Cranberry Coconut Lemon Squares
I can’t remember the first time I made these. I make them every year – and now, on the verge of cookie month, when I went to look up the recipe here, I couldn’t believe I haven’t shared it yet. Sorry, guys.
For fans of the sweet-tart, these are it – a double whammy of pucker, with a layer of cranberries suspended in lemon filling. A smattering of coconut adds some sweet chewiness. I like that I can make them ahead of time and stack them in the freezer – in fact, freezing them first makes it easy to cut them cleanly, and they thaw nicely while sitting out on a plate. All they need is a shake of icing sugar.
Sorry to keep this short and sweet, but it’s important that you have this recipe ASAP.
Cranberry Coconut Lemon Squares
AuthorJulie
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl or the bowl of a food processor, combine the butter, sugar, flour and salt, blending with a pastry cutter or fork or pulsing in the food processor until well-combined and crumbly. Press into the bottom of a buttered or parchment-lined 8x8-inch pan and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until pale golden around the edges.
In the same bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice and stir until well blended and smooth.
Sprinkle the cranberries and coconut evenly over the base and pour the lemon filling over top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden and set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into squares; freeze them first for a cleaner cut. Once cooled, sprinkle with icing sugar before serving. (If you want to cut them really cleanly, cool and freeze, then cut them frozen.)
Makes 16 squares.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl or the bowl of a food processor, combine the butter, sugar, flour and salt, blending with a pastry cutter or fork or pulsing in the food processor until well-combined and crumbly. Press into the bottom of a buttered or parchment-lined 8x8-inch pan and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until pale golden around the edges.
In the same bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice and stir until well blended and smooth.
Sprinkle the cranberries and coconut evenly over the base and pour the lemon filling over top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden and set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into squares; freeze them first for a cleaner cut. Once cooled, sprinkle with icing sugar before serving. (If you want to cut them really cleanly, cool and freeze, then cut them frozen.)
Makes 16 squares.
Wow, these look amazing! Can’t wait to try them out. 🙂
Julie, your blog should have a warning about protecting keyboards from drool. Or maybe you need to joint venture with a tech wizard to market a “kitchen-(and drool) friendly laptop. Seriously, this made me drool! Thanks for sharing. I think these will become a tradition in my family.
Waterproof! I think you may be on to something…
Going to try these – may even try them with sour cherries, as I have bagfuls in the freezer.
Ooh, brilliant idea!!
These are the same/very similar as the recipe in One Smart Cookie, except the butter content in the crust is increased a bit? If yes, they are super yummy!
Yes! I use a bit more butter now – partly because it’s not as feared now as it was in the nineties, and to make it easier to handle – people tend to panic a bit when the crust mixture seems dry. 🙂
What a timely reminder – one of my absolute favourites! Thanks Julie!
I know – I had almost forgotten!
Could I use raspberries instead of cranberries??
ABSOLUTELY. That would be delicious!
As soon as I saw this, I had to rush home and make it. So good! I want to try it with orange and cranberry next.
Made this today. Fantastic…Amazingly good…these are a keeper.
Oh my goodness! These are fantastic!
SO glad you liked them heather!!
Just baked and now cooling – they look amazing!!
I just made these and they are DELICIOUS. I added extra cranberries for extra tartness. Thanks for the amazing recipe!!
Just made these for guests last night…perfect dessert! They are fabulous.
Yay!
So good and not tricky at all to make! I added white chocolate chips since I had some left over in my pantry. And it freezes so well. Great for making ahead and bringing to a holiday party later!
Can these be doubled and made in a 9 x 13 pan
I think it should work?
These are as easy as you claim and even more delicious.
Made these for the annual cookie exchange at work – were a hit!
Yay!
I was looking to use up some fresh cranberries we had left-over from Christmas and decided to try this recipe. It comes together quickly and is delicious. I can definitely attest to that since I ate about half the bars 🙂
Next time I make this recipe I’d like it to be just a little more tart – I’m thinking of upping the cranberries to 2 cups, but Julie I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to make the lemon curd itself less sweet? I hesitate to reduce the sugar or add more lemon because I don’t want to throw off the consistency, but maybe that’s not too much of a concern?
Thanks for the great recipe!
So glad you liked it! definitely up the cranberries, and you could reduce the sugar a bit for sure, but I wouldn’t go more than a third on your first try.
Coconut sweetened or no?
either!
Hi Julie! Should the coconut be sweetened or unsweetened?
Either works fine!
Am I understanding correctly, the cranberries fresh and not precooked ?
That’s right!
A friend brought these to a party and sent me the recipe. I just made them and they are divine!!!