Lemon Coconut Squares/Bolinhos de Coco e Limao

Lately, I have been obsessing over coconut and have tried several recipes. I must confess that I was not a big fan of coconut, but my kids love it!  Now I can’t seem to get enough of it, so here’s another recipe that I know many of you will love…Lemon Coconut Squares!

I saw this recipe on a popular Portuguese television show, Ingrediente Secreto, and Chef Henrique Sa Pessoa made it look so easy that I had to try it. It did not disappoint.

Recipe: 
2 cups plus 2 tbsp of unsalted butter (250g)
2 cups of sugar (430g)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (225g)
3/4 cup shredded coconut (85g) I used unsweetened 
1 lemon (zest and juice)
Icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9″ x 13′ pan and line with parchment paper, leaving a little extra over the sides so that you can easily remove the cake once it has baked.
Melt butter, over low heat, in a medium size pot. Once melted, whisk in the sugar until fully incorporated. Remove from heat and add the eggs, whisking them in one at a time. When mixture is well combined, sift the flour right over the pot, stirring constantly. 
Stir in the zest and juice of 1 lemon. Mix in the shredded coconut. 
Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. 
Allow cake to cool for 30 minutes, remove from pan. Remove paper, trim edges and cut the cake into squares.

Sift powdered sugar (icing sugar) over squares. 

Cake is done, beautiful golden colour

Remove paper and trim edges before cutting into squares

This recipe was a hit with my family, so I will be making it again and again… I am hoping to share more recipes from Ingrediente Secreto with you. 

If you would like to see Chef Henrique Sa Pessoa in action here is a link to this recipe in Portuguese: