If you’re a fan of eclairs and cream puffs and coconut cream pie and chocolate you’re going to love this dessert so much. And even though it says eclair in the title and that scares you because you think it’s going to be super hard and time consuming–guess what? It’s not! It’s not hard at all. Because you don’t have to individually pipe out cream puffs or eclairs it goes super fast. These bars are 1000 times better than the little frozen cream puffs that you buy at Costco and are worth any effort you spend on making them…pinky promise.
Have you heard of Barbara’s (from Barbara Bakes and Pressure Cooking Today) new cookbook? It’s called Dream Puffs and it’s all about pretty cream puffs with all sorts of flavors. You can purchase it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble or iTunes.
I love this book because it makes it easy for someone like me who’s not good with detailed desserts to make a pretty looking and delicious tasting dessert. My kids and I made the almond coconut cream puffs and they were absolutely to die for. Barbara walks through each step and there are lots of beautiful pictures too.
I took the coconut cream filling from her book (the coconut almond cream recipe) to make these eclair bars and instead of piping out individual cream puffs I spread the dough into the bottom of a jelly roll pan. Then I made a simple chocolate ganache (basically chocolate and cream) and drizzled it on top and then sprinkled toasted coconut to finish it off. This dessert is what my dreams are made of. I love stuff like this and I only wish I could eat this every single day of my life for breakfast.
Please give this recipe a try soon (like today) and make sure to visit Barbara’s blog for more amazing dessert ideas!
Coconut Cream Eclair Dessert with Chocolate Ganache
- Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
A cross between coconut cream pie and an eclair.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 4 eggs
For the filling
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 cup heavy cream
For the chocolate ganache
- 6 Tbsp heavy cream
- 8 oz (about 1 cup) semi sweet chocolate chips
For the coconut topping
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
Instructions
- Make the eclair crust. In a medium sauce pan boil the butter and water together. Add in the flour and remove from heat. Whisk until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and whisk thoroughly between each egg. Spread on a greased jelly roll pan pan. Bake at 400° F for 20 minutes. Cool and push down the bubbles.
- While the crust is baking make the coconut cream filling. Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Whisk in coconut milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 6 to 7 minutes or until mixture just starts to bubble. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 more minute, until custard thickens; remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and flaked coconut; transfer to a medium bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on warm filling to prevent film from forming. Let stand 30 minutes; chill for about 1 hour. Place cream in a small bowl and beat at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into chilled custard.
- Make the chocolate ganache. Place chocolate in a small bowl. Microwave 6 Tbsp of heavy cream in a small microwave safe bowl at high for 30 seconds or just until it starts to boil. Pour hot cream over chocolate ; let stand 3 minutes. Whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Microwave at 50% power 10 more seconds if necessary.
- Toast the coconut topping. Turn the oven onto broil. Place 1 cup of coconut on a cookie sheet and spread out evenly. Put the cookie sheet in the oven and toast the coconut. It will only take a couple of minutes, so watch it carefully so that it doesn’t burn.
- Spread the coconut cream filling on top of the eclair crust. Then drizzle the chocolate evenly over the top. And sprinkle toasted coconut over the top. Cut and enjoy! Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Notes
The coconut cream filling is from Barbara Schieving’s cookbook “Dream Puffs.”
Hi there, thanks so much for stopping by. Get all my slow cooker recipes delivered to your email box for free. Click here to sign up now.
This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. Each time you purchase something from Amazon that I’ve linked to I get a few pennies. Thanks so much for supporting my blog!
This is definitely perfect for a big serving portion. Prepare in a sheet pan and cut it into squares easily. These photos looks beautiful and yummy! Thanks
I love the cutting into squares…it’s my favorite. And sometimes when the squares aren’t even I have to eat the excess as I straighten them out 😉
I missed this for Easter, but they’d be yummy for Mother’s Day too…I think I may need to share this with my husband! 🙂 I wish I could reach in and grab a square right now!
Mother’s Day…great idea!!
I wonder if this recipe was halved, if it could be baked in a 9″ square pan…or what would you suggest for a very small family?
Yes, I bet that would work just fine. I haven’t done it myself so I can’t be sure…but I’m thinking it would be great!
What a fun idea to bake them in a sheet pan and serve them in squares. These are perfect for Easter. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe and my e-book!
Yes, I love serving them this way…they aren’t as cute but it is good if you’re in a hurry!