Pineapple Coconut Bars

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These Pineapple Coconut Bars are the perfect tropical dessert recipe. One bite and you’ll feel like you’re sipping a pina colada on your favorite beach!

Check out my easy, light and flavorful Coconut Cream Pie Cupcakes for more tropical tastiness.

Pineapple Coconut Bar on a yellow plate with whipped cream and a cherry on top

Pineapple Coconut Bars

These bars are absolutely one of my new favorites. Pass me a pan of them and I’ll demolish the whole thing. I love both pineapple and coconut – hello pina coladas! – so these bars are the perfect tropical dessert bar! Plus, they’re from my grandmother’s cookbook, so they’re special. 🙂

I shared these Banana Oatmeal Cookies from my grandmother’s cookbook last year, and they’ve been a big hit. I’ve been wanting to share something else for a while and I finally made these bars.

One of the great things about this cookbook is that it’s actually a little spiral notebook. It’s full of clippings from newspapers, family recipes, recipes from friends – all kinds of things. And so many of them are handwritten by my grandmother onto the pages. She passed away several years ago and I just love going through it.

According to the newspaper clipping where this recipe came from, the recipe was sent in by a Mrs. Gladys Carper of Lefthand, West Virginia. My grandparents lived in West Virginia. These bars were the winners in a West Virginia Black Walnut Festival Cook-off. How fun is that?!

Pineapple Coconut Bars stacked on a napkin
Side view of Pineapple Coconut Bars stacked on a napkin

You might be wondering about the black walnut part – the original recipe calls for black walnuts, but I just had regular walnuts, so that’s what I went with. You could certainly use black walnuts if you prefer. Obviously, they are prize winning that way. 🙂

Tips for Making Pina Colada Bars

Despite following a lot of the recipes in this cookbook, I tend to have to play around with the recipes a bit. Because they are such old recipes, they often call for ingredients that we just don’t use as much now. For example, a lot of the cookies call for margarine. Obviously I’ll sub that for butter.

In these bars, the original recipe actually called for pineapple preserves. I’m sure I could probably find pineapple preserves, but I imagine having that kind of thing around was more common in her day than it is in ours. I also didn’t want to end up with a half used jar of pineapple preserves.

Pineapple Coconut Bars topped with whipped cream and a cherry on a platter
Pineapple Coconut Bars stacked on a napkin

So to make it easier for us, I decided to use actual pineapple. I played around with using pineapple chunks and crushed pineapple. I decided I preferred the crushed pineapple because it spread throughout the filling better, as opposed to having huge chunks. But pineapple tidbits or chunks would work too.

Regardless of how you go about adding the pineapple, these bars bake beautifully and are absolutely delicious! I totally died over them. I was SO glad this was the recipe I decided to try. I’m already thinking it’ll be a great recipe to play around with even more to try out other fruits and flavors.

To break down the bars a bit, you have a shortbread crust on the bottom. One of the easiest things to make – I’m a fan. You pre-bake it and then add the filling and bake again. The crust stays nice and firm and is perfect for these bars.

The bulk of the filling consists of the pineapple, coconut, sugar and eggs. It all just gets whisked together, then thickens nicely when baked. The bars stay very, very moist. You can definitely pick the finished bars up and eat them with your hands like any other bar, but you’ll need a napkin. 🙂

They are seriously pineapple coconut bars heaven. I will definitely be making these babies over and over again. They were a hit!

Pineapple Coconut Bars stacked on a napkin with whipped cream and a cherry on top
Pineapple Coconut Bars stacked on a napkin

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Pineapple Coconut Bars
Recipe

Pineapple Coconut Bars

  • Author: Lindsay
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 16-20 Bars
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Description

These Pineapple Coconut Bars are the perfect tropical dessert recipe. One bite and you’ll feel like you’re sipping a pina colada on your favorite beach!


