White Chocolate (Coconut) Macadamia Nut Blondies

WHAT? Did your mouth just explode with wanting to eat these? It should have.



My Mom went to Hawaii a couple of weeks ago, and brought back a bounty of fresh macadamia nuts. She bought the special nutcracker you need because it takes 300 lbs of pressure to crack their super-thick shells. It took me an hour to crack a small ziplock bag full, and then I had to decide what to do with them. Today I decided I wanted to make some kind of cookie bar instead of just traditional cookies, and I'd bought white chocolate chips to go with them since they pair so well.

I looked through my Better Homes & Gardens red and white checkered cookbook and found a recipe for blondies, so I decided to modify the recipe to what I wanted. I also decided to make mine with gluten free flour and made sure none of the ingredients had corn since my mom's husband has both Celiac's Disease AND a corn allergy and I really wanted him to be able to have some.

White Chocolate (Coconut) Macadamia Nut Blondies

2 cups packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used a mix of Pamela's and Bob's Red Mill baking mixes)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
(optional: 1/4 cup coconut flakes)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grease a 13x9x2 inch baking pan and set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan heat brown sugar and butter over medium heat until butter melts and the mixture is smooth, stirring constantly.
4. Cool slightly, then stir in one egg at a time.
5. Stir in vanilla.
6. Stir in flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
7. Spread batter in prepared baking pan.
8. Sprinkle with nuts and chocolate. If you want some with coconut, sprinkle the 1/4 cup coconut over half the pan.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
10. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Cut into 36 bars while warm.

I had trouble with the cooking time and they looked dark when I took them out, although once I cut them, they do not seem overcooked except for the corner pieces. I'm not sure if it was because of the gluten free flour or because I used too much coconut (I reduced the amount for this recipe), or because maybe my baking powder is bad. In any case, depending on the ingredients, you may need to adjust the cooking time. I just kept putting it back in for 5 more minutes until the toothpick was clean.



I also just let them cool in the pan - I'm not sure how I would have gotten them out of the pan in once piece without cutting them. I cut them while they were warm, before the firmed up too much.

Also, one great thing about this cookbook is that it includes nutrition facts for the recipes. These are 4 Weight Watchers Points Plus per piece - not bad for something SO GOOD.



Enjoy!

PS I obviously totally failed at my first attempt at NaBloPoMo for 2011. Bygones...