I’ve been baking up these decadent Coconut Macadamia Nut Bars for years as a part of the vacation cookie trays I distribute to buddies and neighbors.
With a layer of shortbread topped with chewy coconut and nut filling, these Coconut Bars are destined to develop into certainly one of your favourite cookie bars!
Why You Should Make
- Bars are virtually at all times simpler to make than cookies. No scooping out particular person mounds of dough!
- The topping is wealthy, gooey and extremely tasty.
- They’re not your odd cookie bar and so they’re the proper manner for coconut lovers to get their repair.
Macaroons, coconut cupcakes, coconut bars I like all of them. My love affair with coconut began as a woman. My mother submitted a recipe for Mounds Bars for my first-grade cookbook: assume graham cracker crust with a chewy coconut center and a chocolate topping. I like, love coconut cookies, however bar cookies are even simpler!!! That is now certainly one of my favourite Coconut Desserts!
Ingredient Notes
- Pantry Staples – Flour, Powdered Sugar, Brown Sugar, Chilly Butter
- Cream of Coconut – I exploit Coco Lopez. This isn’t the identical as coconut milk.
- Heavy Cream – 36% Butterfat
- Recent Lemon Juice – Don’t use bottled lemon juice from the grocery retailer cabinets. Recent juice has a greater style. When I’ve a half a lemon leftover, I squeeze it right into a small container and retailer it within the freezer for future recipes.
- Sweetened Flaked Coconut – I exploit angel flake model.
- Macadamia Nuts – Giant items halved. If yours have been sitting within the pantry for some time, take into account gently heating them in a dry skillet. To not brown them, however to heat them and produce out their pure important oils.
Skilled Suggestions
I at all times embody one thing coconut with my vacation trays and this shortbread-based bar is topped with a chewy, nutty coconut topping.
- Pulse your crust elements within the meals processor. Watch fastidiously till the butter items are the dimensions of small peas or much less. These little butter bits will make for a young crust.
- Use sweetened coconut, like angel flake. I’ve not examined with unsweetened coconut.
- PRO-Tip: Line your baking pan with non-stick foil. It will stop the candy filling from sticking to the edges of the pan.
- PRO-Tip: Toast your macadamia nuts earlier than utilizing. It will launch their important oils making them style nuttier and extra flavorful. Plus it’s going to improve their crunchiness.
- Plus, the nonstick foil gives a “sling” for eradicating the cooled coconut bars to a reducing board. It’s a lot simpler to slice them after they’re not nonetheless within the pan.
- Keep in mind to scale back the oven temperature as directed within the recipe. When you overlook, your coconut bar edges will likely be darkish, although nonetheless tasty!
Don’t wait until the vacations to bake up a batch of those delectable coconut bars. When you love bar cookies, take a look at the Finest Bar Cookie Recipes in my recipe index. One other fan favourite are these Straightforward Meringue Cookies.
Continuously Requested Questions
When you haven’t made a number of Pina Coladas, chances are you’ll not have seen nor used cream of coconut. Cream of Coconut is sweetened coconut cream. The cream that rises to the highest of a can of coconut milk is named coconut cream, so it may possibly get complicated.
That “coconut cream” will not be sweetened. In desserts or coconut cocktails calling for cream of coconut or coconut cream, simply test the label to see if sugar is an ingredient. I’ve used the manufacturers Coco Lopez and Coco Actual in these bars (affiliate hyperlinks).
Place them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes, shaking on the midway level. Watch fastidiously as all ovens are totally different and your could have to be pulled out even sooner. Cool earlier than chopping or utilizing.
Maintain these macadamia nut bars in a coated container within the fridge for 3-4 days. They will also be frozen for as much as 3 months, however I’ve stored them even longer.
They are often served chilly or at room temperature. They are going to be chewier at room temperature.
You Might Additionally Like:
Keep in contact by social media @ Instagram, Fb, and Pinterest. Don’t overlook to tag me if you attempt certainly one of my recipes! And should you love the outcomes, please give it a 5-star ranking within the recipe card. Notice: As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Go to my Amazon Retailer for my favourite merchandise.
Components
Crust:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 sticks chilly butter, minimize into items
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
Coconut topping:
- ½ half stick butter (¼ cup)
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup canned cream of coconut (I exploit Coco Lopez)
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons recent lemon juice
- 2 ⅔ cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 ⅓ cup macadamia nuts, giant items halved
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Grease or line a 9 x 13-inch pan with nonstick foil.
- In a meals processor, pulse collectively flour, 2 sticks of butter, and powdered sugar until the butter is the dimensions of small peas and the combination resembles cornmeal.
- Pat into the underside of the ready pan (the dough will likely be crumbly). Bake for 20 minutes.
- Soften the half stick of butter in a saucepan. Take away from warmth.
- Add brown sugar, and stir until dissolved. Add the remainder of the elements and blend nicely.
- Pour the topping over the crust. Cut back oven temperature to 325º and bake for about 40-50 minutes until bars are calmly browned.
- Reduce into bars when cool. These freeze nicely.
Advisable Merchandise
As an Amazon Affiliate and member of different affiliate packages, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Diet Info:
Yield:
24
Serving Dimension:
1 bar
Quantity Per Serving:
Energy: 312Complete Fats: 24gSaturated Fats: 14gTrans Fats: 1gUnsaturated Fats: 9gLdl cholesterol: 42mgSodium: 132mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 2gSugar: 12gProtein: 2g
Lambeau, our first pup, circa 2010