Coconut Dream Bars

Sometimes, without trying too much, everything just works. Case in point:  these simply superb bar cookies. It all began with a visit New Year's Eve from some friends, who arrived bearing gifts in the form of a gallon of raw milk. (Unpasteurized milk, for those not in the know, is the de rigueur contraband foodie badge of honor at the moment.) Since I am not nursing, nor was I feeling up to the challenge of making any kind of yogurt or ricotta, I spent a couple of days pondering how to put this bounteous grassy dairy delight to good use. A week of macaroni and cheese indulgence followed, and I still had a generous quart left, when it occurred to me to try a homemade dulce de leche. A quick web search brought me to a recipe from Alton Brown. It worked wonderfully, but then I realized that I had only transformed the milk, but hadn't yet reached the end-stage where consumption would follow. Fortunately a bit of scanning the bookshelf brought me to a recipe I've used once before from Nick Maglieri, for a caramel crumb bar. With his shortbread crust as a base, I used the homemade dulce de leche as filling, and stirred into it about a cup of sweetened flaked coconut. Just out of the oven I sprinkled a cup of chocolate chips over the top, waited a couple of minutes, and then smoothed the chocolate into an even layer. The result was phenomenal. So good from the first bites while still warm that I could only just lean over my kitchen counter and stare at the sheet of coconut caramel shortbread and chocolate gooey goodness and wonder were I dreaming such delightful taste sensations? They were even better the next day and the day after...