White Chocolate Macadamia Bars

I think one of the most classic combinations is macadamia nuts and white chocolate. This combination is so very popular in cookies that you can buy in coffee shops and the like. Years ago when I baked a lot, long before I had a blog, one of my signature cookies was a white chocolate espresso macadamia nut bars. I got the recipe off of the package of white chocolate chips that I bought at Costco. I’ve lost track of that recipe, but I went searching for something similar and found this classic cookie.

In all honesty, I was really surprised that I’ve never made a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie! So I figured that this one would be great since it is so straight forward. I started back at work this week, so it’s the perfect cookie for me as I’m not quite adjusted to my being-at-work schedule yet. These bars are fairly simple, the only complexity being that you melt the butter and brown sugar together first, similar to a browned butter cookie.

I will say that the dough/batter for these bars is a little strange. Perhaps I didn’t let the butter/brown sugar cool and that was the cause. It’s a very wet batter, but don’t worry, they do bake up fine. My batter was so warm that when I stirred in the white chocolate it started to melt. Oh well. The looked great when they came out of the oven and when I cut them they are great, just a touch soft in the middle. I’d rather have under baked cookies than ones that are dry! These are very nice and very classic.

White Chocolate Macadamia Bars

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1-1/4 cups coarsely chopped macadamia nuts, divided

1-1/2 cups white baking chips, divided

1 teaspoon shortening

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan, combine the butter and brown sugar. Heat on low, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is smooth. This should take about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for 5 minutes.

Transfer the cooled butter/sugar mixture to a large mixer bowl. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat on medium until smooth. With the mixer running on low, add the flour and baking powder. Stir in 1 cup of the macadamias and 1 cup of the white chips into the batter. Spread evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup macadamias and ¼ cup of white chips.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and the bars are set. Cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. 

Melt remaining 1/4 cup white chips and the shortening in the microwave. Remove the bars from the pan and peel away the foil. Drizzle with the melted white chocolate. Allow the drizzle to set before cutting into bars. 

Recipe from Betty Crocker