Gooey Coconut Bars, Gluten-Free

posted on April 7, 2011 by Cate

I’m happy to be back in a country that loves all things coconut. This is the first of two (or three!) Jamaican coconut desserts. Forget macaroons- these coconut bars have gooey layer of coconut and pecan atop a buttery cookie-like crust.

These bars are like the lovechild of a pecan pie, shortbread, and coconut caramel ménage a trios. I baked a batch to bring to a get-together at a friend’s house. After tasting one I immediately wished that I’d made a double batch so that I could save some for myself…

Gooey Coconut Bars {Gluten-Free}

Yield: 16 bars

Ingredients:

Crust:
* 1/2 cup brown rice flour
* 1/3 cup sorghum flour
* 1/3 cup potato starch
* 1/3 cup brown sugar
* 1 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
* 6 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into 6 pieces

Coconut Filling:
* 1 cup dried, unsweetened coconut
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
* 1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
* 2 eggs, slightly beaten
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom of an 8” square baking pan and generously dust with rice flour.

Put the brown rice flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, brown sugar and xanthan gum into a large bowl and mix to blend. Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut in the cold butter until crumbly and combined. Press dough evenly into the pan.

Bake for 15-17 minutes until the crust begins to turn golden.

While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. Combine the coconut, brown sugar, salt, cornstarch and nuts and mix well. Add eggs and vanilla extract and stir until well combined. Pour onto partially baked crust.

Bake an additional 20 minutes, or until the center has set and the outer edges have browned slightly. Cool completely and cut into squares.