Pina Colada Bars

Ingredients

  • For crust:
  • 1 box yellow cake mix
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1 egg
  • For Pineapple Cheesecake Filling:
  • 1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 Tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple, drained
  • 1 & 1/2 cups shredded coconut
  • For glaze:
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp milk

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Liberally grease a 13×9 inch baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, melted butter and egg with a wooden spoon until combined. Spread the dough evenly in the bottom of the greased pan (I use my greased hands for easier spreading). Set aside while you prepare the filling.
3. In another large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, milk, vanilla and egg together until smooth and creamy. Stir in the well-drained crushed pineapple to combine.
4. Spread the mixture over the crust and bake for approx. 15 minutes. Sprinkle the par-baked bars with coconut and continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes or so until center is set and coconut is lightly golden and toasted (as you can see, I forgot this step and it was just as fine untoasted but can only imagine it’d be AMAZING with toasted!!)
5. Allow bars to cool completely in the pan before preparing the glaze: in a small bowl, combine the glaze ingredients and stir until combined. Drizzle over the bars, then refrigerate the bars for approx. 2 hours before cutting into squares. Store airtight in the fridge for best taste, about 2 days.