White Chocolate Macadamia Cookie Bars

These bars are baked to perfection - soft and chewy with crispy edges. Brown sugar adds a rich caramel flavor that complements the salty macadamia nuts and the sweet white chocolate. Yum!

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Why you’ll love white chocolate macadamia cookie bars

These bars are baked to perfection - soft and chewy with crispy edges. Brown sugar adds a rich caramel flavor that complements the salty macadamia nuts and the sweet white chocolate. Yum!

I’ve always loved this flavor combination in a cookie, and now it’s even easier to make - you can mix all the ingredients in just one bowl and bake them up in one 8 x 8 inch baking dish! So easy to make and even easier to clean up!

Recipe Tips for the best white chocolate macadamia cookie bars

Do not over bake them. The key to a soft and chewy cookie is to pull them out of the oven as soon as they puff up in the center and turn light golden brown around the edges. The same is true for cookie bars. This is not a secret, but it makes a HUGE difference in the texture of your cookie, and I think it also makes them last a little longer too!

Recipe Variations

• Love white chocolate chips? Double the amount by adding one cup instead of ½ cup. They will be so decadent!

• Don’t love white chocolate chips? No problem! These bars will taste amazing with semi-sweet, milk, or dark chocolate chips too! Just omit the white chocolate chips and add in ½ cup of your favorite.

FAQ

• So why is it called a cookie bar?

  Cookie bars are actually a bar dessert rather than a cookie. Cookies are shaped or dropped onto a pan in individual serving sizes, while cookie bars are baked in a baking dish as one piece and sliced into individual sized pieces. The flavor outcome is very similar, and I find bar cookies to be even faster and easier than cookies!

• Why are my cookie bars dry?

  You either have too much flour in the recipe

  • Your dough will look crumbly and be hard to compact together. Add 1 tablespoon of melted and cooled unsalted butter at a time until until the dough is just able to stick together.

  Or you left the pan in the oven too long

  • Sorry, there is really no way to fix this. The next time you bake this recipe, set a timer and check the bars five minutes early, then you can watch them closely until they are ready - they should be just lightly golden brown around the edges and puffy in the middle.

• What are the best white chocolate chips?

  Some white chocolate chips are excessively sweet because they contain a lot of fillers and extra sugar. Read the ingredients label and look for brands that use real sugar, milk, and doesn’t contain multiple types of palm oils.

  I really like the Guittard brand Choc-Au-Lait chips and, surprisingly, I really like the Safeway Signature Select brand chips.

Helpful Kitchen Tools

• Spatula

• Stand mixer or hand mixer

• parchment paper

• 8 x 8 inch baking dish

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup butter (melted and cooled slightly)

• 1 egg

• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

• ½ cup dry roasted macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
  

How to make white chocolate macadamia cookie bars

Make the dough

1. Melt the butter and allow it to cool slightly.

2. Preheat oven to 350℉. Line an 8 x 8 baking dish with parchment paper.

3. In a large bowl add granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, baking soda, and salt and mix until well combined.

4. Mix in the melted butter, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

5. Mix in egg and vanilla.

6. Add flour and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

7. Pour the mixture into the parchment lined pan and spread it evenly to each corner.

8. Add the chopped macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips and mix until distributed evenly.

Bake

1. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until the edges become lightly golden brown and the middle puffs up slightly.

2. Let cool and set in the pan for about 1 hour or until completely cooled. 

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How to Store

Store white chocolate macadamia cookie bars at room temperature in an air tight container for up to five days, or store in the refrigerator for up to five days. If stored in the refrigerator, let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, or pop in the microwave for five to ten seconds to warm to room temperature.

You can also freeze white chocolate macadamia cookie bars easily. Just place (fully baked and cooled) in an air tight freezer container and store in the freezer for up to three months. Remove from the freezer and place in the refrigerator 24 hours prior to serving.

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More cookie bars, please!

Try these:

• Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

• Cookies ‘n Cream Cookie Bars

• Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars

• Iced Oatmeal Cookie Bars

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

• Cowboy Cookie Bars

baking with nuts, soft chewy cookies, easy cookies, the best macadamia cookies, macadamia nuts, white chocolate

dessert, cookies, bars

american

Servings: 15

Author: Jessie Cagliero

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White Chocolate Macadamia Cookie Bars

Prep time: 15 minutesCook time: 25 minutesTotal time: 40 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter (melted and cooled slightly)
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• ½ cup dry roasted macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

Directions

1. Make the dough
2. Melt the butter and allow it to cool slightly.
3. Preheat oven to 350℉. Line an 8 x 8 baking dish with parchment paper.
4. In a large bowl add granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, baking soda, and salt and mix until well combined.
5. Mix in the melted butter, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
6. Mix in egg and vanilla.
7. Add flour and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
8. Pour the mixture into the parchment lined pan and spread it evenly to each corner.
9. Bake
10. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until the edges become lightly golden brown and the middle puffs up slightly.
11. Let cool and set in the pan for about 1 hour or until completely cooled.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

190

Fat

12 g

Sat. Fat

6 g

Carbs

20 g

Fiber

1 g

Net carbs

19 g

Sugar

13 g

Protein

2 g

Sodium

117 mg

Cholesterol

28 mg

*Nutrition is auto-calculated by recipes generator.

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