Rachel's Special Chocolate Coconut Oat Bars

Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup steelcut oats (quick-cooking oats might work too but unsure)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons salted butter, melted (add 1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 (12 ounce) cans cream of coconut (not coconut milk! coconut cream)
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2/3 cup half-and-half
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (2/3 cup semisweet baking chips work too)
• 1/2 cup angel flake desiccated coconut (and or or other toppings of your choice)

Recipe

• 1 oat layer: grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish with butter or butter-flavor cooking spray. preheat the oven to 350°f.
• 2 in a large mixing bowl, whisk the oats, sugar, and milk together first.
• 3 add the butter, egg, and baking powder next, whisk it in well.
• 4 pour into the casserole dish and form a flat layer with a rubber scraper or spatula. bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
• 5 when the oats are done baking, let it cool for at least 30 minutes before doing the other steps. it helps to put it in the fridge on a special cooling rack in there, to speed up the cooling.
• 6 coconut layer: wait until the oat layer has cooled completely before you do this! otherwise it will melt the crema de coco and make it the wrong consistency.
• 7 pour the two cans of coconut cream into another mixing bowl, and whisk by hand or with an electric beater at low speed until smooth.
• 8 beat in the cream of tartar.
• 9 with a frosting spreader or spatula, spread the coconut cream on top of the oat layer smoothly and evenly.
• 10 chocolate layer: place the chocolate and half & half or cream in a saucepan over low-medium heat. whisk constantly until the mixture is smooth, about 2-3 minutes. do not let it come to a boil!
• 11 let the mixture cool for 5 minutes-- exactly 5 minutes! :) too short will melt the coconut, too long and it congeals in the pan.
• 12 pour the chocolate over the coconut, and pour it only evenly but while it's still wet, even it out with a spatula or frosting spreader if it appears lumpy and/or uneven.
• 13 topping: while the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the coconut flakes across the pan evenly.
• 14 let the whole pan chill in the fridge, uncovered, for 2-3 hours.
• 15 when it's done cooling, place a large knife under hot water and use it to loosen around the edges, then cut into bars.