What color do you see in this photo?
If you said that you think these bars are pink, you would be wrong.
The actual color of these bars is…
Well… no, never mind.
They actually are pink. It’s not a trick.
Then again, you might not want to take my word for it. I saw the dress (or The dress) as gold and white, which apparently is wrong. This worries me, considering I work with color for a living. All of these recipe pictures I’ve been spending hours and hours editing in Photoshop to achieve the perfect white balance, brightness, contrast, hue, saturation… what color is everyone else seeing when I post them?!?
It makes one question everything.
Except, thankfully, taste. Everyone who tried these homemade coconut candy bars agreed they are fantastic: a simple 6-ingredient recipe inspired by the popular No-Bake Coconut Crack Bars.
Pink Coconut Kiss Bars
- 1 cup full-fat shredded unsweetened coconut (80g)
- 1 loosely packed cup sliced strawberries (120g)
- 1 1/2 tbsp virgin coconut oil (16g)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- pinch uncut stevia OR 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients in a food processor or a Vitamix. (If using a Vitamix, be sure to use the tamper. I’m not sure if a blender will work.) Process very well, until completely smooth. Line an 8×5 loaf pan or small container with parchment or wax, spread the mixture in evenly, press in chips if desired, and freeze 1 hour or until firm. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for a few days, or freeze for up to a month, thawing before eating.
View Coconut Kiss Bars Nutrition Facts
READER SHOUT OUT:
This beautiful photo from Lauren @fromtreetosea on ig is of one of the reader favorites from the cookbook, the Chocolate Pixie Cookies (page 25).
If you’ve made a recipe from the book or the blog and want to share a photo, please feel free to send one on facebook or instagram (@chocolatecoveredkatie), and I’ll feature some of your pictures on the blog in the next few weeks. ♥
P.S. Team white & gold.
Karen says
Don’t worry these are definitely pink! And pink happens to be one of my favorite colors, so that is a good thing! I also love strawberries and chocolate chips and sometimes I like coconut, so it might be fun to make these.
Allison says
Your post completely cracked me up! I too saw gold and white. In fact, I think I know more people who saw gold than black, so at least that is some comfort.
I love LOVE the original coconut crack bars, so I will have to try these! And I can attest for the pixie cookies being delicious. They were one of the first recipes I made from the book!
Jules @ WolfItDown says
Hah, I preferred the photo Ian MacKellan posted of himself in a dress asking people what colour they saw 😛
But yes! These bars are pink and they look and sound fantastic! Coconut and Strawberry? Si por favor 😀 x
Amanda says
I was team gold before, but now I am team pink. And team pixie cookie! I’ve been eyeing that recipe in your book since I bought it 🙂
Love Low Fat says
These definitely look pink! And they definitely look delicious! 🙂
Kathryn says
I see it as gold and white too, it confused me so much when everyone was discussing it, it’s so weird. Anyway, these look so good, a lovely little treat and your photos always look great – but as you said it’s whether the food tastes good (which is does) : )
Kathryn
nimblenote.blogspot.com
Jo says
These look so easy!!! I bet my daughter will love them too – can’t wait to try them out this week. Thanks for another lovely recipe!
Also, I’m afraid you ARE wrong. Blue and black. It’s divided my household.
Jo x
http://www.helloseedling.blogspot.co.uk
Maryea {Happy Healthy Mama} says
I definitely saw gold and white. Don’t worry, I see pink here. These look amazing!!
Cassie says
Sounds like the dress controversy! LOL, they’re pink 😉
Tiffany says
Darn…I don’t have coconut and I already went to the grocery store. Must try these sometime soon.
Asia says
Hi Katie! Thanks so much for posting this. I am now restricted to a no carb no sugar diet due to a systemic candida infection and so I knew the first place to come for things I could eat would be here. One thing I am supposed to eat a lot of is coconut because it is antifungal. So the first thing I did was buy a 54oz tub of coconut oil, 1lb of coconut flour and 24oz of coconut flakes plus (because I can’t live without it) some 85% dark chocolate bars which have almost no sugar. Then I checked your website and book for recipes featuring these ingredients. Your coconut flour brownies from your book have allowed me to eat dessert where it previously seemed impossible (i used all stevia to make them sugar free and they came out great), and I add coconut butter or Almond butter as a frosting. Now this recipe gives me another choice and when other people are eating junk around me, I don’t feel like I’m missing a thing! Thank you.
Asia says
Also, I wanted to mention I did make these in a very good food processor, but adding some liquid may have helped it achieve a smoother texture. It’s hard to tell the texture that yours were, but mine were grainy as one would expect shredded coconut to be. Yours look more smooth and whipped. No matter, still awesome.
Sarah says
Just try processing longer. Basically if you process shredded coconut long enough it becomes coconut butter, which is essentially I think what’s happening here. I processed mine awhile, and they were very smooth.
Sarah says
Mine are in the freezer, but I already sampled one and all I can say is YUM! 🙂
Anna says
These are so cute <3 I'm also team white and gold hahah
https://aspoonfulofnature.wordpress.com/
Alexa [fooduzzi.com] says
YUM! What a wonderful idea! I love the pink hue, too!
Ashley says
Yum!
I saw the dress as white and gold too, and my two roommates– my boyfriend and my sister– both saw the dress as blue and black. It’s seriously made me question what colors I see too!
Julie says
I’m out of coconut, but will go and get some just for this recipe!
