Low Carb Caramel Coconut Cookie Bars

The house is moving along. I am excited that I have a couple of new appliances coming this week. Finally, a working refrigerator that has a water dispenser with ice. No more working on hot days with warm water in my water bottle. I know it’s first world problems, but the house gets pretty hot during the summer. We are also getting our air conditioning installed soon too. I hope sooner rather than later, but you know how contractors are. That’s why we are doing most of the work ourselves. I’m hoping to get the floors done this week and start on finishing trim next week. The bathroom vanity in my bathroom will be done this week too. We’re getting there.

This week’s recipe is reminiscent of a certain Girl Scout cookie. I haven’t had a real Girl Scout cookie in ages. It’s hard too when the kids are hocking their wares at the grocery store. They look so disappointed when I don’t buy them. If I did, they would be gone in 60 seconds. When I ran across a recipe for Caramel Coconut Cookie Bars from Better Homes and Gardens, I know I can turn this into a low carb treat. The recipe has a lot of sweetened products that can be swapped. The recipe is easy too. I don’t have to spend a long time making these.

Here are the original stats:

Here’s what I changed:

• I replaced all of the sugar with their sweetener equivalent
• I replaced the sweetened condensed milk with a sugar free variety.
• I replaced the sweetened coconut with unsweetened to reduce the sugar.
• I replaced the chocolate chips with a sugar free variety and reduced the amount by half to reduce the sugar and calories.
• I increased the servings from 24 to 36 to reduce the calories.

Here are the final stats:

Here is the final recipe:

Caramel Coconut Cookie Bars

Makes 36 bars

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter, softened
• ¼ cup granulated sweetener
• ¼ cup packed brown sweetener
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 13.4 ounce can sugar free dulche de leche
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk
• 1 14 ounce pkg. unsweetened flaked coconut
• 6 ounces sugar free semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13×9-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges. Coat foil with cooking spray.
2. For crust, in a small bowl stir together flours, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl beat butter with a mixer on medium 30 seconds. Add both sweeteners and beat on medium to high until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture (mixture will be crumbly). Press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are light brown.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine dulce de leche and milk. Stir in coconut.
4. Sprinkle 5 ounces of the chocolate chips over hot crust; let stand 5 minutes. Spread chocolate over crust. Carefully spread coconut mixture over chocolate layer. Bake 10 minutes more. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
5. In a small bowl microwave remaining chocolate chips 30 to 45 seconds or until melted and smooth, stirring once. Drizzle over coconut mixture. Cover and chill 1 hour or until set. Using foil, lift out uncut cookies. Cut into bars.