Well Hello Dolly! And Let's Say GOODBYE WINTER!

Chocolate and Coconut Hello Dolly Bars

Will this winter ever end?  Yesterday it was 53 degrees and sunny when I left work. Look at the weather now.  I have had enough of this white stuff to last me for the next 5 years.  There was no school today and the roads got so bad that hubby and I came home from work early.  It is a great thing to have the capability to work while we are at home and keep on top of emails and projects we are working on.  For Hubby it was a day to work on some necessary administrative stuff.   For me I got a chance to clean out my emails and follow up on a few areas that I haven't had the time to.  

During this snow day I also whipped up a batch of Hello Dolly's chocolate and coconut bars. Pretty simple to make and pretty tasty too.  I had pinned this one a while back to my "Let them eat cake and cookies" board on Pinterest.  I found them on a board called Inspired by Charm when I first joined.  Lucky for me all of the ingredients were on hand.  For the graham cracker crumbs I used 2 sleeves of Honey Grahams and crushed them in my food processor.  

 

3 cups finely ground graham crackers (12 ounces)
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup pecan pieces
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed mik
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Optional:  1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (melted) for drizzling at the end

Let’s get baking:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly splash a 10-by-15″ rimmed baking sheet evenly with water, then line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, cocoa powder, sugar, and butter until combined. Press evenly onto bottom and up sides of prepared baking sheet. Bake, rotating halfway through, until firm (about 10 minutes). Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack and cool for about 20 minutes.

Sprinkle cooled crust evenly with pecans and chocolate. Pour condensed milk over the top, spreading to cover completely (Do not let it drip over the edges.). Sprinkle with coconut.

Bake until coconut is toasted, 10 to 15 minutes. Place on wire rack and let cool completely.

If desired, drizzle with melted chocolate. Allow to cool and harden.

Trim edges, if needed, and cut into equal-size bars.