Who knew a candy bar could lead to this Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars deliciousness?

When I was a small kidlet, my absolute favorite, no questions asked, adored candy of all time was Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. There is something so intensely glorious about the combination of milk chocolate, salty peanut butter, and those crinkled edges you get to sink your teeth into with the first delicious bite. I would carefully hoard and devour those little prizes each year as Halloween came, and I am not ashamed to admit I strongly considered buying a bag of the pumpkin shaped ones for myself to eat while we had Trick or Treaters this year. One of the first questions I asked my husband was which candy does he prefer, Peanut Butter Cups or Snickers, trying to gauge whether or not I would have to share my little disk shaped deliciousness. My first apartment I had by myself had a dedicated candy jar just for mini PB cups so I could keep them stocked at all times, and a friend and I once scrounged the bottoms of our purses to be able to purchase a Trader Joe’s dark chocolate version of the PB cup. Trust me when I say, I take that perfectly engineered food product very seriously.

As an adult, I felt an obligation to expand my candy consumption and I rediscovered a love for the often underrated Mounds bar, sweetly coconutty and covered with chocolate. This of course, led to my rediscovery of the Coconut Macaroon, which is insanely easy to put together and the texture blows the candy bar out of the water. However, I was really looking to find something to meld my love of the Coconut Macaroon and Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies to really take the newfound obsession to the next level. I had a feeling that the flavors and textures could meld together into something magical, and I was not finding anything that really fit exactly what I was looking for.

Each mouthful incorporates layers of textures, flavors, and at the same time completely reminds you simultaneously of a Chocolate Chip Cookie and a Coconut Macaroon.

What resulted from the experimentations, from dozens of different recipes and approaches I could have taken for the cookie bar itself, I am pretty pleased with the final result. There are layers upon layers of flavor and textures in this spectacular little cookie bar, starting with a really excellent base for the chocolate chip cookie. I wanted an extra soft, but chewy texture, and found that using an extra egg yolk helps create that very chewy texture that retains moistness. I did not want a ton of goo inside the bar, so kept the traditional amount of chocolate chips inside. Since I wanted some coconut flavor inside the bars, I used some sweetened coconut but chose not to toast it for the texture. The depth of flavor in the cookie portion is nice and deep due to the three types of sugars used - it tastes like you’ve let the dough sit overnight to develop those flavors without actually having to do so..

Then, upon this really excellent little cookie base, sits a thin layer of semi-sweet chocolate ganache. Stop.Right.There and read it again. Yes, a semi-sweet chocolate ganache lays glistening and silken on top of the base, and the cool contrast is delightful. On top of this is a nice layer of toasted coconut, so you have a bit of extra nuttiness that the toasting brings out and almost a crisp texture that the cookie base no longer has because of the ganache. Then, for a little extra chocolate and to make it pretty, the ganache is drizzled over the toasted coconut and you finish it off with a sprinkle of coarse sea salt. I think it’s very important to use coarse sea salt, as when you bite into it you get a little bit of a gritty saltiness that completely balances out the sweetness and richness of the cookie bar and ganache

These Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are an excellent addition to any gathering you may be headed to - simple to make, easy to transport, and completely beloved by those who try it.

I should note that I used a 9x12 1/2” pan that is metal - so the cookie bar layer ended up very slightly thicker than a 9.13 pan. Metal also bakes a tad hotter than a glass pan in my opinion, so check that is why I list a little time span to compensate for different ovens, altitudes, and equipment used. I also recommend using Ghirardelli Chocolate as it is widely available everywhere and extremely consistent when melting/baking for the finished product. For the ganache, I used the bar chocolate rather than the chips because I did not want to have the added cornstarch that is sometimes used to keep the chocolates separate in the ganache. Little things that I feel make a superior end result, but of course if you want to try a different type of chocolate or brand then by all means, go ahead.

These bars are super rich and delicious, so I cut mine into 24. Honestly, if you are going to a cookie exchange or bringing these bad boys to a party where there are a ton of different sweet offerings, I would say you can cut them into even smaller pieces. They store well in or outside of the fridge, and even on day 4 of residing in the fridge I did not detect any staleness to the actual cookie portion. They were 100% husband approved, AND I got to test the finished products on my friend and her kiddos and they all approved too! They are a new favorite of mine, and while they are not my beloved PB cups, they come pretty darn close to them in how much I adore them!

