Ooey Gooey Cranberry & Coconut Lemon Squares

You know when you have a cold and the only thing in the world you feel like doing is curling up on the couch with a mug of tea, a bowl of chicken soup, a box of kleenex, and a marathon of old movies? You know that horrible sinking feeling when you realize you can't do any of that because you have to work every single day? You know how excited you get when you're managers kindly let you leave work early to go home and rest? You know that fantastic sensation of letting your body crash onto that couch...oh wait...I'm not familiar with that part. Last week, despite the fact that I was sick as a dog and all my body was telling me to do was rest, I decided to take a raincheck on that rest (leaving me still sniffling a week later), and bake (while washing my hands every 2 minutes!).

For Thanksgiving my mom had bought an extra bag of cranberries so that one of us could make a recipe for Cranberry and Coconut Lemon Squares that she found scribbled onto a loose sheet of paper tucked into her favourite cookbook with 4 stars drawn on the top corner. I knew those squares would be the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea so I thought it would be the perfect thing to make on my "restful" day off. I realized that it probably wasn't the best idea to go off baking when my body was jacked with numerous cold and flu meds when I went to top the crust with the lemon filling. Something had clearly gone wrong. The crust looked like it could use a few more minutes in the oven, the filling was almost overflowing over the baking dish (if those squares had risen even a millimeter, I would have been screwed!), and there looked like there was too many cranberries. I guess those meds messed with my sense of perception because I had baked my squares in a pan way too small than the recipe had called for.

I nervously paced the kitchen as the squares baked, scared that I had wasted all those ingredients for defect squares. Finally the timer rang, I took the squares out, let them cool for a few hours, and then it was the moment of truth. I cut through the cooled dish to make squares and carefully lifted out each square. Eureka! The squares turned out even better than I remember the original squares tasting! The thicker squares with the same cooking time resulted in incredible messy, ooey, and gooey sweet and tangy squares that I couldn't get enough of! This is one mistake Ill be making over and over again in the future!

Note: If you prefer the texture of the original squares, simply bake them in a 9 x 13 dish instead and reduce the baking time of the crust to 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

Base

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup cold butter, cut into chunks

Filling

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 cups whole cranberries

1 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut

Directions:

1. For base, preheat oven to 325º. Grease a 7 x 11 baking dish.

2. Pulse the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor until crumbly in texture.

3. Pat evenly into bottom of greased baking dish. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, combine the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice in the food processor until combined. Add the flour and baking powder and blend until just combined.

5. Scatter cranberries evenly over the warm, baked crust, and sprinkle with coconut. Pour the lemon mixture on top.

6. Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until middle is set and edges are golden. Let cool and serve.

Listening To:

Gorillaz - Dirty Harry

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(kicking myself for not going to their concert last Thursday!!)