The foodie mom, deconstructed!: Coconut cookie bars, deconstructed !

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Coconut cookie bars, deconstructed !

Ok. I admit I have a serious sweet tooth!

While I have tried to cut back on sugar, coconut cookie bars still tempt me. When I am being especially good, I will add dried fruit instead of chocolate, and use gluten-free graham crackers or cookies for the crust. But the coconut provides just the right touch of sweetness.

One bar or two with tea, and I am golden...for a day!

Coconut cookie bars

2 c. crushed graham crackers

Optional: 1 c. chopped nuts

Optional: ½ c. toffee or raspberry chips

1/2 c. butter

2 c. baked, sweetened coconut

2 c. mixed chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, white and raspberry chocolate)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While it is heating, place the baking dish in the oven with the butter. Let the butter melt completely.

Pour the crushed graham crackers into the dish and spread evenly. Top with nuts, or flavored chips as desired. Add the mixed chocolate chips and spread evenly. Pour half of the sweetened condensed milk over the mixture, add the coconut, and press down. Top with the remaining condensed milk and let sit for a half hour. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Let cool completely before cutting in squares.

Coconut cookie bars, deconstructed

2 c. crushed graham crackers

>Fat alert: Some graham crackers may be high in fat. If this is a dietary concern, try a reduced-fat variety or a crushed, fat-free cookie.

>Health alert: Some graham crackers may be high in sugar or salt. If this is a dietary concern, check the product ingredients carefully. Some reduced-sugar varieties are available. In the alternative, use a crushed, sugar-free cookie. But again, check the product ingredients. The trade-off for less sugar is often more salt!

>Health alert: Most graham crackers contain gluten. Gluten-free graham crackers or cookies are available, but many are high in sugar. Check the product ingredients carefully.

Optional: 1 c. chopped nuts

Optional: ½ c. toffee or raspberry chips

½ c. butter

>Fat alert: Butter is fat. In this recipe, the butter is used to form the graham cracker crust. A light butter, or reduced fat margarine may be used. In the alternative, spray the crushed graham crackers with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter or other margarine spray.

>Health alert: Butter is high in salt. If this is a dietary concern, use unsalted butter.

>Health alert: Butter is a dairy product. If this is a dietary concern, any vegan butter may be used.

2 c. baked, sweetened coconut

>Fat alert: Sweetened coconut is high in fat. (Unsweetened coconut may be worse!) If this is a concern, try toasting your own (shave it on a zester) using only a touch of cooking spray or fat-free I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray.

>Health alert: Sweetened coconut is high in sugar. Unsweetened coconut contains less sugar, but may be high in fat. You will need to pick your poison, or toast your own.

2 c. mixed chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, white, and/or raspberry chocolate)

>Health alert: Chocolate chips may be high in sugar. Sugar-free chocolate chips are available, but may be high in fat. In the alternative, try only a cup of chocolate chips or use dried fruit, such as cranberries or strawberries, processed without sugar.

1 can sweetened condensed milk

>Fat alert: Sweetened condensed milk is high in fat. Low-fat and fat-free versions are available.

>Health alert: All varieties of sweetened condensed milk are high in sugar. But this is the glue that holds this cookie together. If sugar is a dietary concern, either reduce the amount of condensed milk used, dilute is with evaporated milk or water, or use a reduced sugar or sugar free caramel sauce. In the alternative, make your owned condensed milk, and use an alternative sweetener.

>Health alert: Sweetened condensed milk is a dairy product. Non-dairy substitutes are available,but hard to find. It is much easier to make your own. You simmer any milk substitute until it reduces, but that can take hours. Instead, try this recipe: http://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/easiest-vegan-condensed-milk-recipe/. In the alternative, try a caramel sauce.

(Follow the instructions above.)

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My mission...

It's official! Home-cooked meals can extend your life up to 20 years. The trick, however, is to cook foods that are good for you!

In the past year, I have been on a mission to lower the fat and sugar in my family’s meals. My experimentation with substitute ingredients has not always been successful, and sometimes, the results have been downright awful! Throughout it all, I have learned a valuable lesson: Sometimes, there just is no substitute for the real thing!

During the Cold War and the implementation of the space program, many foods and ingredients were reduced to powder. (Remember Tang?) Add water, shake, and you have a form of sustenance. And while those products may have indeed allowed us to survive while hunkered down in a fall-out shelter during a nuclear attack, or during a trip into space, many clearly could not be used during normal times as substitute ingredients. They just tasted incredibly bad, and pretty much ruined the recipes I tried to incorporate them into!

Of course, at the core of my research were sugar substitutes. I quickly learned that sugar provides a unique and satisfying texture to many baked goods. Some of the sugar substitutes simply did not. Quite a few baked desserts wound up in the trash can! But when used in other ways, for example, in soups or sauces, sugar substitutes offered more positive results.

While I played in my kitchen laboratory, that old mantra, “It’s about portion size, stupid!” kept playing in my head! It was dismissed when I realized that sometimes, I simply want to indulge! I cannot, and will not, deny my love for French Silk pie, Pain au chocolat, and other luscious desserts and pastries!, Do I have the willpower to limit portion size? Sure. But when I indulge in my gastronomic pleasures, I don’t want to think about portion size, calories, or fat or sugar content. I just want to enjoy.

I am convinced I can sacrifice fat or sugar in other dishes to make up for the damage inflicted by my ultimate pleasures. So I began to deconstruct my recipes: Identifying ingredients that may be of concern, and finding acceptable alternatives. While this is not a new approach, it ties into my belief that good cooks experiment! Ultimately, however, it is up to you to determine what tastes good, and what flavors and ingredients are unnecessary. No two palates are the same. When deconstructing recipes, I followed three basic tenets: Food must taste good. Food must look good. And food must never have the texture of dog food!

The best approach to following my recipes? Begin by trying the original. That will allow you to clearly evaluate the impact of suggested substitutions. I welcome your reactions and suggestions when trying substitutions I have suggested. My only request is that you actually try the alternative, and report the results, good or bad!

Who is the Foodie Mom?

Jane Kaiser has been cooking for her family since she was 10, when she was shipped off to a cooking class after she politely declined her mother's offer of charm school. She refined those skills while cooking and entertaining for her family, and worshiping at the altar of the Food Network.

In another life, Jane was an attorney and journalist. She has provided writing services to a wide range of organizations, including law firms, accounting firms, healthcare and insurance organizations, Fortune 500 corporations, and civic/trade organizations.

She is the author of a book on public relations and marketing, and has also written for such publications as the Minneapolis Star, the Kenosha News, Twin Cities Magazine, Virginia Lawyers Weekly,Illinois Legal Times, Wisconsin Opinions and the Wisconsin Law Journal.

Jane holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in journalism and education from the University of Minnesota, and a law degree from St. Louis University.