Super chewy, chocolatey,, and coconuty, these Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are incredible!

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Author: Iris Anna Gohn

Servings: 24

The cookie dough portion of these bars can be put together in one bowl if you like, but I use two as I like to have my dry ingredients all together and ready to dump into the wet for efficiency and memory sake. That way, for those who may be a tad forgetful when baking or have Visual Impairments, a lot of the guess work is taken out of the equation of “Did I add this or not?”

The cookie dough is VERY stiff and crumbly. This is perfectly how it is supposed to be. Do not be afraid. It needs to be pretty sturdy to hold up to all the other toppings without completely falling apart into goo (though that may not be a totally bad thing with other types of bars). The extra egg yolk helps create the extra chewiness and moisture without having the dough rise up too much like a cake.

I stored mine in the fridge as there is heavy cream in the ganache and I am very careful about dairy products sitting out too long. As I was ready to eat them, I let them come to room temperature within a half hour and the texture was as perfect as the first day they had been baked. If you like to live on the wild side, storing them in an airtight container on the countertop for 72 hours would be fine.

Ingredients

For the Cookie Bars:

2 Cups and 2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Cup Sweetened Coconut
12 Ounces (1 1/2 Stick Butter) melted then cooled
3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Granulated White Sugar
1 Egg and 1 Egg Yolk
2 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Heaping Cup Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

For the Chocolate Ganache:

1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
8 oz Semisweet Chocolate

For Assembling:

1 Cup Toasted Sweetened Coconut
Coarse Sea Salt, for Sprinkling

Directions

For the Cookie Bars:

Move middle rack in oven so it sits in the lower third of the oven. Preheat Oven to 325F. Line a 9x13 pan with Aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Make sure there is overhang of the foil so it makes it super easy to lift the bars out of the pan once cooled.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and untoasted coconut. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, light brown, dark brown, and white sugars thoroughly. Then add in the egg and additional egg yolk, pure vanilla extract, and whisk until completely combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients as well as the majority of the chocolate chips. Reserve a few to sprinkle on the top of the bars.Fold the dry ingredients carefully into the wet until the flour is absorbed- the dough will be extremely crumbly and stiff.
Place the cookie dough into the prepared baking pan and gently press the dough into an even layer. Sprinkle and press the remaining chocolate chips into the top of the dough.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted int he center of the bars in the pan.
Cool cookie bars completely in the pan. While they are cooling you can prepare the Toppings.

For the Toasted Coconut:

Spread the coconut evenly over a small baking sheet and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes as the cookie bars are baking. Coconut will turn golden brown and smell very nutty when done, and be very dry to the touch.

For the Ganache:

In a medium bowl, break the semisweet chocolate into chunks. Set aside.
In a medium heat in a medium stock pot, heat the heavy cream until it simmers. Do not let it hit a full boil.
Once the cream hits a simmer and is slightly frothy along the edges of the pot, put it into the bowl containing the chocolate.
Stir vigorously to combine the chocolate and cream for about a minute, then cover with aluminum foil. Let sit and continue to heat the chocolate for an additional 5 minutes.
Uncover the bowl and finish mixing the cream and the chocolate together - it will turn a rich, deep shiny brown.

To assemble the Bars:

Lift the cooled cookie bars out of the pan with the help of the Aluminum Foil overhanging edges. Gently slide the baked good onto a big piece of parchment paper.
With a spatula, smooth about 1/2 to 2/3 of the chocolate ganache onto the top of the giant cookie. Evenly spread it out to the edges.
Sprinkle the toasted coconut evenly onto the top of the smoothed ganache. Set aside for just a moment while you prepare to pipe the rest of the ganache.
Take a tall cup and line it with a Ziplock bag, with one of the pointed edges pointing towards the bottom. Carefully spoon the reserved ganache into the makeshift piping bag and lift out the bag, guide the ganache towards the bottom point of the bag with your hand while twisting shut the open top part of the bag. Snip the very edge of the bag where the ganache is and you are ready to pipe!.
Pipe the rest of the ganache over the bars in whatever pattern strikes your fancy. I did zig-zags both directions so it looked like a crosshatch, but you can totally get creative!.
Sprinkle the Coarse Sea Salt over the piped Ganache.
Set bars into fridge to set the ganache for a half hour, then cut into however many pieces you want - I got 24 bars but you can definitely cut them smaller for gatherings if you like.