Chewy Coconut Chocolate Chunk Blondies

Do you ever have those days where nothing goes right?

You’re just a little clumbsy?? Or a LOT….

Well, Lisa had one of those days on Saturday. We can say that she almost set Maria’s kitchen on fire not once, but TWICE!

Both incidents involved parchement paper. Lisa was baking a few desserts and had two baking dishes lined with parchement paper.

The first incident occured because she placed one of the baking pans on top of the stove to cool. What she didn’t know was that when she had previously used the stove she didn’t turn it completely off. This was our conversaton:

Lisa: Maria, do you smell something burning?

Maria: Yah, what is that?

Lisa: (Turns and looks at the oven) Everything looks ok.

Maria: Hmm, thats weird.

Lisa: (Turns again to look at the stove) S**T, I forgot the stove on!

Maria: Lisaaaaaaa

Lisa: =) oops..

The second incident occured because Lisa placed the second pan to close to the broiler in the oven and it caught on fire. Luckily Lisa was smart this time, and realized the mistake she made. Just as she went to pull the pan out of the oven, it had just started to smoke and flame up!

These bars are what she almost caught on fire first.

We came across this recipe over at Annie’s Eats. As soon as we saw them we knew that we HAD to make them. We love anything with coconut in them! Coconut combined with chocolate is insanely good! These bars were very simple to make and they were fantastic.  We highly reccommend these. If you’re a coconut lover then theses are a MUST!

Chewy Coconut Chocolate Chunk Blondies
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. coconut extract
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

For drizzle and garnish: (optional)
1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks
1 tsp. butter or shortening
Sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter and flour an 8- by 8-inch square baking dish.  In a small bowl, sift together the flour and salt; set aside.  In another mixing bowl combine the melted butter and brown sugar and beat until well combined.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and mix until incorporated.  Mix in the vanilla and coconut extracts until well blended.  Add in the dry ingredients and mix just until they have been incorporated.

Add the shredded coconut and chocolate chunks to the bowl, and fold in with a rubber spatula until evenly distributed.  Transfer the batter to the prepared baking dish and spread evenly with a spatula.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until set in the center but still soft.  Do not over bake.  Let the bars cool slightly before drizzling.

To make the drizzle, combine the chocolate chunks and butter or shortening in a small, heatproof bowl.  Microwave in 15-second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted and smooth.  Transfer the melted chocolate to a plastic bag with a very tiny piece of the corner cut off and drizzle over the bars.  Sprinkle with additional shredded coconut before the chocolate sets, if desired.  Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.