White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Bars
I’ve got a great bar recipe that is sure to please anyone! I think everyone enjoys the white chocolate and macadamia nut combination. It’s almost as great as peanut butter and chocolate.
I made these to send to Jesse for Round 17 of Operation Baking Gals. One of his favorite cookies is a white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies. I wanted to take that flavor combo and make it in a bar format since I was short on time.
I hit the internet and found this recipe. It’s great. I like to sprinkle the mixins on top of the bars because it adds some texture and really makes the flavor of the mixins pop. I think I’ll be doing it from now on for any brownies or bars that have mixins.
Check out my entire week of bars and brownies here.
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Bars
Yield: ~48
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts, divided
1 cup white chocolate chips, divided
1 tsp shortening
Directions:
Heat oven to 375. Grease rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches. Heat butter and brown sugar in 3-quart saucepan over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted; remove from heat.
Beat vanilla and eggs into sugar mixture with electric mixer on medium speed. Beat in flour and baking powder on low speed. Stir in half of the nuts and white chocolate chips. Pour into pan. Sprinkle with remaining nuts and white chocolate chips.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until top is golden brown and center is set. Cool about 30 minutes. Cool before cutting.
Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
If Carlos claims this is the best thing you have ever made … I might have to make them tonight!
beantownbaker — February 10th, 2014 @ 9:57 am
Let me know if you do. I was seriously SHOCKED when he said that.
OH. MY. LORD.
Yeah, I can see why these are the best ever!!!! Love Samoas!
I grew up calling them Samoas and didn’t like them when I was selling them, but have since grown to love them. Great twist on a traditional rice krispie treat!
beantownbaker — February 11th, 2014 @ 12:14 pm
I can’t tell if the naming thing is regional or not. I know people who grew up in Indiana like me who call them Samoas. They’ll always be Caramel Delites to me.
they look sooooo good!
Sharing these in my friday link roundup!
Everyone needs to see these!
beantownbaker — February 13th, 2014 @ 8:49 pm
Thanks for sharing them!!
oh jeez. caramel de lites here, too 🙂 these sound killer!
beantownbaker — February 23rd, 2014 @ 12:47 pm
You’re the first person I’ve met who calls them Caramel de Lites too!
I’ve been wondering why they aren’t always called Samoas!
Are the pecans there for the Samoa flavor or just an extra addition?
beantownbaker — March 18th, 2014 @ 8:03 am
They add some texture but you could leave them out if you wanted.
Awesome recipe! Let me provide a little insight to the naming of the cookies (Caramel deLights vs Samoas my wife is a girl scout troop leader). The girl scouts rely on a few bakeries to produce their cookies. Caramel deLights are made by one bakery, while Samoas are made by another.
Just made these – very tasty, but I had a lot of trouble with the caramel layer. It hardened so much, I couldn’t cut the squares. I had to heat them up a bit to cut through the caramel, and then they got rather sticky and did not cut cleanly. Followed directions exactly, not sure what went wrong…
On Sunday nights, my hubby leads a college-age Bible study group and I use the kids/young adults as my guinea pigs for trying new recipes. I made these yesterday and they LOVED them. Thank you for the recipe!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 6:59 pm
So glad these were a hit for you! This has become my most frequently made and requested recipe that I’ve made.
Explained well.