About this Recipe

Grandmother's Tips for Coconut Pecan Bars:

This is one of my personal favorite dessert recipes. If you are a fan of the old fashion coconut chocolate bar, this has a similar taste because of the coconut in the filler. We love pecans here in Grandmother's kitchen so chose that as the nut to use in this coconut bar recipe, but you could also do this recipe as coconut and almonds. If you are looking for ideas for homemade gifts, food gifts like this one are fancy but easy desserts to make. Guaranteed, this edible gift will be appreciated by anyone that love these flavors.

1. Cut the chocolate into small pieces for quicker even melting. We used chocolate melting pots and it took two pots to hold all the chocolate. You could also do in one large double boiler. Never overheat chocolate that you are melting. Once is has melted on a low temperature, shut the heat off.

2. If the chocolate hardens too much, just reheat to soften and shut off again when it is ready.

3. You don’t want the chocolate to be too hot when you are dipping the bars, so once melted let it cool down quite a lot.

4. If you run out of pecan halves you can also use chopped the pecans for the garnish.

5. Work with half of the filler at a time when cutting and dipping, leaving the second half in the freezer so it will stay cold and firm. The candy bars are easier to work with for dipping if they are very cold.

6. These treats freeze well in a container with a sealed lid. Always put parchment paper between the rows.

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Ingredients

(Print)

Makes 80 treats

24 ounces dark chocolate chopped into small pieces (at least 75% cacao)

4 Tablespoons organic coconut oil

3 ounces natural pecans, chopped into small pieces

1 pound organic non-sweetened medium coconut flakes

1 pound organic confectioners’ sugar

1 can (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk

6 ounces natural pecan halves

Directions

1. Start with the chocolate block. Cut the chocolate into very small pieces.

2. Melt the chocolate. You can do in the top of a double boiler or use chocolate melting pots.

3. Stir the chocolate with a silicone spatula as it is melting. Shut off the heat when melted and set aside. It should stay hot long enough and cool down to a nice dipping temperature while you make the filling. But just reheat if necessary.

4. Stir the coconut and confectioners’ sugar together in a large bowl.

5. Chop the pecans into very small pieces and stir into the mixture.

6. Add the can of condensed milk and use a wooden spoon to stir to combine.

It will be very thick and you will need to use your hands to combine and incorporate all the ingredients together when you can no longer stir with the wooden spoon.

7. Divide the filling in half and roll each one into long tube shapes.

8. Roll each piece into parchment paper and freeze for about 40 minutes.

9. Work with one piece of cold dough at a time, unroll it and use a sharp knife to cut into even rounds.

10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and using a toothpick or skewer, spear a piece and dip it into the slightly cooled melted chocolate. Hold the dipped bar piece above the melting pot and let most of the excess chocolate drip off.

11. Place it onto the parchment paper and put one pecan half on top while the chocolate is still soft.

Repeat until you are done.

12. Place the tray into the refrigerator and let set for an hour.

13. Transfer the candy bar rounds into an airtight container, using parchment paper to place between the layers.

14. Store the candy bars refrigerated in the airtight container.

You can eat cool from the refrigerator or bring them to room temperature before serving.

ENJOY!

Return to this Coconut Pecan Bars recipe or check out more recipes at Grandmother's Kitchen

Let's talk a little bit more about the basic techniques for melting chocolate. All the equipment must be completely dry. You cannot have any moisture at all when melting chocolate. You are best not to even put a lid, which can cause condensation and moisture caused chocolate to stiffen or seize and renders it useless.

Some people love their microwave oven. We don't actually have a microwave oven in Grandmother's kitchen. It was just never a tool that we cared to use, but for those microwave users and lovers out there, microwaving chocolate is very fast, but you should do it in a glass oven proof container and you have to check on it every 5-10 seconds because you can so easily burn the chocolate. Also never ever cover the bowl, you will get lumps and moisture.

The most traditional method is using a double boiler. It is reliable. If you don't have a double boiler, you can use and oven proof dish set into a shallow saucepan. Just don't put too much water in the the saucepan because if it spits up and the water gets into the chocolate it will ruin it. Use a very very low heat for this process. Chop the chocolate into small bits, they will melt quicker. Stir gently and occasionally to make the melting as even as possible. Never leave unattended.

Another very easy method is to use the small electric chocolate melting pots. Cutting the chocolate into small pieces, you just plug it in and stir occasionally. Shut off as soon as melted, as you do not want to keep heating the chocolate once it has melted. It will stay nice and runny for a long time. If the chocolate does start to harden too much for dipping, you can always just plug it in for a short while to soften it up again.