Raspberry Coconut Layer Bars

So Easter has come and gone and I suppose if I was a organized blogger I would have had this recipe posted before Easter so you could have added this deliciousness to your Easter table, but I'm a slacker!

Hey, at least I'm sharing the recipe!!

I made these and photographed them the day before Easter. They looked so good. I say looked because I didn't sample them. My husband did and proclaimed them delicious, but I resisted. I've been on a little sugar fast. Trying to see what happens when I lay off sugar entirely. I mean nadda. Nothing. No sugar or honey in my tea (which is the absolute worst!) with the exception of my birthday when I had a piece of cake and Easter when I had HALF of one of these bars, yes I said HALF (it's so sad) I haven't had any other sugar in a MONTH! 30 days. It's epic. Me the girl with the sweet teeth, notice I didn't say tooth cause one tooth could not remotely describe how much I love sugar.

I have a disease that I've been struggling with for almost 16 years now and I read somewhere that a low glycemic diet might help, so I'm giving it a whirl. I don't know how long I'll stay on this "no sugar" diet, but I'll do it as long as I can to see if it's helping.

I have to say, the first week was hard, but then it got easier. I couldn't have picked a worse time to quit either.....chocolate bunnies, cookies, pies and my beloved Cadbury mini eggs all taunting me! I didn't have any mini eggs this year. I look forward to eating them every Easter. I still can't believe I didn't eat any. *snob*

Let me tell you, I had a big table full of desserts for Easter. I made four and my Mom brought lots more. I knew I had to limit myself to one dessert, so I scanned the table to see what I REALLY wanted to eat and these were the winner hands down. After I heard everyone ooohing and ahhhing over them, I knew I made the right choice.



I'm so sorry if you not a coconut lover cause these are so good.

 

Raspberry Coconut Layer Bars
recipe adapted from one at Mom on Time Out
1 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter (melted)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1- 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups seedless raspberry jam (I used enough to cover the whole pan which was almost the whole jar)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used slivered almonds, but any nut would work)
White chocolate chips
Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine graham cracker crumbs,butter and sugar in a bowl. Press firmly into bottom of ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Spread coconut over the top and then pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over top.

Bake in preheated 350 oven for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on wire rack.

Spread jam over cooled top, sprinkle with nuts. Melt the white and semi-sweet chips separately in a small bowls in the microwave for 30 seconds and then at 10 second intervals until just melted. * see note. I used a spoon to drizzle both chocolates over the bars. Cool and cut into bars. You can stick these in the fridge to speed up the process.

*Note - I didn't measure out the chips for sprinkling. I just put a big handful in each bowl and microwaved until just melted.