RECIPE DOCTOR
Top coconut bars with raspberry and chocolate

By Elaine Magee
Knight Ridder News Service

Q. My mother is crazy about raspberry and coconut, and I'm looking for some type of dessert to serve her for her birthday celebration. Any suggestions?

A. Try a layered bar starting with a graham cracker crumb layer, topped with coconut and fat-free sweetened condensed milk, then baked in the oven. When it comes out you spread some less-sugar raspberry preserves over the top, sprinkle with walnuts and drizzle with white chocolate.

The original recipe calls for a stick of butter with the graham cracker crumbs but we are using 4 tablespoons of no-trans margarine (or butter) and 1/4 cup of fat-free sour cream instead. We switched to fat-free sweetened condensed milk for the coconut layer instead of regular. Using

less-sugar raspberry preserves helps trim some sugar calories from each serving, too. The original recipe also calls for drizzling white and semisweet chocolate over the top. Choose just one of them (whichever one appeals to you) and you'll cut the fat and calories from the chocolate in half. The white chocolate complements the coconut and raspberry very well.

Raspberry Coconut Bars

• Makes 24 bars
• 1 2/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup no-trans margarine, such as Smart Balance with 9 grams of fat per tablespoon (3 tablespoons butter can be substituted: just increase the sour cream by 1 tablespoon)
• 1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups shredded coconut (sweetened)
• 14-ounce can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup less-sugar raspberry preserves
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted
• 1/3 cup white or semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with canola cooking spray.

Add graham cracker crumbs to a medium bowl. Add margarine or butter to a custard cup and microwave on high until melted, about 20 to 30 seconds. Stir in the sour cream. Add the sour cream mixture to the medium bowl with the crumbs and blend well with a fork. Press crumb mixture firmly into the prepared baking pan.

Sprinkle the top with coconut then pour the condensed milk evenly over the top of the coconut.

Bake in 350-degree oven until lightly browned, about 20 to 25 minutes; cool for 15 minutes.

Spread raspberry preserves over the coconut layer and sprinkle with nuts. Press the nuts gently into the raspberry layer.

Melt chocolate chips in a 1 cup glass measure in a microwave on low. If you are using white chocolate chips, make sure the glass measuring cup is completely dry before you add the chocolate and be careful not to over-microwave the chocolate. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the raspberry layer and cut into 24 bars.

Per bar: 193 calories, 3 g protein, 29.5 g carbohydrate, 7.5 g fat (4.8 g saturated, 1.5 g monounsaturated, 0.9 g polyunsaturated), 4 mg cholesterol, 1.5 g fiber, 114 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 34 percent.

Omega-3 fatty acids, 0.3 g.

Omega-6 fatty acids, 0.6 g.

Weight Watchers, 4 points.

(Original recipe had 256 calories, 13 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, and 16 mg cholesterol per serving.)

Elaine Magee is author of "The Recipe Doctor Cookbook" and "The Flax Cookbook." Reach her through www.recipedoctor.com. Sorry, no personal responses.