Chocolate Coconut Squares

August long weekend - Simcoe Day is upon us and my blog partner and her husband are days away from welcoming their first baby into 'our' lives. While we are still unsure about the gender of this new baby, one thing we can be sure about is the fact that another foodie is on its way. We had a small get together as we count down to the little one arriving and it coincided with what was surely the hottest day we've had in weeks. High temperatures with humidity making it feel like 41 + degrees C,forced us to eat inside but we finally braved the weather  and sat outside (with a fan to keep mom and junior cool) and had coffee and dessert. This simple dessert can be made the day ahead and stored for up to a week or less depending on how much your guests enjoy it.

Skill level : Very easy
Serves : 6-8

INGREDIENTS:

• 11/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnut 
• 1 can (300 mL) sweetened condensed milk

METHOD:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F, grease a glass lasagna pan and set aside.
2. Heat butter in a small pan, add graham cracker crumbs and sugar and mix.
3. Press the heated cookie crumbs into the base of the pan, sprinkle coconut till it covers the crumbs completely.
4. Next put the chocolate chips over the coconut, pour condensed milk over the chocolate (I used only 3/4 of the can)
5. Lastly sprinkle walnut pieces to cover the entire surface
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, allow it to cool before cutting it into squares.
7. I sometimes add the whole can of condensed milk and then add a cup of dried cranberries to get a sweet and tart flavour that goes well with chocolate.