Macadamia Nut, Coconut & White Chocolate Blondies
41 comments » 
Remember when I told you about the amazing Meyer lemons that I found when I was at DeLallo’s a few weeks ago? I made another phenomenal find that day – a massive bulk bin of macadamia nuts. I had to do a double take. It’s rare that I ever find macadamia nuts at the grocery store and, when I do, they’re usually pre-chopped in tiny bags in the baking aisle. The ability to scoop up a huge bag of macadamia nuts to take home with me without having to fly to Hawaii or place an online order left me totally in awe. No matter, I had a truckload of macadamia nuts to play with (and eat!) for the foreseeable future.
Seeing as how most of the country is still wrestling with winter weather this week, I thought a tropical-inspired treat could usher some sunshine into our kitchens!
I absolutely love blondies and their versatility – with a simple base, you can throw in all sorts of combinations of ingredients to change up the flavor. I wanted these particular blondies to showcase the macadamia nuts so I included A LOT of them, and then I threw in even more coconut for flavor and texture, and some chopped white chocolate. While these are are a pretty standard rendition of the “tropical” flavor family, their wonderful chemistry never gets old.
Here’s to lots of sunshine and finding macadamia nuts in the bulk bin!
One year ago: Beer Battered Cod
Two years ago: Grilled Fish Tacos
Five years ago: Daring Bakers: French Bread
Macadamia Nut, Coconut & White Chocolate Blondies
Yield: 24 bars
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
A tropical blondie recipe packed full of chewy coconut, macadamia nuts and white chocolate.
Ingredients:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1½ cups light brown sugar
2 eggs
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted
1 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped (or 1 cup white chocolate chips)Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or spray a 9x13-inch baking pan, then line it with parchment paper, leaving a bit of an overhang over all the edges.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and light brown sugar until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla, and whisk until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and, using a rubber spatula, gently fold them into the egg mixture until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the toasted coconut, macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Transfer the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth it into an even layer.
4. Bake until the top is shiny and cracked and feels firm to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Remove the bars from the pan using the parchment handles and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 24 bars and serve. The bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
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Oh, my. These look divine. I can’t wait to try them out! I feel me some baking coming on…
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I would have bought a truckload too! Macadamias are the best! How smart to put them into blondies! These must have been really delish!
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My husband just bought a pound of macadamia nuts, so I look forward to both baking and cooking with them.
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Oh my goodness, I just made a list of goodies I want to try and white chocolate brownies/blondies were at the top of the list. These look delicious!
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What a great combination of flavors, it’s kind of tropical!! I love it!
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Ooh! I am so excited to see these! Last fall I had a big tub of white chocolate macadamia nut cookie dough from one of the kids’ fundraisers & I experimented by turning it into bars with a layer of caramel in the middle. They got rave reviews and I was wanting to recreate them without using premade dough, but haven’t gotten around to finding a recipe – apparently the recipe found me!! Yippee! Thanks, can’t wait to try it out!
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These look good, I might have to make them for my mom’s birthday, she loves macadamia nuts. A great place to buy them in Pittsburgh is at PennMac in the Strip District, they aren’t in the bulk bins (at least I don’t think so) but they sell whole macadamia nuts “bulk” already packed, usually on a shelf by the doorway to the cheese room.
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Oh hello perfection. YUMMY!
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One of my all time fav cookies in bar form?! YES please! And the addition of coconut looks fabulous!
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These look amazing!
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I love White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut cookies, but I hate coconut (with the fiery intensity of a thousand suns). Any suggestions to adapt the recipe to make up for the lack of coconut?
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Michelle on March 5th, 2013 at 7:24 pm
Hi Sophia, You can just omit the coconut, no other adaptations are necessary.
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Awesome…now I know how I am going to use the macs I brought back from Hawaii earlier in the month!
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Those look sooo good. Love coconut!!
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Macadamia nuts are, without a doubt, my favorite nut. They are so rich and delicious. And this flavor combination is to die for. Pinning this recipe for sure!
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These sound magnificent. I’d love to find macadamias in the bulk bin, too! I love white chocolate macadamia, but with coconut included? Even better!
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Love love macadamia nuts! And white chocolate! And blondies! Yep, need to make these
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This is my favourite cookie in blondie form with the brilliant addition of coconut!
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I’m not a huge macadamia nut fan, but coconut and white chocolate are two of my favorite flavors ever. These look wonderful
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The macadamia nut is an awesome thing. Big and chunky and always makes me think of white chocolate for some reason…which is good
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Macadamia nuts and white chocolate is one of my favorite combinations, love the addition of the coconut!
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I love macadamia nuts and I never thought about it before, but I also never see them except in little bags in the baking aisle. These look so moist and delicious – I love blondies.
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Yum – these sound phenomenal! Once I get some macadamias, I’m definitely making these!
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These look bangin! I love adding lemon zest in with this flavor combo, gives it a nice little zing and ties everything together
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Oh my these look so delicious! I’m on a real macadamia nut kick right now
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I love your pictures and the way they display the food. How do you take such great pics?
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I alwsys have to order macadamias online. These are definitely a tropical break from this terrible and seemingly never ending winter weather. I used to love white chocolate macadamia cookies, so these remind me of those but only better because they’re blondies and involve coconut.
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I adore this combination and have never tried it in blondies–love it!
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Oh! My! these look fantastic!!
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I can’t believe you found macadamia nuts like that! The best ones I’ve been able to find have been about 15 dollars. Granted, it’s a pretty large tin, but we still fly through them way too fast! The blondies look fantastic!
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Oh. My. I can’t wait to try these! My favorite nuts are Macadamias and they just recently starting showing up here in the stores in Canada. There’s even a big bulk bin of whole roasted at Bulk Barn!!! The only thing we can’t get are the baking nuts. Which I bring home from the states. I’m so glad I won’t have to be over-weight on luggage anymore! Bring on the Macadamia treats and things… I’m salivating at the thought!
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Holy GOODness… these are awesome! So this weekend I have been on a: Cook everything I drooled over during the week (beef stew over stone cheddar grits and White chocolate macadamias blondies) My three year old and I spent the better part of the day in the kitchen… stirring, smelling, laughing and ending with a belly full of comfort food! These were the perfect ending!
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Ohhh yummy. Here is hoping I can find Macadamian nuts today when I go shopping later this morning.. If I don’t well I will cry lol I want to bake these up at the cottage this afternoon to surprise the boyfriend..
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Looks awesome. I would love to try some.
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These look delicious!!! White chocolate & macadamia nuts are awesome together. And, everything is better with coconut.
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Finally got around to making these. Forgot the parchment paper- oops! Stuck pretty good, but they got devoured anyway. Super yummy recipe! Thanks for sharing!
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Hi – these look amazing and I can’t wait to make them! But, I can not find unsweetened coconut where I live, only sweetened- would you reduce the amount of brown sugar, or just keep the recipe as is? Thank you!
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Michelle on March 13th, 2013 at 9:15 am
Hi Hannah, You should keep the amount of brown sugar the same. Enjoy!
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I didn’t have any macadamias so I used dry toasted slivered almonds and they still turned out great! So for all of you out there that find macadamias hard to come by or too expensive, you can absolutely use almonds! Thanks for the great recipe.
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Making this ASAP. Thanks!
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These were awesome! They were moist with a great flavor. Loved the toasted coconut and macadamia nuts in them! Thanks!
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