This Lemon Coconut Slice is easy to make and so satisfyingly sweet. It marries together tropical coconut and tart lemon, but best of all? It’s no bake!
Hiya everyone, I hope you’re doing well. It finally feels like Spring is here and I have this delicious No Bake Lemon Coconut Slice recipe to share with you today. It’s easy, full of flavour and topped with toasted coconut.
Before we get into how to make this recipe, I want to apologise for going MIA. It was my dad’s turn to give us a fright as he had to have emergency, life saving surgery a couple of weeks ago. It was terrifying for us, made worse by the fact visiting is still really strict, so nobody could be there with him all the time. Mum or I were there every day, for the to hours we were allowed. I’ve never seen him so ill. I know none of you know my dad, but he’s the pillar of our family and he looked so poorly when I first visited.
The surgery turned out to be 5 hours+, the surgical registrar rang my mum at 20:30 to say he was out of surgery and recovery would ring her in a bit when he was settled… Well they didn’t ring. I thought maybe it was because it was getting late. However, by 8am the next morning they still hadn’t, so mum rang them. Turns out it took them hours to stabilise him and he ended up in ICU.
I visited the day after he was back on the ward and ended up being there for his first steps, post op. He had all these tubes and had to walk with a drip, but he made it up and down the corridor.
The next time I visited he was joking around again, up and dressed, most of the tubes removed and much brighter. He’d tried to have a shower and the shower head wouldn’t work, so he took it apart to try and fix it. That’s when I was like “he must be feeling better!!”. He’s home now and doing remarkably well, considering. He’s still in a lot of pain and not allowed to lift anything or do much.
We are so grateful he’s through the other side of this, but there’s still a long road ahead. It’s been awful, made worse by some making a big song and dance, when normally they don’t give a sh*t. Dad wasn’t impressed at all and said he wasn’t playing games. It took a lot of energy for him to just speak in the first few days after surgery, so it was just extra stress.
He needs to focus fully on recovery, not dealing with those who only usually ring when they want something. Where were they when he was suffering agonising pain for years? Pestering him for work, trying to stir things up between us, scheming, backstabbing and generally being nasty. Unfortunately, it doesn’t even surprise me after so many years of the same BS.
It’s been a traumatic enough 7 months for our family, without added rubbish. We could have lost my dad and a few months ago I almost lost my life as well. Even me saying this will be fuel for more bitching, because we are meant to sit quietly, nod our heads and accept everything. How dare I share facts about things that have been said/done. I’m so tired of it. Honestly, just give it a rest already.
LET’S GO OVER HOW TO MAKE THIS NO BAKE LEMON COCONUT SLICE RECIPE…
It couldn’t be easier to make these slices. They use crushed biscuits, melted butter, condensed milk, lemon zest, lemon juice and desiccated coconut for the base layer. For the top, it’s sort of a buttercream recipe. However, the ratio between the icing sugar and butter is different than it would be were you making cupcake frosting.
You can choose which biscuit you use to make these bars, but I would suggest something plain; Nice biscuits work well as they have coconut in, they’re what I used. You can also use arrowroot biscuits, coconut rings, shorties, a shortcake might work well. I would advise against digestives though, too heavy a texture and flavour for these.
To being with, you mix biscuit crumbs, melted butter, condensed milk, desiccated coconut, salt, lemon zest and lemon juice together in a medium sized bowl. This will give you a mixture akin to a cheesecake base. However, the condensed milk adds a little extra sweetness. The desiccated coconut adds some texture to the mix.
Press this mixture into a prepared square pan and refrigerate until set. For the frosting, mix icing sugar and butter together until you have a bread crumb like texture, add lemon juice and extract, mix until it becomes thick and fluffy. Once the frosting is spread over he biscuit base, it’s back into the fridge for an hour.
To finish the Lemon Coconut Slice off, I toast more coconut until golden brown and sprinkle it on top of the frosting.
I just love the fact you get lemon and coconut, in different guises throughout every bite. The nutty, toasted coconut, the raw desiccated, the lemon juice, the lemon zest. Whether you use a biscuit with coconut or not, the result is a light, sweet and delicious. These are so simple to make, yet totally addictive! I couldn’t stop eating the component parts and once they were all together? Pure bliss!
I’m so glad Spring is almost here, now can somebody remind the UK weather about this fact please? It’s freezing here again!
Enjoy this recipe? Then check these out!
No Bake Lemon Coconut Slice
Ingredients
- FOR THE BISCUIT BASE:
- 2 1/2 cups (300g) biscuits; plain biscuits such as Nice, Arrowroot, Coconut Rings, Shorties or Shortcakes
- 1 stick (113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- Zest of 1 medium lemon
- 3/4 cup (67g) desiccated coconut
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup (155g) condensed milk
- FOR THE FROSTING:
- 2 cups (240g) icing/powdered sugar
- 1/2 stick (56g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract, optional (I preferred the frosting with it added, you may not)
- 1/3 cup (30g) desiccated coconut for garnish
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 inch square pan with grease proof paper. Alternatively, spray the pan with cooking spray and place one strip of grease proof paper, with enough overhang to lift the bars out later, across the pan.
- Place the biscuits into your food processor and blitz until you have fine crumbs. Tip the crushed biscuits into a medium sized bowl.
- Add in the melted butter, lemon zest, desiccated coconut, salt and lemon juice. Stir until all the crumbs are coated in melted butter, then add in the condensed milk. Continue to mix until one large ball forms. The condensed milk will add sweetness and also help to bind the mixture.
- Tip the biscuit mixture into your prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. I spray the bottom of a cup with cooking spray and use that to press the biscuit layer into an even layer. You can also use the palm of your hand or a wooden spoon.
- Cover loosely with cling film and place in the fridge until firm, around 4 hours.
- Once chilled, make the frosting. Place the icing sugar and butter into a medium sized bowl and mix with a hand mixer, on low speed, until you have a bread crumb texture.
- Add in 1tbsp of lemon juice and 1/2tsp lemon extract, if using, and mix until a thick, fluffy frosting forms.
- Spoon the frosting onto the biscuit base and spread until smooth with a small, angled spatula.
- To toast the coconut for garnish – place desiccated coconut into a small, dry frying pan and place on a low heat. Stir continually until the coconut turns golden brown. It'll go from barely coloured to dark brown very quickly, so as soon as you see all the coconut is golden brown, remove from heat.
- Sprinkle the toasted coconut over the frosting, cover the pan with cling film again and place in the fridge until the frosting sets, around an hour.
- To serve: transfer the bars to a cutting board and cut into rectangular slices. You can make these bite size, slightly large or make them finger type slices. It's totally up to you. I halved my bars, then cut into quarters the other way.
- No Bake Lemon Coconut Slices will keep in an airtight container, at room temperature, for 4 days.
Annie is a self-taught baker, recipe developer and food photographer, who has an obsession with dessert and beauty! 
