The yummies are from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s book- Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar, While, I had a little mishap with the crust while making mine- they are fabulous none the less. This recipe can be found on her blog. Since it can be found all over the net anyway, I will go ahead and post it here for ease. Isa writes:
“As the song from Xanadu (the movie) goes…you got to believe we are magic, and nothing will stand in our (and your) way once you taste this unapologetically vegany version of the stuff childhood dreams are made of. Here are the nutty, chocolately, ultra-sweet and buttery-tasting graham-crackery coconut bars you loved so much as a kid. If your childhood was lacking in them, well then these are tastier than therapy for sure. The vegan secret weapon of choice here is cooked-down coconut milk, bringing in even bigger coconut flavor than ever imagined. The ever-elusive vegan butterscotch chip, should you ever have some, makes a sublime addition too.
These bars require a good overnight chilling to really firm them up before slicing, so plan accordingly.
Tip: You’ll want to use only sweetened, fluffy white flaked coconut for these. Save the natural shredded stuff for a healthy curry.
Tip: Press the graham cracker crumb crust like crazy into the pan; the more you pat it down the firmer the resulting crust will be.”
Magical Coconut Cookie Bars
Ingredients:
One 14 oz can (regular or lite) coconut milk (about 1 3/4 cups)
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups vegan graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup melted margarine
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
2 cups flaked, sweetened coconut
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
Directions:
In a large saucepan whisk together coconut milk and brown sugar over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mixture may form a thin skin on the surface; just stir it back into the liquid. Remove from heat and let cool while preparing the crust.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, melted margarine and sugar; mix well to moisten crumbs completely. Firmly press mixture into prepared pan, pressing evenly from center to sides of pan.
Pour warm coconut milk mixture evenly over crumb base. Top with an even layer of chocolate chips, flaked coconut and nuts, in that order. Firmly pat everything down until coconut milk mixture soaks upward into the toppings. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until coconut is deeply golden and filling is bubbling, remove from oven and let entire pan cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Transfer pan to the refrigerator to completely cool and firm up for at least 4 hours, even better overnight or until very firm. Use a sharp, heavy knife to run along the edges of bars, slide bars on parchment paper out of pan onto a cutting board then to slice into 24 squares. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator. These also freeze well, tightly wrapped and allowed to thaw for 20 minutes before serving.
OMG…just from the pics and the posts, I have jumped onto Half.com and ordered Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. Thanks for the inspiration…. Scott in Charlotte