Grandma apparently copied down this recipe while in Arizona. Dated 1980, the recipe is on the reverse side of the Phoenix Salvation Army Senior Citizens' Center April calendar of events. (Grandma and Grandpa used to go down to Arizona to visit relatives during the winter months, and they would mention going to the senior center for lunch some days. The calendar shows a bunch of programs in addition to lunch, funded by the Area Agency on Aging.)
I'm not sure if Grandma made these bars very often. The first time I remember tasting them was in high school. It was Irene, Uncle Kenny's wife, who had made them. At the time, I thought it would be hard to come up with a better sweet treat.
Now, as a middle-aged person, I believe that"too sweet"does exist. But when a recipe contains sweetened condensed milk (the "manna of the canned food aisle," as Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen calls it), and coconut, then I'm sure it's worth holding on to, even if slight modifications are in order.
Here is Grandma's version of the recipe:
I only had sweetened coconut on hand, so I looked for other ways to cut down on sugar. I omitted it in the crust and used bittersweet chocolate on top.
Here is what I did:
Mix 2 cups crushed graham crackers and 1/3 cup melted butter. Press into 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. In a medium bowl, mix 14 ounces of sweetened condensed milk and 2 cups of flaked coconut (unsweetened if you have it) with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Pour this mixture over the baked crust and carefully spread it close to, but not touching, the edges of the pan. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. As this is cooling, melt 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, along with about two tablespoons of peanut butter. Gently spread the melted chocolate mixture over the coconut layer. Allow to cool completely. Cut into small squares (or big squares for your teens or tweens.) Enjoy with tall glass of cold milk.
My boys liked these quite a lot. If you're not opposed to salt with chocolate, this would be great with some flaky sea salt sprinkled on while the chocolate is still soft. I didn't add that as I thought there might be complaints from the primary consumers here.
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