I felt like making a big old pineapple cake this weekend, but given the heat and the fact we don’t have anyone around to help us eat a giant cake, I decided to go with these super easy crushed pineapple bars. Unlike my usual go-to pineapple desserts Millionaire Pie and Banana Split Cake, these bars are baked and then chilled.
Photo by E.M. Ginsberg aka “Fuzz”
Pineapple Coconut Bars
1 cup (4.5 oz) all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
Filling:
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 of a large (20 oz) can of crushed pineapple, drained, save the juice
2/3 cup flaked coconut
Icing:
1/2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pineapple juice (from above)
Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8 inch square metal pan with non-stick foil or spray with flour-added cooking spray.
In the food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Pulse to mix, then add butter and pulse until mixture is coarse. Empty into your lined pan and press tightly to make a crust. Bake for about 13 minutes or until edges start to brown. Let cool completely before making filling.
Filling: Mix together the egg, egg yolk, both sugars and the vanilla. Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt, then stir them into the batter. Add the pineapple and coconut. Pour over the cooled crust and bake for about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.
Icing: Mix together all the ingredients, using as much pineapple juice as needed to make a smooth icing. Drizzle icing over the top of the cooled bars.
Chill bars, then lift from pan and cut into 16 squares. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Makes 16
This tropical tasting bar looks like it would hit the spot on a hot summer day like today, tomorrow, next week, etc!! It is 91 here with a dewpoint of 79!!! I know you can empathize!
Living just up the Interstate from Gloria, I have to agree. Those bars would hit the spot and be right at home with the tropical weather we’re having.
These look like the perfect summer snack…. like pina coladas in a bar! Yum!!
Here in central Ontario, We are in the middle of the hottest heat wave I can ever remember having (and loving every sweaty minute of it). I havn’t been doing much baking as a result, but these look like the perfect summer treat! I love pineapple, but not so much baked into desserts. Any suggestions on what other fruit would work for these, or do you think they just wouldn’t be the same with something else?
These look delish Anna :-)! I have now moved these to the top of my list to make after I move.
Pineapple is such a great summer fruit in desserts!
Mmm, I agree — this looks like a pina colada in a bar. Not sure J would like it — but we would! At Crumbs he chose the pina colada cupcake just for the umbrella. lol.
Great photos, Fuzz! And the bars do look and sound really good!
Adding these to my list of yummy things to make this summer!
OMG thank you so much for these! I love anything pineapple.
These look like just the ticket for the folks at work! Definitely a “must make”. Also, I ablsolutely love the photo credit. E M Ginsberg shows great potential as a professional food photographer. 🙂
Dang those look good.
These look delicious! I was having so much fun looking through your blog, and then I realized that you won the Pillsbury bake-off (and many others), and that was really cool to discover!!! I love to bake and could relate to so many things you shared, such as liking to make smaller desserts so you can bake again soon! I don’t experiment with recipes though – I like to cook my way through my cookbooks, at the moment (about 5 years in to that). These bars and all of your desserts look and sound as good as I know they are!
Those look delicious! Thinking about making them for a party next week. Do you know if I can make them ahead of time and freeze them?
Hi Mariah! It’s been a while since I made these and I don’t recall freezing them, but based on the ingredients I’m pretty sure they’d freeze well. Do you like cream cheese? Another really delicious pineapple bar cookie is this one. I know these will freeze well. The recipe is a little different in that it uses dried pineapple.
http://www.cookiemadness.net/2008/04/pineapple-cheesecake-squares/