Neopolitan Squares

Years (YEARS!!!!!) ago when I was younger we'd often go and spend weeks in the summer with my grandparents. One of the treats that my grandmother would always buy was a carton of neopolitan ice cream - my sister and I would fight over who got to each which layer (with boring vanilla always being the last).

These squares are like that brick of ice cream from my childhood with three distinct layers - each with a different colour and flavour. This is an old recipe - everyone loves them - even those who hate coconut. Since they are rather sweet I cut the squares tiny (7x7) - this also means that there are more of them to enjoy.

the nice thing about this square recipe is that it is relatively simple with few ingredients - perfect for Christmas baking when time is at a premium!

Neopolitan Squares

 

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 C. butter, melted

1/3 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups coconut

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cbutter, softened

2 cups icing sugar

2 T cream

1 tsp. almond flavouring

red or pink food coloring

Mix the graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar and flour together and press into the bottom of a buttered 9x9 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Mix the coconut and sweetened condensed milk and carefullyspread on the baked crust. Bake for 40 minutes until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Beat the butter, powdered sugar, cream, almond flavour, and food coloring until light and fluffy. Add additional water if necessary to get a light and fluffy frosting. Spread on cooled squares.

Refrigerate until the frosting is set. This makes it easier tocut into nice squares. Run knife under water and wipe off with a paper towel in between cuts to make clean cuts.

Comments

[Kayte]

Haven't seen these in years, need to put these on my list for this year...you are right, that is the perfect size for this cookie, they are so sweet, and such fun in just a bite or two...more than that and you need to eat something salty to go with it! Experience tells me this...lots of experience from my childhood with these!

[sandrac]

And did you happen to see anything like these squares in Napoli? (I'm determined to get there, maybe in January!)

[JDeQ]

Nope - enver ate or even saw anything like this in Naples Sandra!

I think that this was a year for nostalgia when it came to baking Kayte!