Make a coconut crust filled with a pineapple topping and crumble for a perfect summer tropical dessert.
Jump to RecipeWhen we host our monthly Dinner Club, everyone brings food to share. Typically, Justin and I try to come up with the main dish and a dessert for the evening. I was the yearbook photographer/designer/editor for my son’s elementary school, so there were a couple of months that I was at the school all day taking photos for events. This left Justin in charge of getting food ready, and he came up with the idea of these Pineapple Coconut Dessert Bars.
My entire family loves pineapple. It’s one of our favorite fruits so we love cooking with it, too. And since it’s such a tropical fruit, coconut pairs very well with it. We have a friend with a dairy allergy, so we are always on the lookout for dairy-free recipes that are also meatless since another friend is a vegetarian. For the recipe, Justin used dairy-free butter, but if you don’t have that restriction, regular butter will work, too.
Justin used a base similar to the Lemon Bars we’ve made in the past. The pineapple needed to be cooked a bit ahead of time to make it a better consistency to bake.
Step by Step
Preheat the oven to 350F and grease an 8×8 glass baking dish.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, 1/2 cup of softened butter, and the coconut. A pastry blender works great for combining the crumble together.
Use your hands to press about 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the greased dish. Save the remaining mixture for later.
In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, lemon juice, pineapple, and one tablespoon of butter. Bing it to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn. Cook for about 5-8 minutes, until the mixture has started to thicken.
Remove from the heat and allow it to cool slightly, then spread the pineapple mixture over the base in the baking dish.
Sprinkle evenly with the remaining crumble mixture. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the topping is golden brown.
After the bars bake, immediately cut the bars. Once the Pineapple Coconut Dessert Bars cool completely, remove the dessert bars and serve.
Recipe
Originally Published On: April 22, 2020
Last Updated On: March 9, 2020
Pineapple Coconut Dessert Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup coconut (shredded)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 14 oz pineapple (crushed, with juice)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Grease an 8×8 baking dish
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine all crust ingredients, using a pastry blender
- Press 2/3 of the crust mixture into the greased dish
- In a medium saucepan, whisk all of the filling ingredients
- Bring to a boil, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn
- Cook for about 5-7 minutes, until it starts to thicken
- Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool slightly
- Pour the pineapple mixture over the crust
- Sprinkle with the remaining crumble
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the topping is golden brown
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
I love how you’re always able to make the procedure look so simple. I hope soon my results will start looking as good as yours. Thank you once again for sharing.
That’s why I try to post many process photos. For most, especially when it comes to cooking, it helps to have a visual for each step.
These totally scream SUMMER TREAT in my mind. And I know my husband and I will be throwing a lot of summer parties this year so I am going to need to whip up a few batches of these to serve to our guests!
These would be perfect for summer parties! With pineapple and coconut, they feel very light and tropical.
These look delicious – I love anything with pineapple in! And they look pretty easy to make too, which is good if you’re not competent in the kitchen, like me lol!!
Pineapple is one of my favorite fruits, too. These aren’t too difficult, but that’s why I post as many process shots as I can, to try to help make it easier! 🙂
Oh I am loving this. I am so into pineapple right now and crave it nonstop!
Pineapple is by far my favorite fruit! Anything with it always tastes so tropical.
Oh my goodness. This is something I can get behind. My husband LOVES pineapple and this reminds me so much of lemon bars. yummm
Yes! It’s a combination of the two, only the base uses coconut instead of lemons in it.
A bar with my two favorite things: coconut and pineapple. I am so going to make them next weekend. I am going to see my older daughter, if I could I would have made them to bring for her in NJ, but I will not have time tomorrow. Once I come back, you will see my pictures after I make them.
That sounds perfect! It’s always something you could bake together next time she is home to visit, too 🙂
Wow pineapple and cocnut that must have been so sweet and crunchy. I would really love to try this out.
Sweet and crunchy definitely describe these bars!
Yummm🤤😋 To be honest, I don’t like Pineapple as a fruit alone but when it’s served as a topping on a pizza or mixed with any dish like Pineapple fried rice, I somehow like that😜 Hubby will definitely love this dessert 🤗 I have bookmarked this recipe for future reference ☺☺
Pineapple is my favorite fruit, but I know a few people who are the same and only like it as an ingredient, not on its own. I hope you enjoy when you get a chance to make these!
What a wonderful recipe that is fun to make and easy too! I haven’t made anything with pineapple but want to try!
You should definitely give it a try! Especially when pineapple is in season over the summer, it’s a perfect time to cook with it.
Ooh…yummy. These look super delicious. I love desserts with coconut in the,. I’m definitely going to try these pineapple bars.
I used to not like coconut, but it’s grown on me the more I’ve cooked with it. It goes perfectly with the pineapple in these bars.
I’m always looking for pineapple and coconut recipes! This one is fantastic – I can’t get enough!
It’s a perfect tropical dessert! If you like those flavors, you should definitely give these a try.
This looks like pineapple perfection. I bet that these tasted super yummy for sure xx
Pineapple perfection is a great way to describe these!
I love pineapples! And this reminds me of a favourite dessert from childhood. Thanks for reminding me of it. Cannot wait to bake this 🙂
I love pineapple, too! It’s one of my favorite fruits! I hope you enjoy this recipe.
Pineapple and coconut are my most favorite snacks and having both in a combo recipe is a plus. I will be trying it out.
It’s such a wonderful combination! It’s so tropical and just makes me think of fun summer days.
One word WOW these look amazing. We love coconut and pineapple too so these are the kind of thing we love to try and bake x
Thanks, Melanie! We love these at our house and have made them a few times now 🙂
Recipe sounds awesome, would love to give it a try. Loved the blog.
You should try it! It’s definitely a hit with my family.
Mmm – these sound delish! My girls love pineapple too, so I bet they would love them!
We will eat almost anything with pineapple here! I hope you guys enjoy it 🙂