My moderate success making semolina pudding with a ginger vodka sauce inspired me to continue my forays into baking with booze. In this edition, I used my old friend, tequila, to make what I hoped would be sort of like a coconut margarita in baked good form. Although there are plenty of recipes that incorporate mezcal into desserts, like cupcakes, I wanted something lighter, tarter in flavor yet creamy in texture.

The citrus fruit usually paired with tequila in bar recipes is, of course, lime, in a nod to the traditional margarita, but I was feeling like something sunnier and sweeter. Using this terrific recipe as a guide, I made some alterations to produce some very lemony, very coconutty tequila bars. The recipe:

Tequila Coconut Lemon Bars

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups chopped toasted coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons tequila (I used leftover Hornitos)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• Booze
• Recipes
• Sweets