Coconut Cheesecake Squares

In the past couple of years my sister Amy has really turned me onto coconut desserts.  Especially anything where the coconut gets toasted!

Toasting coconut really just does something amazing to it.  The extra crunch, a little sweeter, and then add that to a creamy dessert, heaven!

This is another very easy dessert that can come together without too much effort.  Since it does have multiple layers it will take a bit though for each one to do it's thing.  The nice thing about this is while you are working on the first layer the cream cheese can get naturally softened.

Starting with the crust, combine the flour ( I did use half whole wheat pastry flour), the melted butter, sugar and pecans in my square baking dish.  Once again, for me when it comes to making crusts I almost always mix them up in the pan or dish that they will end up in.

Now, this crust has almost no sugar in it, making it not very sweet at all.  My family all thought it tasted great, but I think I will try adding a bit more sugar, maybe brown, next time I make this.  Get it mixed and pressed into the pan before baking it.  Be careful not to over bake it.  It should hopefully be lightly browned around the edges.  Now the crust needs to cool before the next layer goes on.  If you are in a hurry, feel free to pop this in the fridge for a bit.
While it is cooling, you can work on the cheesecake layer, which is layer #2.  It is key that your cream cheese is at room temperature.  If need be, pop it in the microwave (unwrapped of course!) for 20 second intervals.  The key to having smooth cream cheese is the temperature.  I'm sure everyone has mixed up cream cheese and gotten little lumps, right?  That comes from it being too cold.  So mix it up with the powdered sugar and then add the cool whip (1/2 of the container).

When the crust is cooled, carefully spoon and then spread this onto the crust.  My crust was starting to pull up a bit so I had to be extra careful.

The third layer is the pudding one.  Very simply combine the pudding with 1 1/2 cups of milk and whisk until it is all combined.  So the pudding for this is coconut cream and this was my first experience with it.  I was whisking away, when I realized I had more little lumps than normal.  So I adjusted the angle and whisked with greater fervor!  My frustration climbed when those little lumps didn't go away!  I finally realized that they were actually flecks of coconut, so heads up, this pudding doesn't get as smooth as other varieties!  So once that is relatively smooth and slightly thickened, pour that on top of the cream cheese layer. 
Top with remaining cool whip and the toasted coconut.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Note: To toast coconut, put in a medium frying pan on medium heat.  Stir until most of the pieces are browned, without burning!

Feel free to sample along the way to make sure it is progressing nicely!

I don't excel at the cutting and extracting my desserts from the pan but these came out good and didn't mangle the piece in the process!
These were a very delicious, light alternative and perfect for a summer evening!

Coconut Cheesecake Squares
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 Tbs. sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 8 oz container of Cool Whip, divided
1 small (4 servings) package of coconut instant pudding
1 1/2 cup milk
1 cup toasted coconut

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.  Mix first 4 ingredients together in a square 8x8 pan.  Press until even.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Be careful not to over bake.  Cool completely.
2. Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.  Mix in 1/2 of the cool whip until well blended.  Spoon/spread onto cooled crust.
3. Whisk together the pudding and milk until relatively smooth.  Let sit until partially set.  Pour onto cream cheese mixture.  Top with remaining cool whip and toasted coconut and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.