Tiki Party Perfect Vintage Coconut Golden Brownies

As the last of the tinsel is vacuumed out of the car[et, the Christmas lights flicked off once more, and we begin hunkering in for the long haul stretch that is winter sans looking forward to December, it can feel like summer is a million miles away.

Thankfully such isn't actually the case, but that knowledge scarcely makes the next few months any easier to bear. Even if only enjoys winter (as I generally do), its bleak weather, icy temps, and serious lack of daylight can be draining on the heartiest of us.

{Image source}

By far one of my favourite ways to help perk up this time of the year is with tropical inspired food, drinks, and even fashion!


Luckily many equator line fruits are at their peak right amount now, and in general, they're super easy to come by for those in most parts of the world.

Whether you're in the mood for a single South Seas themed dish or want to go all out and throw a tiki party to keep Old Man Winter at bay, January is an ideal time to look to the tropics for your recipe choices and today's vintage recipe for Golden Coconut Brownies are sure to have you humming a Don Ho tune in no time.



{Hailing from a 1952 ad that appeared Woman's Day magazine, this tasty, wonderfully easy to make recipe for coconut brownies is sure to help lift your spirits and satisfy your sweet tooth in the process all winter long. Vintage image source.}



As far as I can tell, Welch's chocolate bars haven't been made in ages, but fear not, any similar chocolate + coconut candy bar (such as Mounds or Bounty) can be used here. If such were not forthcoming for you, you could probably just use a nice milk chocolate bar and some sweetened shredded coconut easily enough as well.

These brownies offer up a scrumptious Polynesian inspired flavour that differs from most of the fare we've been consuming in recent weeks. They're refreshing, scrumptious, fairly easy on the pocketbook and dead simple to make. I've had a lot of luck making them in GF form, too, both from scratch and with mixes such as Glutino's Brownie mix.

If you wanted to gild the lily - err, brownie :) - here, you could easily top these scrumptious chocolate + coconut brownies with a sweet frosting of you choice. One that involved coconut, pineapple, orange, or maraschino cherries would both be wonderfully mid-century appropriate and also very tropical island approved. A nice, rich caramel or even strawberry (or raspberry) icing could be sublime here, too, and I can think of at least a few folks I know who would enjoy a coffee frosting on these brownies as well.

I swear, in January and February, I sport my tropic flower print clothes more than any other time of the year and also reach for recipes like this most frequently as well. Between the two of them and plenty of hot chocolate, one can do a pretty decent job of forgetting it's -30C outside - well, at least until you open the front door!

So why not bake up a batch of these great mid-century coconut chocolate brownies (which also work wonderfully for Valentine's Day next month) today and show winter who’s boss! :)

A quick, delicious recipe for vintage Easter Sunday Pie

As you may have gathered over the years, if you're a long time Chronically Vintage reader, I have such a thing for cute and/or uber festive vintage recipes. This love extends just beyond my menu however, and I absolutely adore celebrating these special occasions in general, too.

I'm not alone here in the slightest and know that the same rings true for many of you as well. As vintage fans, I think we're especially well attuned to the importance of celebrating the positive events in life. We honour and celebrate the past with our wardrobe, decor, vehicle, music, etc choices and we usually take time to appreciate traditions, customs, and other elements that go hand-in-hand with holidays and special occasions.

Easter, falling on Sunday April 5th this year, is certainly one of the highlights of spring and well worth celebrating through and through! If you don't want to or can't celebrate Easter for whatever reason, than simply use this day as the perfect excuse to welcome spring back into your life with the most open of arms!

This day helps us to usher in spring after winter's seemingly endless visit, reminds of the power of rebirth and new life, and is chocked full of countless beautiful - and delicious - things from daffodils to Easter bonnets, chocolate eggs to the all that sublimely lovely fresh produce that is hitting the grocery store and farmer's market's displays again.

Naturally, being a holiday associated with sweetness - which I can't help but think stands as a very apt representation of how very sweet springtime itself is - Easter lends itself particularly well to sugary desserts and today's vintage recipe for Easter Sunday Pie is certainly no exception (plus, you've got to love the bonus Butterscotch Jewel Parfait and Coconut Party Pudding recipes that are included on this charming 1951 recipe ad that originally hailed from pages of Good Housekeeping Magazine).



{Crunchy coconut, lush vanilla pudding, and splendidly sweet candies combine in this quick, fun and very pretty Easter dessert that is sure to have guests asking for seconds and the recipe! Image source.}


This recipe is uber simple and relatively budge-friendly. You can use either a store bought or homemade 9-inch pie crust for the base, whichever you fancy. Alternatively a graham cracker crust would be really nice here and if I went that route, I might make this a frozen pie to help the crust and pudding filling stay put all the better.

For my fellow gluten-free friends, in terms of store bought gluten-free pie crusts, I've had the most luck so far over the years with Glutino's Perfect Pie Crust. There is a bit of prep and chill time involved (so I'd suggest making the crust a day or two in advance of when you plan to assemble the pie), but it creates very, very good pie crust that I've used for everything from pumpkin to strawberry to pudding pieces with zero troubles to date.

As this classic mid-century vintage pie recipe is so straightforward and includes a mere handful of ingredients, I wouldn't be apt to tweak it too much (aside from assuming it was GF, if I was going to have a slice). That said, if coconut is not your cup of tea, I would imagine that sliced toasted almonds would work fabulously here as well (if I went that route, I'd probably use pistachio, white chocolate, or milk chocolate pudding instead). You could also swap out the Easter candies used on top for any that you and/or your guests would like. Festively shaped and coloured gummy candies, jujubes or chocolates would be super lovely atop this fun 1950s dish.

Though Easter may no longer mean rooting around the house for foil covered eggs and checking to see if the Easter bunny nibbled the carrots we left out for him (he always did - thank you for that, mom! :)), it still fills me with excitement and joy and is a special day that I can't wait to celebrate with my wardrobe, home decor, and vintage recipe choices each spring.

Join me, won't you, in whipping up this easy-as-pie (pun intended), wonderfully tasty coconut and pudding dessert for a sweet treat that is sure to bring joy to everyone who gathers 'round your table to honour the gorgeous return of spring and all the grand things that this season brings back in our lives once more.