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. 
I love freezing dough but somehow most ends up in my tummy unbaked when I do that 🙂
What a great gift! I’m thinking that would be wonderful for all sorts of occasions. Thanks for the idea!
These are adorable and I love that idea! Two questions, though: 1) Were these as good as the cookies from the other recipes? and 2) When you freeze them, do you bake right from frozen?
Great questions Carly – As far as comparing them to the other cookies. I enjoyed the chocolate M&M cookies the best, but they were REALLY chocolatey. The other non-chocolate M&M cookies were a bit more chewy and they had nuts in them, so they had a different vibe. This recipe was more of a classic M&M cookie for sure.
As far as baking from frozen, you can def just go straight from freezer to oven. Bake them ~13 minutes instead of ~11 and take them out when they look done.
these were delicious!
they look so cute all frozen up 🙂
I love the pink and red M&Ms. Thanks for the idea of freezing the cookie dough.
I was going to ask you the same thing as Carly, well the first question. These cookies are cute. Your freezing method reminded me that I have a bunch of sugar cookies still in the freezer! Do you know how long cookies can stay in the freezer?
I don’t know how long they will last in the freezer. I have a tendency to forget about things in my freezer… I’d guess a couple months? Anyone have ideas?
What festive little cookies 🙂 I love them! I also like the fact that you froze them. I bet they were delicious. Make sure to enter the All Through the Year Cheer event for Valentine’s Day 🙂
I think that sounds like a great way to spend valentine’s day. It can be intimidating the way it’s so hyped up. The cookies look very festive, love ’em!
We don’t do “valentine’s day” either since my MIL was born on the 14th and daughter’s birthday is the 15th – besides, its more important to say you love someone everyday, not just one day out of the year. Love the idea about freezing the cookie dough in preshaped form and giving that away. Wonderful idea!
I am looking for cookies that travel well for my soldier adopted through Soldier’s Angels and these look like a winner!!
Mmm, these were so tasty! Happy Valentine’s Day!
These are just too cute!! I love M&M cookies too!!
http://www.singforyoursupperblog.com
Just had to add my two cents on the idea of giving cookie dough frozen and ready to be baked – genius! For some reason, I’ve never thought of that, even though I’ve given cookies frozen to people to be defrosted when they’re ready to eat. I love the dough idea!
YUM-these look absolutely delicious! I love the pink and red M&Ms!