toasted coconut butterscotch bars.

Watch out for these. They are dangerously addictive, with the contrast of the crisp edges and top crust with the soft, chewy interior. If you haven't gotten by now, I love when there's a crisp/chewy contrast. The coconut is chewy, but also slightly crunchy and nutty from being toasted. The butterscotch chips are very sweet, and mesh well with the brown sugar dough.

I made them for my brothers, but after tasting them, I am tempted to make another batch to bring back to school with me. If I have time. I need to collect my things & wash my hair & do my nails first. 

I'm excited to work out at Sonny Werbs once I get back, so I can eat more of these .. I want to see you work out for me, work out for me. I don't know if I like the words/idea behind that song, but I definitely like the beat of it.

I've been trying to find ways to exercise inside the house, because the past two days have been windy / cold / actually like winter. I got too used to being able to run outside. 

So I got the Yoga video that looked the most challenging from the library - "Beyond Basic Yoga" for Dummies .. My library's small, okay? I started it yesterday and ... how can I describe it. Well, "Sara Ivanhoe" began with warmups. I almost ejected the CD from my laptop when she went into detail about how to roll shoulders. But I decided to give her a chance, despite her lack of abs, which I would expect from a yoga master. Eventually, we stopped warming up. Then she went into warrior pose and all these things popped up, like "Jargon Alert" and examples of good/bad. She also mentioned that warrior pose may be difficult, so she would give us some time to get it. 

This was a middle piece ... see the chewiness & softness? Duuuude.

I couldn't anymore. A little before fall semester ended, I did 50 minutes of P90x yoga; after that, "Beyond Basics" just isn't challenging enough. So I blasted the radio and danced around for about an hour. That was good. 

Why did I get into all this .. oh yeah, one of the songs I was listening to was the J Cole one I mentioned before. During it, I briefly wondered when the female voice (of J Cole) was going to come on, because it was all a male singing. But the thought was fleeting. And then today I go on Facebook for all of 5 minutes (it's so boring now) and briefly scroll down the newsfeed when I see a guy's status about getting hooked on J Cole or something. Which seemed kind of weird.

I had a slight spark of realization, and googled J Cole. And proceeded to thank god for not bringing up to anyone how I thought J Cole was a woman, when in fact, HE is not. Well I guess you guys know now.. don't judge me. Actually, go ahead, judge me, what do I care. But "J Cole" sounds like a woman! Gosh. Reminds me of, like .. Keyshia Cole. I don't know who that is either. But she's definitely a woman. 

Anyway, I am just chilling on the couch right now, staring, every so often, out the window at the three or four snowflakes that are lazily drifting down towards the frozen peaks of grass, and listening to J Cole's decidedly manly voice. I was texting someone, but he left to go work out his life plan for the 28974th time. Which makes me kind of want to do the same, but I'm going to enjoy my last day at home. I just ate a small piece of this bar ... the sweetness of the butterscotch lingers on my tongue and the scent of toasted coconut and brown sugar still tickles my olfactory receptors. 

Jealous? Then make these. Or come pack for me, and then meet me at my dorm, where I'll give you some of these in payment. Kthanks see you then! 

Toasted Coconut Butterscotch Bars 

adapted from the Cooking Light Dessert Book. 

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) softened butter 
• 2 Tb yogurt or buttermilk 
• 1 egg 
• 1 tspn vanilla 
• 1 1/4 cups flour 
• 1/2 tspn baking powder 
• 1/4 tspn salt 
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips 
• 3/4 cup toasted sweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8" square pan or 9" round cake pan.
2. Cream butter, sugars, and yogurt until well whipped, 2 - 3 minutes. 
3. Beat in the egg & vanilla. 
4. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. 
5. Add dry to wet. Mix until almost combined. 
6. Add butterscotch chips & coconut. Mix in until evenly distributed. 
7. Bake 20 - 25 minutes. 
8. Remove from oven, let cool 15 - 20 minutes, and then remove to cool completely. Store in airtight container.