Pina Colada Dream Bars

These easy Pina Colada Dream Bars will give you a taste of the tropics! With juicy crushed pineapple, sweetened coconut, and fluffy whipped cream, these delightful bars are the perfect summer treat! Serve up a batch of these piña colada bars at your next get-together!

 I love Pina Coladas in the summer! I know they are a bit old-fashioned, but I just love the combination of flavors. It’s such a fun, refreshing drink, and heaven knows my summer needs a tropical flair to keep it interesting!

These pineapple bars have all the classic flavors of a piña colada but in edible form! Serve it at grad parties and backyard barbecues, or just make it for your family to enjoy!

All about the Coconut

This dessert uses coconut flavor in several different ways. You’ll find it in the cookie crust, in the pudding layer, and on top of the dessert bars. I love to garnish these bars with toasted coconut. It’s super easy and enhances the flavor. If you don’t want that much coconut, then just omit it from the crust, and they’ll still be really delicious!

To toast the coconut: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread ½ cup of coconut on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from oven and stir. Return to the oven to bake for another 2-5 minutes to bake until browned. 

Watch carefully as coconut can burn very quickly. (Baking times are estimated as individual oven temperatures vary.)

Pina Colada Dream Bars Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make this Pina Colada Lush dessert:

Cookie Crust

Crushed Nilla wafers (about 45 cookies)

Shredded sweetened coconut – this can be omitted from the crust if you’d like

Butter

Pudding

Instant Coconut Pudding

Milk- I recommend whole or 2% milk.

Cheesecake Layer

Cream cheese, room temperature

Confectioners’ sugar

Rum extract (or you can substitute vanilla extract)

Shredded sweetened coconut

Long stem or maraschino cherries- for a garnish

Pineapple tidbits- for a garnish

Other Ingredients

Canned crushed pineapple

Cool Whip or Stabilized Whipped Cream

How to Make Pina Colada Dream Bars

It takes a bit of time to make these pineapple coconut bars, but they are so dreamy, it’s worth it!

Prepare

First, place the pineapple into a strainer over a bowl to drain for 30 minutes. Then put the pineapple onto a plate lined with paper towels to remove additional excess liquid. Blot the top with a paper towel as well.

Next, prepare an 8 X 8 square baking dish by lining it with parchment paper, leaving about a 2-inch overhang. This will make it easier to remove the whole pan of bars to slice. Alternatively, you can spray the baking pan with nonstick spray.

Nilla Wafer Crust

Place the Nilla Wafer cookies and coconut into a food processor or blender to crush them into fine crumbs. In a microwaveable medium bowl, melt the butter. Add the melted butter to the cookie crumbs and blend well.

Press into the bottom of the pan and place into the freezer for a minimum of 30 minutes to set.

Pudding

In a small bowl, mix the 1 1/2 cups milk with the coconut pudding using a wooden spoon or electric mixer. DO NOT use the two cups as directed on the package. We want a firmer pudding. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Cheesecake

Place the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and rum extract into a large bowl. Cream on medium-high speed until soft and well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Fold in 1 cup of the Cool Whip, and mix.

Assembly

Remove the crust from the freezer and with an offset spatula, place dollops of the cheesecake on top of the crust and spread.

Scatter the pineapple over the cheesecake. Then cover the pineapple with the ¾ cup of the shredded coconut.

Place dollops of the pudding over the pineapple and coconut, and gently spread to the edges with an offset spatula.

Top with remaining Cool Whip or Stabilized Whipped Cream.

Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving to set.

To garnish, toast the coconut, the pineapple tidbits, and a long stem maraschino cherry.

How to Slice and Serve Dream Bars

Remove the bars from the entire pan by lifting the parchment paper out of the pan. Next, run a large knife under hot water, dry it off, and then slice through the bars, repeating with each cut. This will help make clean cuts.

Storing Leftover Pina Colada Bars

Keep these bars covered tightly or in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for an additional 2-3 days. 

You can also store these in the freezer, tightly wrapped with aluminum foil, or in that airtight container. Just make sure to thaw it before you serve.

More Dream Bar Recipes

Dream Bars are some of my most popular recipes! Here are some more that are perfect for summer:

Red, White, and Blue Dream Bars

Orange Creamsicle Dream Bars

Lemon Dream Bars

Strawberry Lemonade Dream Bars

Blue Raspberry Dream Bars

Pineapple and Coconut Recipes

These delicious treats have a tropical twist to keep your taste buds hopping!

Pineapple Bread

Pineapple Rum Cake

Pina Colada Cupcakes

Pina Colada Milkshakes

Pina Colada Bread

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