Coconut-Chocolate Bars

Coconut-Chocolate Bars

1-1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
2 cups flaked coconut
½ cup caramel topping *
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips**
½ teaspoon vegetable oil

*I used the Smucker’s squeezable caramel ice cream topping and just eye-balled the amount I used

**I had a hard time getting the chocolate chips and vegetable oil to the right consistency for drizzling. So I spread it the best I could then sprinkled extra coconut and chocolate chips on top to hide the blobs of chocolate. Next time, try melting it in a double boiler or maybe adding a bit more vegetable oil.

Heat oven to 350©F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. On low speed, beat in flour and cocoa until soft dough forms. On low speed, beat in 1 cup of the coconut. Press mixture in pan. Bake about 25 minutes or until center is set. Drizzle caramel over baked layer; sprinkle with remaining 1 cup coconut. In resealable freezer plastic bag, mix chocolate chips and oil; seal bag. Microwave on high 30-45 seconds, squeezing chocolate in bag every 15 seconds, until smooth. Cut ¼-inch tip from corner of bag; drizzle chocolate over coconut. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 4 rows.

1 bar: 200 Calories; 12 g total fat; 95 mg sodium; 21g carbohydrates, 1g protein.