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Coconut Bars with Chocolate Chips

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These buttery coconut bars with chocolate chips are an easy dessert filled with lots of coconut and a little bit of chocolate. A shortbread crust is topped off with a rich coconut and chocolate layer. This is a great recipe to share with friends for your next picnic or potluck supper.

I enjoy making bar cookies because they provide all the yummy cookie deliciousness my family loves, yet they are simple to bake. These easy sugar cookie bars and these gingerbread cookie bars are some of my family’s favorite bar cookies, and these coconut ones are new family favorite.

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These coconut bars with chocolate chips are kind of like a mounds bar in cookie form! They have lots of sweet coconut combined with chocolate all on a soft and chewy crust.

coconut bars on a wooden cutting board

Easy Dessert Recipe

One of my favorite thing about this recipe is how easy it is to make. The bars take about an hour to make, but most of that is waiting for the bars to bake. The hands on time for making these cookie bars is much shorter.

close up of coconut bars with chocolate chips

In addition there is no need to break out your mixer or any fancy tools for this recipe. I store my mixer in a low kitchen cupboard and it is amazing how much that deters me from making a recipe sometimes!

Realistically it would take me less than 5 minutes to clear some counter space, get it out and set it up. But still there are many times I veto a recipe just because that seems like too much effort.

That isn’t a problem with these coconut bars. One or two bowls, a baking pan and a whisk make this something you can make without any fancy equipment.

The easy preparation makes this perfect for whipping up a simple weeknight dessert. It is also a great recipe for kids to help with in the kitchen.

This is because it is so simple there isn’t really anything they can mess up! Pressing the dough into the baking pan is a great job for kids, and they can’t over mix the filling.

How to Make Coconut Bars with Chocolate Chips

The first step in making these chocolate chip coconut bars is to make prepare the baking pan. You want to be able to just lift the bars out of the pan after baking so you can cut them into neat squares.

So the best way to do that is to line the pan with parchment paper or foil. I use a basic 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish for baking these cookie bars.

mixing the ingredients for the coconut bar crust

The crust is a simple mixture with only three ingredients – flour, brown sugar and melted butter.

When it is all mixed together it will be thick, not like a cake batter. You can press it into the baking pan using your fingers and then use a spatula to flatten it.

pressing the crust into the baking pan for coconut bars

Then the crust needs to bake for 15 minutes or so, until it is lightly browned. After that take the crust out and let it cool for 10 minutes while you mix the filling.

Filling for Coconut Bars

Making the filling is simply a matter of dumping the ingredients in a bowl and whisking them together. The base of the filling is a combination of flour, brown sugar, eggs, melted butter and sweetened condensed milk.

mixing the coconut bar filling

Then add in 3 cups of shredded coconut and 1 cup of chocolate chips and mix it all together.

Pour the filling over the baked crust. This will bake into a sweet and slightly gooey topping for the cookie bars.

pouring the filling on top of the coconut bars

Now this is a lot of coconut, but this recipe is all about coconut! So, to make it even more full of coconut, I sprinkle another cup of coconut on top of the bars.

This layer browns nicely and adds some toasted coconut flavor to the dessert. Put the baking pan back in the oven at a slightly lower temperature than used for the crust and bake the bars until they are golden brown.

sprinkling coconut on the coconut bars

Serving the Coconut Bars with Chocolate Chips

Once the coconut bars are baked and cooled for about 10 minutes you can lift the bars right out of the baking pan. Carefully lift the sides of the parchment paper or foil and put the bars on a cooling rack.

cookie bars lifted out of the baking pan for cutting

Then once they have cooled completely you can cut them into nice neat squares. My husband has a hard time letting things cool completely and frequently tries to cut a serving for himself while they are still warm.

