One of those ‘bet you can’t eat just one’ treats!

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love it when I taste something new-to-me that’s incredible. My typical reaction is that I cannot wait to get home and try to recreate it. The inspiration for these amazing squares came when I sampled something at a market on a recent trip to Vancouver which reminded me of something I had enjoyed in Australia a few years ago. After a little experimenting in my kitchen, I’ve come up with a recipe I’m pretty excited about. For the record, I’m calling them squares even though in Australia they’d be called slices. They’re super easy to make (three cheers for no-bake treats!) and crammed with the perfect balance of tart-sweet flavour. I am quite certain this will be my new go-to item for book club, tea parties, bake sales and potlucks. I hope you like them half as much as my husband does; he may or may not have eaten half a pan of them over the past 24 hours.

Ingredients

Base:

• 2 1/3 cups (560 mL) graham cracker crumbs (look for gluten-free graham-style crumbs if needed)
• 1 cup (250 mL) finely shredded (desiccated) coconut
• Grated zest from one lemon
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) butter, melted
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) sweetened condensed milk

Frosting:

• 2 cups (500 mL) icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons (45 mL) room temperature salted butter
• 3 tablespoons (45 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons (45 mL) desiccated coconut, for topping

Method

• Line an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) baking pan with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, combine graham crumbs, coconut and lemon zest.
• Add melted butter and sweetened condensed milk to the graham crumb mixture and mix thoroughly until well combined.
• Press the crumb mixture into the prepared pan and refrigerate.
• In another bowl, make the frosting by beating together (with an electric mixer or by hand) the icing sugar, butter and lemon juice until creamy, thick and smooth.
• Spread the frosting over the graham crumb layer then sprinkle with the extra coconut, pressing down slightly so it sticks to the frosting.
• Place the pan back into the fridge for one hour or longer to set completely.
• Cut into squares or bars.
• Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or freeze for longer storage.
• Wrap squares in waxed paper and tie with baker’s twine for gifting.