The quarantine has me baking up a storm, well more like cookie bars, pies, cakes and the like. Having my grandkids living with us makes it so easy to bake sweet treats, so after homeschooling they always expects Gigi to have a treat ready. Now let me be honest it’s not easy on my waistline, but I just do more yoga in the evenings. We also make the baking a part of our curriculum. I like to call it, Home Economics, you guys remember that in school? These bars are so easy to make and they came about, because I had some condensed coconut milk in my pantry and was trying to decide what to do with it. I had no idea how they would turn out, but the family absolutely loved them.

The thing about bars are you can add anything you like to them, as long as you have a nice cookie base, you can top it with walnuts instead of pecan, you can add raisins, different types of candies, like M&Ms, Reese’s mini peanut butter cups, whatever your heart’s desire. I know will be making these again for my family and I am sure everyone will have something to say about what we add to the next cookie bar. Enjoy the recipe, keep it creative and always remember to Set the Table with Love.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 cup butter (cold and cubed)
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

Filling:

• 1 package semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 can of condensed coconut milk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Add butter, sugar, and flour to a large bowl and use a fork to bring ingredients together into pea sized crumbs.
Press evenly into a greased 9×13″ pan lined with parchment paper. 
Bake 12 minutes. Remove form oven and allow to cool down for a few minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips, pecans, shredded coconut, and cranberries over cooked crust. 
Pour coconut condensed milk evenly over the top. 
Bake 15-18 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting into bars. 
Store covered at room temperature.