Cranberry Coconut Lemon Squares

I don't make a lot of lemon desserts these days because my husband isn't into them, but I've always loved this recipe. I let him sample a square last night after I made them, and then he asked for more! For someone who doesn't like lemon desserts, he certainly went crazy for these!

I originally got this recipe from an issue of Canadian Living magazine back in October 2008. 

You know you want some!

When you squeeze the dough it should hold a shape like this.

All pressed into the pan and ready to be baked.

Mixing up the filling here.

Now the filling is poured into the pan and ready to go into the oven.

Cranberry Coconut Lemon Squares

Original recipe from Canadian Living Magazine

Makes 20 Servings

Ingredients
For the Base

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• zest of 1 lemon
• 3/4 cup butter, cubed and softened

For the Filling

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup lemon juice (1 large lemon will do)
• 2 cups whole cranberries (I used fresh)
• 2 cups shredded coconut (I used sweetened)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 13x9" baking dish with parchment paper. I didn't bother to spray it and had no problem getting the squares out.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Use your hands to cut in the butter until it's crumbly. When you squeeze it, it should hold together. Dump it into the prepared pan and use your hands to evenly press the dough on the bottom of the pan. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden. Don't over bake at this point because it's going back in after you put the filling on.
3. While the base is baking, you can prepare the filling. Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and lemon juice, then, whisk in flour mixture until well combined.
5. And finally, stir in the cranberries and coconut. I think my coconut was a 200g bag and that was just about 2 cups. My bag of cranberries had 3 cups in it, so I froze the last cup to use in something else later.
6. Once the base is cooked, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 325F.
7. Pour the filling over the base layer, and spread it evenly with a spatula. Try to get the cranberries evenly distributed so that every square gets some when you cut it up. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and firm. Let it cool completely before cutting into squares. The original recipe said it made 40 but there's just no way! I cut 20 and that was a good portion in my opinion. Actually, in most people's opinion it may have even been too small!
8. Apparently these freeze well for up to a month.