Chocolate and Coconut Cookie Bars

Do you want to know what’s strange to me? Pregnancy cravings. People always talk about them but you never realize their full effect until you’re eight months pregnant and you’re standing in the checkout line with a bag full of chocolate glazed doughnuts in your hand.

Before I was pregnant, I always preferred salty snacks over sweet treats. I would enjoy a dessert dish every once in a while. However, if you placed a bag of pretzels in front of me, I could guarantee that they would be devoured in one sitting.

Enter the bump … and my taste buds were changed dramatically. I soon found myself craving chocolate every minute of every day.

Throughout my pregnancy, I watched what I ate so much so that due to my strict eating habits, I often got on my own nerves. Because it had taken me such a long time to get pregnant, I was cautious (make that overly cautious) of not eating anything that would cause harm to the pregnancy or the baby.

I looked at growing the baby as my number one priority and wanted him or her to have the best start possible. So, one could imagine the frustration that occurred when I found myself standing in front of the wall of doughnuts at the grocery store.

I’m sorry but when pregnancy cravings call, you have to answer. There’s nothing worse than not satisfying a pregnancy craving. Plus, when a craving calls, I swear that’s all that you can think about. Chocolate … chocolate … chocolate …

So, yes, I did indulge in a few chocolates and maybe even a few doughnuts (a few? Who am I kidding?), but overall, I stayed on course and on track throughout the duration of my pregnancy.

I always wondered if my cravings and food deterrents (I couldn’t eat any kind of beef while pregnant) would stick with me after the baby arrived.

It has now been almost four months and two things are for certain … I still can’t bring myself to eat steak and this is now the second blog post that I have published since the baby arrived and guess what … it involves chocolate. In other words, yes, I still love chocolate. I don’t crave it as much as I did while pregnant but the love is still strong.

Chocolate and Coconut Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 14-ounce cans of sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9×13 baking dish by placing aluminum foil in the dish and coating the foil with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Mix together the graham crackers crumbs and butter. Spread the mixture evenly on the bottom of the baking dish.
3. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the graham cracker mixture.
4. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and coconut over the top of the sweetened condensed milk. Press the chocolate chips and coconut into the milk.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until slightly browned.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in pan.
7. Remove from the baking dish by grabbing the aluminum foil and pulling upward.
8. Cut into squares.

What is your favorite chocolate treat?