Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9"x13" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, mix together the base of bars: 1 ½ cups all purpose flour, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup melted butter (melted in microwave). Pack the mixture into the bottom of the baking dish, pressing firmly with your fingers. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and brown sugar with a hand mixer, or by hand.
Wash and scrub the outside of a lemon. Grate the outside peel with a cheese grater. Slice the lemon in half and squeeze out juice, removing any seeds.
Add shredded coconut, 2 Tbsp all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract to the bowl and mix together.
Pour the coconut mixture into the dish over top of the baked base layer. Spread out evenly with a spatula. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool for 1 hour minimum before adding the frosting layer.
In a medium bowl, beat together the powdered sugar, melted butter and 3 Tbsp of lemon juice.
Spread the frosting layer evenly using a spatula.
Slice into 15 squares, about 2" each. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
Spray the baking dish with nonstick cooking spray first. This will make it easier to remove the bars once baked.
Pack the crust firmly into the bottom of the dish. You can use your fingers to press it down or the back of a wooden spoon.
Brown sugar adds the perfect caramelized sweetness. Coconut sugar would also work! I don’t recommend using white sugar as it will taste very different.
You might need two lemons for this recipe. One is juiced and zested for filling. The other is juiced for frosting. You can zest a lemon by washing it then using a cheese grater until the entire outside peel has been grated.
Eggs can be beaten with brown sugar using a hand mixer (like I did) or beaten by hand.
These bars will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. They taste great once chilled. I don’t recommend freezing them, as the coconut layer will probably end up a little mushy.