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Life seems just a touch busy right now. As soon as I returned from the visit with my folks, I had to play catch-up on spring chores around here. I still hadn’t planted all of the seedling trays for the veggie and herb gardens and the weeds definitely took advantage of my absence by trying to take over the perennial gardens, and I had absolutely no spare recipes on hand for the blog. Normally, I try to cook/shoot ahead a little, so that if I get behind, I still have something ready to go. And – worst of all, for certain cookie loving persons on the premises, there was nothing baked. A sorry state of affairs.
So, while I was out pulling up dandelions, I was also thinking about what kind of cookies I wanted to work on. The number of dandelions present is definitely a testament to my busy-ness last spring, when I obviously did not get them pulled before they had a chance to seed themselves all over the place. Why aren’t dandelions a valuable crop anyway? They ought to cure something, or be a vital ingredient in an award winning dish. And then, if only rocks were also worth something, we could retire and have enough money left over to hire special dandelion-pulling people. I only care about having a lot of money when I’m having to engage in an unpleasant chore. I’d also like refrigerator cleaning people, and shower scrubbing people.
Still, noxious weeds aside, I was enjoying being outdoors in some warm sunshine. This has not been a very good spring weather-wise, so the sun is like air to a drowning man. With my brain in a happy place, I continued to mull over the possibilities for baking. I don’t have a lot of spare time right now, so definitely bar cookies, because they are fast. I also have a container of coconut oil that I’ve enjoyed working with, so that is turning me in the direction of coconut bar cookies. And almonds maybe…
3 batches later, a few tweaks here and there, and these sweet little bar cookies are ready for prime time – Chewy Coconut Almond Blondies.
Chewy Coconut Almond Blondies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil at room temperature
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- 1/2 sliced toasted almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º and generously butter a 7 x 10 inch baking dish [8 x8 will also work]
- In a mixing bowl, cream together coconut oil and brown sugar
- Beat in eggs until fluffy
- Beat in extracts [1/2 teaspoon of almond extract is going be pretty strong, so use less if you are sensitive to the flavor]
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Mix in the dry ingredients, and then the coconut and almonds.
- Spread dough evenly in the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with no more than a moist crumb or two on it.
- Cool completely, cut into 12 bars to serve.
- Store tightly sealed at room temperature for up to a week - they are even better after sitting a day or two, becoming more chewy and deeply flavored.
Notes
All in all, I have to say that I rather enjoyed a life of leisure, sitting with my sister by our parents’ pool, sipping adult beverages and feeling [kinda] bad that we had to leave our husbands at home, working. On the other hand, those dandelions aren’t going to pull themselves, and these blondies are a really nice reward for a couple hours spent in industrious labor.
I guess I had better get back out there – have a great day!
Coconut Blondies
Lime Buttermilk Bars
Molasses Spice Bars
Cinnamon Pecan Blondies
Chai Zucchini Quick Bread
Chewy Chocolate Crinkles
Winter Squash Sandwich Bread
Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies
Blueberry Lime Crisp
Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
I happen to love almond extract and always use it in cherry pie or any almond dessert recipe. I am always looking for a good chewy bar recipe so I will give yours a try.
I love the look of your new blog. I had lost track of your old blog and couldn’t remember your name or the name of your dessert stalking site (good grief), so I appreciate your visit to my blog. Now I can spend the afternoon exploring this site.
So glad you found me again Linda! I think sometimes when people don’t like almond extract they might be using imitation or just not very good quality – I like it lot of things myself.
I too love almond extract. Try using a bit of almond extract in fresh squeezed orange juice and pour over fresh summer peaches, peeled and sliced….heaven!
I used to frequent a great restaurant that served planked salmon with a dandelion green salad. So I’m assuming they were true dandelions that they served us, so maybe you could turn the ones in your garden into something delicious? Well your blondies certainly sound and look delicious. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your beautiful weather.:)
Nancy – they are edible, but I have enough to feed a small country right now! 🙂
I’ve done almost nothing with coconut oil, and need to. Love the idea of it. And I love these blondies! Totally good stuff – thanks so much.
Thanks John, and using coconut oil is a revelation, trust me!
I love using almonds in baked goodies! So, I just know how delicious these blondies must be. I’ve never used coconut oil in my cooking, only regular vegetable oil I can easily find in the grocery store.
Vegetable oil might not work very well – if I were going to sub something, I think I would go with butter. Coconut oil is a solid at room temperature. Thanks for stopping by Julia.
What a great combination of flavors and textures.
Thanks Barb!
These look amazing! I am intrigued by the coconut oil and coconut flakes in the recipe. I always forget about coconut but I really should use it more often because I love it!
Welcome Kristin – I don’t always think to use it either – we get into such ruts sometimes.
oh my goodness- this sounds so delightful! must try!! i love coconut anything these days. and with almond extract?!? yummmm!
Thanks Sarah – hope that you love it!
Donalyn, I admit to being one of those folks who doesn’t care for almond extract, but I think I must have suppressed memories of a Marzipan Incident from younger days, because I like almonds in general–out of hand, chopped in baked goods, etc. It’s just the almond flavoring, not the flavor of the almonds, that I don’t care for. If that makes any sense. Regardless, these blondies look wonderful. I appreciate the differing size pan directions as I have 8×8 and 9×9 but not 7×10 pans.
And my composting pigs would love to appreciate your dandelion abundance–that’s a spring tonic to guinea pigs!
It makes perfect sense to me Kirsten – if there is too much almond extract it turns me right off – it easily gets out of hand if you use too much. And I wish chickens were as fond of dandelions as your little pigs are – my problem would be solved!
Dandelions are a spring tonic for humans too! They were brought to this country from Europe as as a seed crop in the sixteen hundreds. A wonderful medicinal herb for curing many ills!