Coconut Macadamia Nut Bars

 I’ve been baking up these decadent Coconut Macadamia Nut Bars for years as part of the holiday cookie trays I distribute to friends and neighbors.  With a layer of shortbread topped with chewy coconut and nut filling, these bars are destined to become one of your favorite cookie bars!

Coconut Love

Macaroons, coconut cupcakes, coconut bars I love them all.  My love affair with coconut started as a girl.  My mom submitted a recipe for Mounds Bars for my first grade cookbook: think graham cracker crust with a chewy coconut middle and a chocolate topping. I’m going to have to blog about those yummy devils soon…

For Holidays or Just Because!

I always include something coconut with my holiday trays and this shortbread based bar is topped with a chewy, nutty coconut topping.  Whoops, the bars in my original post mine got a little dark (photo below).That’s what happens when you forget to reduce the oven temperature. It just means more edge pieces for me! They were still outstanding. Don’t wait till the holidays to bake up a batch of these coconut gems.

2010 photo

Coconut Macadamia Nut Bars

Serves 24 bars     adjust servings

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 1 hour 10 mins

Total Time 1 hr 30 mins

Chewy coconut macadamia nut bars adapted from Gourmet magazine

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 cups flour
• 2 sticks cold butter, cut into pieces
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar

Coconut topping

• 1/2 half stick butter (1/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup canned coconut cream (I use Coco Lopez)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 2/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 1/3 cup macadamia nuts, large pieces halved

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease or line 9 x 13-inch pan with nonstick foil.
2. In food processor, pulse together flour, 2 sticks of butter and powdered sugar till butter is the size of small peas and mixture resembles cornmeal. Pat into bottom of prepared pan (the dough will be crumbly). Bake 20 minutes.
3. Melt the half stick of butter in a saucepan. Remove from heat. Add brown sugar,and stir till dissolved. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pour topping over crust. Reduce oven temperature to 325º and bake about 40-50 minutes till bars are lightly browned.
4. Cut into bars when cool. These freeze well.

by Liz Berg

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
Amount Per Serving	As Served
Calories 283kcal Calories from fat 193
% Daily Value
Total Fat 21g	32%
Saturated Fat 12g	60%
Transfat 0g
Cholesterol 29mg	10%
Sodium 31mg	1%
Carbohydrate 22g	7%
Dietary Fiber 2g	8%
Sugars 12g
Protein 2g

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:

	Calories	2000
Total Fat	Less than	65g
Sat Fat	Less than	25g
Cholesterol	Less than	300mg
Sodium	Less than	2,400mg
Total Carbohydrate		300g
Dietary Fiber		25g

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Lambeau, our first pup, circa 2010