For all the team white and gold-ers, I was with you until I saw the photo in about the tenth comment down on this website: http://gawker.com/what-color-is-this-goddamn-dress-1688330170
When I scrolled back up, I could suddenly see it in blue and black!
Chocolate Covered Katie says
I see the blue in the comment photo. But I still see white and gold in the first!
Betty says
I have a nut allergy and only found out I was allowed to eat coconut very recently …I’ve been going coconut crazay! And these look PERFECT for my coconut craziness! 🙂
Betty x
The Betty Stamp
Mandie | Mandie's Kitchen says
I saw the dress as gold & white too =D. And these bars are pink for me! They sounds so incredibly healthy and good! Can’t wait to try them sometime! Pinned!
emma says
Pink all the way, Katie! (Though I did see that dress… unfortunately. How are people so hung up on it?! We should be focusing on Pink Coconut Kiss Candy Bars instead!).
Sounds fantastic- may try to swap out the strawberries for blueberries, as I got some weird allergen testing done and apparently strawberries are a no go. The news gets worse- bananas are out, too!
Hope you are having an awesome Sunday =) xo thank you for the recipe
Amy says
You might be a homeschooler if you saw this & weren’t one bit interested in the color but, instead thought, ‘Yay…fun, yummy, AND healthy math manipulatives!’. 😉
Jennifer Stevens says
Hahaha this was so funny and clever! I am SO team white & gold!! But also, this recipe looks pretty darn good, regardless of what color it is.
http://www.adventurousappetite.com
Faith says
These sound amazing! I am obsessed with coconut and am always looking for healthier sweets; I will definitely have to give these a try soon!
Mia (Mia in Germany) says
How funny. As a kid, I made earrings from little glass pearls, and one time I thought I’d made light yellow ones, but in the daylight they turned out pink. Thanks for waking that funny memory LOL I love coconut, so I have to try these. What a cute simple idea!
Lennae says
All I can say is yum, yum , yum!!!!!
Lennae xxx
http://www.lennae87.wordpress.com
Wendy says
I saw Blue & black on the dress.
The bars have a purplish tint – I would call it a light purple with a pink hue. 🙂 In the blender photo looks very pink -but the bars appear a light purple as bars. Like a raspberry diluted color. 🙂 They are beautiful – and I am new to your site and I loved the fudgy coconut flour brownies. I have dairy and egg allergies and trying to bake low carb has been a challenge – your recipes fit the bill!! Anxious to try them – they sound yummy!!! 🙂
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thank you so much for making the brownies! I think the cut bars are more true to color… the Vitamix cast a blueish shadow on the mixture in the blender. Or maybe it’s a green shadow? I am all sorts of confused…
rima says
These look great, cannot wait to try. About that ugly, ugly dress, how do we know what color it is until we see it in person? How do we know about the lighting or camera filter, or the photographer’s color process/photoshop? Above all, who cares? It’s an ugly dress designed by no one we know, and worn by no one we know, why are we wasting time on this when it could be spent eating goodies?
Lisa B says
I can’t believe the craziness over ‘the dress’. These are bars are definitely pink & look delicious! Im a huge fan of strawberries & coconut tigether
#teamwhiteandgold
Gigi says
I just used my photoshop skills to live in denial: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203945454693059&set=a.2209600115852.2107356.1122934205&type=1&theater
Michelle says
Do they need to be fresh strawberries or will frozen work?
Thanks for all of the great recipes!
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Frozen is fine!
Cecilia says
Pink. Definitely. And the dress was blue and black! I thought the people who saw gold and white were NUTS!!! 😉
Matea says
The most important part is the taste, not the color! (for food—not dresses) haha 🙂
patti says
These look amazing!Now all I have to do is buy some coconut.
Melissa says
Team white and gold for sure. I’m so confused about the whole dress thing.
Becky says
So, I am a coconut novice. I LOVE using it in my baking, but only had the cheapo standard sweetened coconut on hand. I processed all the ingredients in this recipe for close to 10 minutes and it was still very gritty–though absolutely scrumptious!!!—Is this due to the fact that it was the sweetened coconut? Help?!?!
Signed, A Coconut Lover, seeking guidance.
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Yes, unfortunately sweetened coconut does not work the same way.
Erin says
Thanks for this clarification! I used sweetened as it was all I could find and then just omitted the extra sugar, but it did not set up well. I’ll find unsweetened and try again! Still yummy flavor though!
Margaret says
shoot your photos using a grey card (10$ on B&H)… you’ll be able to color correct your photos in seconds. just a helpful hint!
Katie says
Those chocolate pixie cookies are my favorite!
Ana @ Ana's Rocket Ship says
They’re so pretty- they’re princess candy bars!
Jen says
I also saw the gold and white dress. And yes, I do see the Pink Coconut Kiss Bars as pink.
Karen says
What is uncut stevia and where do you find it? Thanks so much!!
Unofficial CCK Helper says
Here is the answer:
https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/stevia-conversion-chart/
Yuki says
I saw gold and white too! Glad that one of my favorite dessert bloggers is in the same team as well 😀 these coconut bars look so yummy! Will definitely try them when I get some coconut
JustPoppin Buck says
These are definitely pink 🙂 but the chips look purple on 2 different monitors!
Would you use the same measure of frozen strawberries as you would if they were fresh (assuming that the recipe as written is calling for 1 loosely packed cup sliced FRESH strawberries (120g))? Thanks!
Bali Tour says
Look Delicious.. 🙂
Thank you for the information