Ingredients

SHORTBREAD CRUST 

  • 1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar

FILLING

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/21 cup chopped walnuts, optional
  • 1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
  • 20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

Instructions

1. Line the bottom of 9×9 pan with parchment paper that sticks up above the edges on two sides. Grease the other sides. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients for the crust together in a mixer bowl on low speed. It’ll be very crumbly at first, but it will form a ball.
3. Press dough evenly into the bottom of the pan.
4. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Set aside.
5. To make the filling, whisk together sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl.
6. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined.
7. Stir in walnuts, coconut and pineapple.
8. Spread mixture evenly over crust.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until edges are golden.
10. Allow to cool completely, then cut into squares.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Bar
  • Calories: 207
  • Sugar: 16.9 g
  • Sodium: 74.8 mg
  • Fat: 12 g
  • Carbohydrates: 24 g
  • Protein: 2.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 30.8 mg

Filed Under:

Enjoy!

Pineapple Coconut Bars collage

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25 Comments
  1. Pamela G.

    Can this baked be check in the normal manner in the oven to insure its fully baked using a cake tester or is it too moist for that?

  2. Erin Guier

    Do you still have the photo of this recipe from the notebook? It has Mrs. Carper’s great recipe for preserving children on the same page. I saw it recently on Facebook but couldn’t find your original image on your Facebook page.

  3. Sara

    Hello Lindsay,
    This sounds like the perfect little Easter treat to bring along!  As with any of your recipes, I can’t wait to make these. How are they the next day if I made them the day before?
    Thanks!
    Sara

  4. Candice

    In the original recipe, using preserves, did it call for you to still use all the other “preserve”ingredients? I am thinking the preserves are sweet enough already but not sure how to move forward here. Thanks.

  5. Theresa

    Hi…I’m looking forward to trying your recipe but I’m a little confused. How did you get 16-20 bars by using a 9×9 pan as called for….are these mini bars or did you mean to use a 13×9 pan? Thanks for your time.

    1. Lindsay

      No, they were made in a 9×9 pan, but perhaps I cut them smaller than you would. Feel free to cut them to the size you prefer. 🙂

  6. Janice

    Pineapple preserves are easily found in the grocery store. Smuckers makes them. We love them on english muffins. Out of curiosity, what was the measurement if I used preserves?

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      If you can find the preserves, that’s great! If you’d like to try the original way, just omit the pineapple and sub in 1/2 cup of pineapple preserves. The preserves are spread on top of the crust before adding the coconut mixture.

      1. Janice

        Not sure which I will do – I like pineapple anyway I can get it! Thanks for the reply. I can’t wait to try this!

  7. Annette+Crain

    Oh my, those Coconut Pineapple bars really are delicious! My husband always “rates” my new recipes and he rated it 5 stars! So easy and wonderful fresh taste.
    I might try to put a thin layer of berry jam on the top sometime, just to give it more color.
    Thanks for the recipe!!

  8. Medha @ Whisk & Shout

    These are so tropical and perfect for a warmer week like the one I’ve been having 🙂 Yum!

  9. Melanie @ Carmel Moments

    These look divine Lindsay! Pineapple and coconut together are always a favorite! I’m dreaming of Hawaii suddenly.

  10. Jen @ Baked by an Introvert

    These bars have made my day! I love the tropical feel of them. I don’t think they would be safe around me. I’d eat them all!

  11. Jocelyn (Grandbaby cakes)

    Girl if you said you would demolish the whole thing, I gotta trust that these are insanely fantastic!

  12. Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness

    I seriously wish that I could pineapple coconut ALL the things! These bars are amazing! Thanks for sharing my fro yo chica, pinned!

  13. Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice

    What a gorgeous bar, Lindsay! I love the combination of pineapple and coconuts. Definitely makes me think of spring rather than the blizzard that my area just had. Sounds delicious!

  14. Martha

    Pineapple preserves are easy to find in the jam/jelly section of my Shoprite. This would be a different taste from the crushed pineapple. Would love to see the original too. Either way this recipe would be a winner and will absolutely try !

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      Yes, these are probably more pineapple-y than the original. If you’d like to try the original way, just omit the pineapple and sub in 1/2 cup of pineapple preserves. The preserves are spread on top of the crust before adding the coconut mixture.

  15. Mir

    I love those older recipes! They used ingredients like “spry” or, well, pineapple preserves. Stuff we have a hard time tracking down or recreating. I love the evolution of food! But then, I’m a nerd.
    And these bars look fantastic. They definitely are prizewinning!

Lindsay
About Lindsay

I'm a wife and a mom to twin boys and a baby girl! And I've got a serious sweets addiction! Bring on the treats!

Scripture I’m Loving

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29