You can bake coconut bars one of two ways: as sugary bar cookies or sweetened energy bars. Both are moist, chewy and can satisfy your craving for a coconut treat, but the calories supplied by the energy bars are much more nutritious. The bran, nuts and seeds in sweet coconut bars provide dietary fiber and plenty of protein, making them an ideal snack on a long hike, or a healthy midday treat served alongside a cup of tea or coffee.
Step 1
Grease the sides and bottom of the baking pan with a thin, even layer of vegetable oil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2
Put the flour, ground ginger, ground allspice, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together thoroughly. Stir in the uncooked bran cereal.
Step 3
Mix the fresh grated coconut, sweetened shredded coconut, chopped raisins, chopped dried pineapple and mango, chopped macadamia nuts and sunflower and sesame seeds together in a medium bowl.
Step 4
Beat the vegetable oil, brown sugar, egg, applesauce, vanilla extract and warm honey together with an electric mixer in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.
Step 5
Fold the flour and cereal mixture into the oil and egg mixture, just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in the fruit, nut and seed blend until fully incorporated.
Step 6
Transfer the dough to the baking pan, spreading it evenly to the edges and corners. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown.
Step 7
Allow to cool completely in the pan on a heat-proof surface. Cut into equally portioned bars.
Tips and Warnings
- You can replace the macadamia nuts, pineapple, mango, raisins and sunflower and sesame seeds with any ingredients that appeal to you, such as mini dark chocolate chips, chopped blanched almonds, dried currants, dried apricot, dried cranberries, white chocolate shavings, chopped crystallized ginger or chopped figs. You can also replace the ground ginger with ground cinnamon. You can wrap the bars in parchment paper if you’re packing them for an outing; wrapped in plastic, the bars will stay fresh for up to 10 days.
Things You'll Need
- 9 x 13-in. baking pan
- ½ cup vegetable oil, plus more for greasing
- Mixing bowls
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp. ground ginger
- ¼ tsp. ground allspice
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2½ cups bran oat multi-grain cereal, uncooked
- ½ cup fresh coconut, grated
- ½ cup sweetened coconut, shredded
- ½ cup seedless golden raisins, chopped
- ½ cup dried pineapple, chopped
- ½ cup dried mango, chopped
- ½ cup macadamia nuts, chopped
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
- Electric mixer
- ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp. honey, warmed
References
- “Crazy About Cookies”; Krystina Castella; 2010
- “Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy”; Alice Medrich; 2010
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