Chocolate Chip, Coconut, Oat Bars

I haven’t baked in a long time ~ since well before Christmas.  My daughter did all the Christmas cookie baking and I was thankful for that.  She is an awesome baker/cook (she made the best Thanksgiving turkey I have ever had!)!  I was looking forward to baking something and found this bar recipe as I was going through some cookbooks the other day.  I had all the ingredients so I tried them.  They are delicious!!!  At first I thought I would leave out the coconut but the flavor is great ~ not overpowering like it can be sometimes.

I made the whole recipe in my mixer.  Since the dough is thick, after mixing it up, spoon it into your prepared pan.  I found it easier to pat it in the pan with my clean hand rather than a spoon or spatula.  Also, don’t overbake.

Chocolate Chip, Coconut, Oat Bars

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup quick-cooking oats, uncooked
1/2 cup coconut
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Mix in the egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, soda and salt.

Add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats and coconut; then add chocolate chips and pecans mixing until combined.

Pat dough into a lightly greased 13×9 glass baking dish.

Bake at 375º for 20 minutes.

Cool and cut into bars.

Makes 12-15 bars depending on how large they are cut.

Source:  Where Hearts Gather

Happy Cooking!