Raspberry Coconut Bars

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These easy summertime Raspberry Coconut Bars are buttery and sweet. They’re jam packed with juicy raspberries and coconut flavour. Get ready to savour every bite of these soft crumbly bars! 

Serve these summer dessert bars at a picnic or just with a cup of coffee for breakfast or snack at any time of the year. Every time I take these traditional raspberry coconut squares along to a picnic or pot luck they are very popular!  Moist, messy and crumbly, no matter when or how you eat these summer treats they are berry-delicious and will make anyone’s day.

When it comes to homemade summer dessert recipes this easy recipe for raspberry bars is the one you need. It’s so easy to make these classic old-fashioned summer treats with just a few ingredients. They bake to a golden crisp with a juicy raspberry filling in the centre and a coconut streusel crumble on top. The hardest part is waiting for the bars to chill before you cut them!

Why You’ll Love Homemade Raspberry Coconut Bars

• An easy summer recipe to make when fresh raspberries are in season.
• Recipe includes a quick 4-ingredient lime-infused raspberry jam filling that cooks in less than 5 minutes – no store bought jam required.
• The tangy homemade raspberry jam is supplemented with extra fresh raspberries which amps up the raspberry flavour of the bars.
• The oatmeal coconut dough is blitzed in a food processor in a jiffy and is conveniently divided to create both the base and coconut streusel topping.
• These fruit crumble bars bake to a golden crisp with a thick and wonderfully juicy raspberry centre making them sweet, soft and irresistible.
• Raspberry coconut bars are totally freezer-friendly.

It’s no wonder these best raspberry and coconut bars are a classic – they are absolute perfection with their intense flavour and red jewel toned colour. This is a tried and true recipe and I give you step by step instructions on how to make them. You definitely need to try these fruit bars this summer!

Ingredients Needed to make Raspberry Coconut Bars

• Lime – Use the zest and juice to infuse the raspberry jam filling with a little tang and bright, fresh flavour.
• Granulated and brown sugars – Granulated sugar is used to sweeten the lime-infused raspberry jam and brown sugar is use to sweeten the buttery oatmeal coconut base and streusel topping.
• Cornstarch – Thickens the raspberry jam filling.
• Raspberries – The star of the bars; fresh raspberries are used to make the jam filling and more fresh raspberries are used to top the jam in the centre filling. Frozen raspberries can be used too – no need to thaw them first.
• Rolled oats – Rolled old-fashioned oats (not quick oats) work best for the buttery base and topping as they give the bars a nice chewy texture and contain more nutrition.
• All purpose flour – Use unbleached all purpose flour as it works best for this recipe and gives the buttery base and topping the best “crumb”.
• Unsweetened shredded coconut – Unsweetened coconut is preferred as this lets you control the sweetness of the bars and allows the true coconut flavour to shine.
• Baking powder – Just a touch of this leavening agent helps keep the buttery base and topping soft.
• Butter – Use unsalted butter and cube it into small pieces to make it easier to incorporate it into the flour mixture.

How to make Raspberry Coconut Bars

Make Raspberry Jam

In a saucepan whisk lime juice, lime zest, sugar and cornstarch. Add 2 cups raspberries, bring to a full heat while stirring and mashing the raspberries. Cook until thickened, about 2 minutes. Transfer jam to a bowl, refrigerate to cool at least 30 minutes to one hour.

Make Base and Topping

Add rolled oats, flour, ½ cup of the coconut, baking powder and brown sugar into the bowl of a food processor and pulse. Add butter and pulse again. Add water and pulse again until the dough begins to bind. The mixture will be divided.

Press Base Into Pan and Top with Raspberry Jam

Press ⅔’s of the base and topping mixture into an 8” x 8” baking pan lined with parchment paper (reserve remaining ⅓ portion for streusel topping). Bake 15 - 18 minutes then remove from oven. Spread cooled raspberry jam on top, leaving a ½” border, and arrange 1 cup fresh raspberries on top of the jam.

Sprinkle Streusel Topping and Remaining Coconut

For the streusel topping, loosely sprinkle the remaining ⅓ of base mixture in dollops over the raspberry filling. Then sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup coconut on top and pat down lightly. Return to oven and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, stopping to tent the top with a sheet of foil for the last 10 minutes of baking time (this will stop the coconut topping from over browning).

Coconut Raspberry Bars Out of the Oven

The bars come out of the oven hot and golden bursting with raspberries. Let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, then refrigerate for 1 - 2 hours or longer to chill completely before cutting.

How to Cut Coconut Raspberry Bars

Remove chilled bars from the pan by lifting the parchment paper handles and transfer to a board. Use a large chef’s knife to cut into 16 squares and wipe the knife after each cut.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can this Recipe be Doubled?

It’s easy to double this recipe but I recommend you bake each batch in a separate 8” x 8” baking pan as opposed to one larger pan. The centers of the bars are moist and soft and a larger pan would result in a larger area of soft centers that may make it difficult to cut consistent squares that will hold together.

Can Raspberry Coconut Bars be Made Ahead and Stored?

Make them ahead, leave in baking ban to cool completely, then cover and store the pan in the refrigerator. When needed cut the bars. Alternatively, cut cold bars ahead of time, arrange them on a platter covered with wrap or in an air tight container and refrigerate until needed. The bars keep well refrigerated for a few days.

Can Raspberry Coconut Bars be Frozen?

Freeze uncut cooled bars in the baking pan, wrapped well for up to 3 months. When needed, remove wrapping and thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Cut while still cold, into squares. Alternatively, freeze bars after they’ve been cut. In this case arrange cut bars in one layer in an air-tight container for up to 3 months. Uncover and thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Always keep thawed bars refrigerated.

Can I use Frozen Raspberries?

Ideally the bars turn out best and yield the brightest red colour when fresh raspberries are used. But if raspberries are not in season, you can certainly use frozen raspberries. If using frozen raspberries, add them while still frozen to the saucepan when making the jam. It will take a little longer to bring the jam up to a full heat. Keep the additional raspberries (needed for topping the jam) frozen until ready to add them on top of the jam filling. Bake the bars same way.

Tips for success

• Line the baking pan with parchment paper for easy release of the bars.
• When spreading cooled jam on the base, leave a ½” border so the jam does not make contact with the edges of the pan which would cause it to burn.
• Do not add more raspberry filling than the amount recommended as the bars may not set.
• If the coconut topping starts to brown too quickly, simply place a piece of foil over the pan for the last ten minutes of baking.
• For best results and cleanest cuts, cut bars after they have completely cooled in refrigerator; bars could be cut warm but they will be gooey and the filling will spew out, which is not a bad thing.

Substitutions - Variations

You can get creative and substitute the raspberries with the same amount of blueberries to create Blueberry Coconut Bars. Even a mix of your favourite in season berries like blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, boysenberries or goji berries will create squares that will be berry-delicious!

If you love recipes with fresh raspberries then try these:

• Raspberry Bundt Cake
• Raspberry Oat Muffins

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