Coconut almond bars: yay/nay.

I'm not sure what it is about dessert bars that I always love the idea of, but then feel a little let down when I actually make them. I suppose it's that bars are kind of an in-between of cookies and cake. I love cookies. And I love cake. So why do I usually love bars? I like them alright. I'll eat them if someone offers me one. But if I'm not really partial to them, then why did I go ahead and make a whole pan?

Well, the recipe called for ingredients that I already had, except for the almonds. It was a pantry dessert. In the end, it wasn't what I would call "excellent," due to the fact that I may have overbaked it by a couple of minutes, and I might have cut down on the total amount of almonds, or at least chopped them finer if I was going to add them all. Don't get me wrong, they were tasty. My family loved them. But like I said, me and dessert bars...


Almond Coconut Bars

Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons butter at room temperature
1/3 cup packed brown sugar

Top:
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped almonds
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the crust:

Cream butter and brown sugar in a bowl. Sift in the flour and blend into the mixture, then pour the mixture into a greased 8x8" pan, spreading evenly and patting down lightly with your fingers. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes.

For the topping:

In a bowl, sift flour with baking soda and salt, and mix with coconut and the nuts. In another bowl, beat eggs, add brown sugar and vanilla, and continue beating this mixture until fluffy. Combine the two mixtures and pour the batter over the baked crust. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 20 minutes. Cool slightly and cut into bars. Store in air-tight container.


...

Tonight, the sun is setting beside some pretty strangely-hued incoming storm clouds. The sky is an ominous grey-yellow-green that's occasionally sliced open by a flash of lightning. We've been waiting for this storm front to break up our hot spell that's hit us all of a sudden. It will be a relief to be free from the sweltering heat (temporarily, I'm sure), but more than that I look forward to the storms themselves. Summer thunderstorms are something, in my opinion, not to be missed. Granted there's no tornado threat, a thunderstorm is always an invitation to take a beverage out onto the porch steps and, at least until it starts pouring, watch the clouds roll on in.

I'm enjoying the storm while eating these:


I think that about sums it up!