by Alyssa RiversThis website may contain affiliate links and advertising so that we can provide recipes to you. Read my privacy policy.
The summer has been pretty mild here so far in North Carolina. Last summer we were hitting well into the hundreds and the humidity was killer! We have had a lot of rain so far. But back in my hometown of Utah they are hitting record breaking temperatures. One thing that I love about summer is no bake desserts. Having a cool, delicious, and refreshing summer dessert is the best. And these PiƱa Colada Bars were fantastic!
I love that you can make a big 9×13 pan of these and they feed a large crowd. But they didn’t last long around here. Feeding 6 guys the pan lasted maybe 5 minutes. They all thought they were amazing!
They have a delicious vanilla wafer crust. I loved how the center had maraschino cherries and pineapple chunks. It was perfect inside the creamy and delicious cool whip and cream cheese coconut filling! The coconut on top of these bars were the perfect touch and reminded me exactly of a piƱa colada!
PiƱa Colada Bars
Ingredients
- 60 Vanilla Wafers crushed
- 4 TBS butter melted
- 16 oz 2 (8 oz blocks) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup cream of coconut
- 8 oz Cool Whip thawed
- 1 can crushed pineapple in juice 8 oz., with the juice drained
- 1 jar maraschino cherries 10 oz. drained and diced
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine vanilla wafer crumbs and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
- Beat together in your mixer cream cheese, and cream of coconut until smooth. Fold in the cool whip until combined.
- Gently fold in pineapple and cherries and spread on top of the graham cracker crust.
- Top with coconut and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Serves: 12
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
This picture confuses me. Why is there a crust layer in the middle and there is no graham cracker crust in the ingredients list.
It is not graham crackers, it is a vanilla wafer crust.
Made this today for a boil at my brother’sand it was a hit.Everyone loved it and was asking for the recipe…
These are absolutely delicious! Everyone loved them…even people who said they were not fans of coconut. Easy to make; wonderful flavor. Thanks!
I tried to give the recipe five stars; it would only allow me to give four. š
We do not have cream of coconut here in Sydney nova Scotia Canada so what can I us?
Here in Ontario, cream of coconut is available at Walmart in the international food aisle. The brand is Aroyo(sp). Black label can.
Will try with already made cracker crust..Looks YUMMY
So my daughter is having dessert bar at her wedding this fall. I was wondering if these bars would hold up if made few days ahead of time? Also would it last being out on table for few hours?
I’m just curious is to why it looks layered?…In the recipe it doesn’t say anything about making a second layer, but either way, I’m making these tomorrow, they look Delish!!
Well it does have the crust, the piƱa colada creamy center and the coconut on top. That may be why it looks layered. :). I hope you guys like it!
Yummy! Those look awesome! BTW we use to live in Asheville, NC. Love NC…it’s so pretty there! š
Love these, Alyssa!! Anything with coconut is FANTASTIC in my book!!
I made these tonight…and they were DELICIOUS!!!!! OMG YUM. I used unsweetened coconut milk….the only thing I would do different would be to rinse the cherries after dicing them…mine came out pink…but who cares?! lol…they were so good! Thanks for the recipe! I’ll be making these again! š
Ok, that sounds absolutely delicious!!! I love all things coconut!!!
These look so creamy and delicious! I love all the flavors in here. I have a can of cream of coconut that I need to use too. Bonus!
U used vanilla wafers and cream of coconut milk? Sounds great. Will be making it.
Hi Alyssa:
What is cream of coconut??? Is there a substitute? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it before, and it may not be common here in Labrador Canada.
I used cream of coconut. š
I think you meant to put “milk” at the end of that sentence. lol….
Coco Lopez makes cream of coconut, which is used to make the cocktail. Look for it in the mixer section of your grocery store’s beverage department.
Goya also makes cans of cream of coconut it’s super yummy! š
Thanks for the explantion!! I think a lot of us needed this…
Sometimes Coco Lopez can be found with the canned evaporated milk(like Pet or Carnation brand), in baking section. That’s where the Harris Teeter store stocks it. I make a coconut cream poke cake that called for Coco Lopez and that brand even was being sold in small cans plus the familiar tall can. I’ve also seen another brand of cream of coconut milk in the area that specializes in vegetarian products, Goya is one the brand names I’ve seen.
Will have to try this recipe after Thanksgiving is over, nearer Christmas holiday.
What exactly is cream of coconut?
I used cream of coconut milk. š
I’ve never heard of cream of coconut. Where do I find it?
I used cream of coconut milk. š
Coco Lopez makes a Cream of Coconut. Wal-Mart and Kroger carry it in my town. You can usually find it in the section where they sell drink mixers such as tonic water and club soda.
This looks wonderful! You mentioned the delicious graham cracker crust, did you substitute the graham crackers for the vanilla wafers that the recipe calls for? If so, how many crackers did you use? Thanks!!! By the way, I found your recipe on Pinterest! š
These look amazing. I am sold on anything coconut and the fact that I wouldn’t have to heat up my oven in this 117 degree heat is a bonus in my book!
Delicious!! Pinning these for later for sure! xoxo
Mmmm…these sound like the most perfect summer treat! So good!