So take my word for it, if you cut them when they are warm you will not end up with nice neat squares, although they will still taste delicious.

coconut bar cookies with chocolate chips cut into squares

How many servings this recipe makes depends on how big you like to make your cookie bars. I usually cut 12 bars out of a 13 x 9 inch baking pan, but you could make smaller bars and get twice that many.

These bars travel well, so they are a great treat to take along for a picnic, barbecue or a pot luck dinner.

They keep well in an airtight container for 3 days and you can freeze them although they will be best used within a month or two.

close up of coconut bars with chocolate chips

These chocolate chip coconut bars are delicious and are loved by all ages. The shortbread crust is soft and chewy which makes it perfect for the filling which is soft and slightly gooey.

If you have a coconut lover in your life make these bars and they will thank you!

Find More Bar Cookies

stack of coconut bars cut for eating
4.43 from 94 votes

Chocolate Chip Coconut Bars

Published By Anne
These buttery coconut bars with chocolate chips are an easy dessert filled with lots of coconut and a little bit of chocolate.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Servings: 12
Print Save Rate Pin

Ingredients
 

Crust

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup butter

Filling

  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 can 14 ounce sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 4 cups sweetened shredded coconut divided

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  • Line a 13×9 inch baking pan with parchment paper so that the paper extends up the sides of the pan.
  • In a medium mixing bowl, combine 2 cups offlour and 1 cup of brown sugar and stir to mix well.
  • Melt 1 cup of butter in the microwave. Stir the melted butter into the flour mixture until well combined.
  • Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.
  • Reduce the oven temperature to 325 F degrees.
  • To make the filling in a large bowl whisk together ½ cup of flour, ¼ cup of brown sugar, 3 eggs, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
  • Melt ¼ cup of butter in the microwave and then stir into the filling mixture.
  • Add the 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips and 3 cups of the shredded coconut to the filling mixture and stir well.
  • Pour the filling mixture over the baked crust. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1 cup of coconut.
  • Bake the coconut bars as 325 F for 30 minutes, until golden brown on top.
  • Cool the bars in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully remove from the pan by lifting the sides of the parchment paper and moving the bars to a cooling rack.
  • Cool completely to room temperature, then cut into bars and serve.

Video

Notes

These are also delicious with dark chocolate chips

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Nutrition Information

Serving: 1g | Calories: 566kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 262mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 39g

Nutrition facts are estimates.

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coconut bars on a wooden cutting board
These buttery coconut bars with chocolate chips are an easy dessert filled with lots of coconut and a little bit of chocolate. A soft shortbread crust is topped off with a rich coconut and chocolate layer! This is a great recipe to share with friends for your next picnic or potluck supper. #coconut #barcookies #chocolate
anne

Hi, I’m Anne!

I love to cook and I want to share my recipes with you. I believe cooking should be approachable and fun, not a chore. I want to make simple recipes using everyday ingredients that you can make again and again, whether it is for a busy weeknight, a summer cookout or a special dessert. Read more...

10 thoughts on “Coconut Bars with Chocolate Chips”

  1. Just finished baking these and they smell delicious! Just gotta wait for them to cool completely, so we will be enjoying them after dinner. I did have to bake the crust a little longer than stated as it didn’t look done when I first pulled it out. Added walnuts and used dark, milk, and semi-sweet chocolate chips in the filling. Can’t wait to try them!

    Reply
  2. Definitely yummy. I wasn’t sure if I should pack the brown sugar as it didn’t say. I just lightly patted it down. Do cook the crust until golden brown. Next time I’ll bake the filling a little longer.

    Reply
  3. Knew I would love this. Condensed milk and coconut yum. I like to slightly underbake and it was delish. Next time will use white chocolate. Thank you!

    Reply
  4. Agreed that there is way too much butter in the crust. Had to switch to convection & bake an additional 25 minutes! Also, crust would work better with cold butter cut in, instead of melted butter.

    Reply
  5. I will never make this again the crust had no taste The chocolate chips didn’t melt/soften up. Waste of time & money

    Reply

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