These delicious Raspberry Coconut Magic Bars are easy to prepare and are sure to delight the coconut lover in your life! A fun twist on classic magic bars, this raspberry version is sure to be a hit!
Looking for more coconut recipes? Check out these favorites: Coconut Cream Pie, Almond Joy Cookies and Coconut Macaroon Blossoms!
My Dad celebrated his 60th birthday on Friday. My brother celebrated his 30th birthday on Friday. Confusing? Well get this…they have the same name too! And quite typically {as in always} they really don’t have the same vision for what they want to do on their birthdays. Solution? We party for a couple days straight!
My Dad is a big coconut fan so anything I make with coconut he loves. I knew I was going to make up a batch of Raspberry Coconut Magic Bars for his birthday but he surprised me with a request for a German chocolate cake {usually it’s my Nana’s Carrot Cake}. I had my Nana’s German chocolate cake and frosting recipe so I whipped that up…and had totally forgotten how addictive the frosting is. Totally. Addicting. Bryce found out that he L-O-V-E-S coconut! And frosting. He ate, by the spoonful, and I am not joking here, about a half a cup of German Chocolate frosting before it made it to the cake. Seriously.
When I took it away from him, he asked me, and I quote, “Can I have some for snack then?” Oh my goodness. I explained that it was supposed to go on Grandpa’s cake to which Bryce responded, “I don’t want cake. I want frosting!” I hear ya honey – I hear ya. How do you explain to a four year old that the sole reason for cakes is so that we can eat the frosting? It’s simply not dignified to eat frosting by itself. Now, of course, if you’re alone…totally different story. Or, if you’re four…
Anyways, the cake and most of the frosting made it to my sister’s house for after dinner. My Dad had fun trying to blow out the sparkler candles and then the boys stepped in and giggling away, attempted to blow them all out as they kept re-lighting. Good times!
I guess you’re wondering when the Raspberry Coconut Magic Bars came into play right? Well Saturday we had a BBQ at my house for my brother and he requested fruit salad instead of a cake. I saved the bars for Saturday so we would all have something sweet to snack on. Well, most of the bars were saved for Saturday…
If you have a coconut lover in your life – these bars are PERFECTION! They start out with a graham cracker crust and lots of coconut. The magical ingredient, sweetened condensed milk, is poured over the top and then it’s thrown in the oven. Layer on your favorite flavor of preserves {blackberry is super good too!}, some chopped nuts of your choice {we went with pecans} and then drizzle on some chocolate.
If you’ve got bored kids around – this is a great recipe for them to help out with. Bryce was able to spread the preserves and sprinkle on the pecans…
Let the bars chill for a bit and cut ’em up! Magical isn’t it?
More Delicious Dessert Bar Recipes
- 100 Grand Candy Bars
- Cranberry Bars
- Lemon Bars
- Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars
Raspberry Coconut Magic Bars
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick – melted
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 3 cups coconut sweetened, flaked
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk 1 can
- 1 cup seedless raspberry preserves or the flavor of your choice
- 1/2 cup pecans chopped
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup white baking chips
- 1 tsp shortening
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar in a small bowl.
- Press into a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish.
- Sprinkle the coconut over the crust and drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over the top.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until coconut is lightly browned.
- Let cool completely.
- Spread the preserves over the cooled coconut crust and sprinkle with pecans.
- Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave and stir until nice and smooth. Drizzle over pecans.
- Melt the white chips in the microwave and add shortening. Stir until nice and smooth. Drizzle over the top.
- Let chocolate firm up in the fridge or on the counter and cut into bars.
- Makes 36 bars.
Geri says
Do you no if it’s okay to use raspberry jam with seeds.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
If you don’t mind the seeds, then it’s perfectly fine. Sometimes I have a hard time finding the seedless and I use the seeded preserves – they are still amazing!
Bonnie says
Made these raspberry bars today. At first it seemed like way too much coconut, but it’s really good. I agree with another review that the preserves could be thickened a bit as they are a bit messy when cutting. Melted chocolate and white chips do not drizzle. I ended up putting the melted chocolate in a ziploc bag and cutting the corner to drizzle. I’ll definitely try again with a different flavor of jam.
Tammie R says
I just made these bars for a Valentine’s Day meal. They were not only delicious (I mean super duper delicious) but pretty too. The only thing I will do differently next time, and there will be a next time, is to thicken the preserve/jam layer. I used Smuckers seedless raspberry jam and it was a bit too “runny” for my liking. Thanks for this gem of a recipe.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Tammie! This one is definitely a favorite around here. If you want, try other jams like blackberry and strawberry – so good!
stuart says
Thanks for this magical recipe dear my wife is a big fan of this website and all the recipe’s you post here she tries them all at home . So delicious
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you so much!
Bernice Stapleton says
Hi Trish, are these raspberry cookies frezzer friendly? I am looking forward to making these for Christmas
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I haven’t frozen them before but I think they would be just fine Bernice. Enjoy!
Lucy says
I just took these to a Cookie Exchange party and I won “Best Tasting” prize! I followed the recipe exactly and they were delicious! Thank you!!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Love that Lucy! These bars are one of my favorites!
Elaine says
Is there a way to make slightly more without actually doubling?
Gayatri Mantra says
I love chocolate cake yummy
Ebeth says
I made your raspberry bars at Christmas and they were a huge hit!! For Easter I am doing your recipe with a slight twist. A graham cracker/ginger snap crust and lemon curd in place of the raspberry….so a ginger coconut lemon magic bar. Fingers crossed this works.
Linda W says
Heading to the store for some raspberry jam as soon as I finish this! It may be the best twist on “Magic Bars” EVER. Still looking for your Nana’s German Chocolate Cake recipe, though (sigh).