White Chocolate Cashew Bars

I have this small counter in my kitchen, the counter above where I store the flour, sugar, and other baking ingredients. It happens to be the counter where I store extra baking ingredients. I always want to have a prepared pantry so I try to stock up. This counter is getting a bit out of hand and it’s piled fairly high. I try to use up odd bits of ingredients, but I haven’t been doing a very good job of that lately! I came across this recipe and it used up cashews and white chocolate chips, two ingredients that were in the random half bags in the cupboard. 

This recipe uses an unusual method, which seems like I am encountering more and more of those lately. You beat the eggs, then add sugar and beat, stir in the flour and add a melted butter/white chocolate mix. It’s interesting to melt some of the white chocolate and add it to the batter. You do have to be careful when melting the white chocolate. It gets too hot very quickly and will seize into a horrible clump, so watch it carefully when you are working with the white chocolate. Don’t walk away for too long while the chocolate is melting or you might have a big mess.

These bars are very cakey, which is lovely. I like the white chocolate in the batter, as it gives the bars a delicate sweetness. That pairs nicely with the salty cashews. You don’t notice the white chocolate chips on the top of the bars as much, but that’s ok. The star of these bars is the cashews. I was really pleased that these came together quickly, were easy to cut, and were overall very nice.

White Chocolate Cashew Bars

2 eggs

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup white chocolate chips

½ cup butter

1-3/4 cups flour

1 cup salted cashews, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the eggs until they start to become foamy. Add the sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder and beat until pale yellow and shiny. Add half of the flour and stir to combine, then add the remaining flour and stir until incorporated.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt ½ cup of the white chocolate chips and the butter. Stir until smooth. Add this mixture to the egg/flour mixture and stir until combined. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Top with the remaining white chocolate chips and the toasted cashews.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until browned around the edges and a thin knife inserted in the bars comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Lift the bars from the pan by lifting the foil; peel away the foil and discard. Cut into bars.

Recipe from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion