Lemon-Coconut Squares

I suck at giving presents. I give something that I think will be great for the recipient but at least 90% of the time, the person ends up not using it. So for my mom's Mother's Day present, I decided on something that would be foolproof - I'd bake her something. I focused on foods with coconut in them since she's one of two people in the family who likes it. I finally settled on Lemon-Coconut Squares from the Snack Works website (mainly Nabisco products, like Oreos and Honey Maid graham crackers as well as other cookie, cracker, gum, and candy brands).

Lemon-Coconut Squares (source)

Ingredients

• 35 NILLA Wafers, finely crushed (about 1-1/3 cups)*
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1/4 cup  (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted
• 1 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup flaked coconut

*The website suggests to crush the wafers in a plastic bag and with a rolling pin. I tried both this and the flat bottom of a drinking glass but didn't have much success. I ended up emptying the plastic bag in my Pampered Chef manual food processor. Much better!

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix wafer crumbs, 1/4 cup of the sugar, the butter and lemon peel until well blended. Press firmly into 8-inch square baking pan. Bake 8 min.
2. Beat  eggs and remaining 3/4 cup sugar in small bowl with wire whisk until thickened and well blended. Add lemon juice, flour, baking powder and salt; mix well. Pour over crust; sprinkle with coconut.
3. Bake  25 to 30 min. or until center is set and top is lightly browned. Cool completely. Cover and refrigerate several hours or until chilled before cutting to serve. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

After cutting them (which was much easier right-out-the-fridge than the fudge from Easter) I placed them in a window treat box from Wilton, decorated the box with stickers, and tied a ribbon around the box. Voila! Easy Mother's Day gift.

Success! My mom started eating them immediately! (She had to stop eventually though - we still had to eat dinner.) She also raved to her best friend at how nicely I decorated the box. I think from now on I'll just bake something when I need to give a gift.