have in my pantry and fridge and they are delicious! The recipe was inspired from a recipe in Food & Wine magazine.
- 1½ cups sweetened coconut
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons flax seed meal
- 2 tablespoons oat bran
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 1 cup raspberry jam, at room temperature
- Heat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking pan (9x13 inch) with parchment paper that hangs a little over the two longer sides.
- Combine flour, flax, bran, sugar, salt and all but 2 tablespoons of butter in a food processor and mix until the ingredients begin to look like wet sand. You can also use a pastry blender for this. Add the oats and coconut and blend till combined.
- Add all but about 1 and ½ cups of the mixture to the pan and using your fingers, press the mixture into an even layer.
- Spread the jam over top, crumble the remaining dough on top of the jam and finally crumble the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter over top. (Note: take your time to spread the jam and I would recommend using an offset spatula)
- Bake for about 35 minutes or until the bars are golden brown. Cool and then pulling on parchment paper lift the bars and set on a cutting board. Cut into small squares and serve.
- These bars will keep well for 4 to 5 days in an air tight container.
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