Marked for extinction

Coconut Almond Bars
The Great American Cookie Cookbook Copyright 2001

Crust
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup ground almonds
½ teaspoon almond extract

Filling
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut
¾ cup lightly toasted slivered almonds, divided
2 teaspoons milk

CRUST
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all crust ingredients in a small bowl. Beat at low speed of electric mixture, scraping bowl often, until particles are fine, 2 to 3 minutes. Press on bottom of 13x9-inch baking pan. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

FILLING
Combine sugar, egg, flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla in small bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixture, scraping bowl often, until well mixed, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in coconut, ½ cups nuts and milk. Pour over hot crust.* Sprinkle top with remaining ¼ cup nuts. Bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly brown.

*You cannot pour this gooey conconction. Since the crust is only partially baked, spreading it is not really possible either. I sprinkle it evenly over the crust then use a spreader to lightly finesse it over the crust, covering it as completely as I can.

Makes about 36 bars.

I've made these for the past few years but this might be the last year for these. Obviously, they're very good or I wouldn't have made them more than once but they just didn't excite me this year. Of course, I often change my mind later on when my head is clearer. I worked a full day and baked all night yesterday.

I like that I can bake 2 13x9-inch pans of these at once, which is a nice break from scooping and/or rolling balls of cookie dough over and over. I messed these up this year and forgot to add the almond extract to the crust and I added it to the filling instead.

I love the Great American Cookie Cookbook. Many of the recipes appear in other cookbooks and booklets I own, that are put out by the same publisher, but this is the complete collection.