Lime Coconut Bars with Macadamia Nuts and White Chocolate Chunks are the perfect fudgy-chewy treat to take you away to the tropics! This month Creative Cookie Exchange has you covered with loads of tropically inspired cookies!
I want to wax poetic about these bars, but am lacking the energy. We are in Columbus, both for the holiday weekend and then also because Sammy and I have tickets to the Ohio State-Michigan basketball game tonight (Go Blue!), and when I packed my meds for the weekend I did not realize my anti-seizure med was almost empty. Any other medicine I would just skip a dose, but not that one. And of course I forgot to call the doctor during business hours. So I spent last night (the night of my writing this) at Urgent Care to get one lousy pill. (Sidenote: if I had the energy here is where I might go on at length about how ten years ago a pharmacist would have just given me a pill but now there are so many laws in the name of various wars on drugs that we have abandoned common sense.)
And in the process I lost my energy for waxing poetic.
But guys do not let that stop you from trying these Lime Coconut Bars. They were so good! John and I especially found them addictive. The creamy sweet white chocolate (and please use real white chocolate!) complements the sour lime and salty macadamia nuts perfectly. The overall texture is similar to a brownie, very fudgy-chewy. Try them–you won’t be sorry! And keep reading for more tropical creations from Creative Cookie Exchange bakers…
- 1 cup (126 g) AP flour
- 1/2 t baking powder
- 1/8 t baking soda
- 1/4 t fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup sugar
- zest of 3 small limes
- 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
- 2 T lime juice
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3/4 cup chopped roasted and salted macadamia nuts
- 3.5 oz white chocolate chunks
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Preheat the oven to 350 F.
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Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and fine sea salt in a medium sized bowl. Mix in the coconut flakes. Set aside.
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Beat the cream cheese until creamy with a mixer (I always prefer the stand mixer). Beat in the sugar and lime zest until completely incorporated.
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Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Beat in the melted coconut oil and lime juice. Scrape again.
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Beat in the egg.
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Using the lowest speed, mix in the flour-coconut flakes mixture into the cream cheese mixture. When it is mostly incorporated, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the chopped macadamia nuts and white chocolate chunks. Continue slowly mixing until everything is evenly incorporated. Do not over-mix.
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Line a 9X9 pan with parchment paper. Scrape the dough into the pan and spread it as evenly as possible (it is a pretty thick dough, so do not overthink it, it will even out while baking also).
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Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean or with melted white chocolate only on it.
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Let cool completely in the pan before removing (use the parchment paper) and slicing into bars.
It’s that time of year again, the time when many of us want to daydream about being somewhere else. A tropical treat is just the ticket! The Creative Cookie Exchange is going all tropical this February, and that could mean anything from fruit to spices to cut-out cookies. We’ve got you covered!
You can also use us as a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! Also, if you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made:
- Chocolate Dipped Macadamia Nut Cookies by A Baker’s House
- Coconut Mango Butter Cookies by Oven Delights
- Frosted Pineapple Shortbread Cookies by Magnolia Days
- Guava Lava Cookiess by Flours & Frostings
- Hawaiian Raincoast Crisps by All That’s Left Are The Crumbs
- Key Lime White Chocolate Chunk Cookies by 2 Cookin’ Mamas
- Lime Coconut Bars with Macadamia Nuts and White Chocolate Chunks by The Spiced Life
- Macadamia Nut and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Mojito Sugar Cookies by Upstate Ramblings
- Passion Fruit Curd Shortbread Cookies by Live. Bake. Love.
- Pineapple Coconut Cookies by A Shaggy Dough Story
- Pineapple Macadamia Nut Shortbread by Food Lust People Love
For the collage lovers….
Yea, getting medicine these days is a difficult and taxing process. At least you got yours and could continue your long weekend enjoyment. When I first saw the bars I thought how much they looked like brownies. And how good they look.
Man I agree that getting medicine is such a beast now! I have asthma and I was going out of town one time and for some reason my prescription on file with the pharmacy had expired on my inhaler that I pick up religiously every month. Even though I had refills they wouldn’t give me the inhaler. Luckily I still had one day before vacay and my doctors office was open. Ridiculous
These look heavenly, I have a total weakness for yummy snacks with macadamia nuts in them!
wow… coconut and white chocolate?? count me in! they looks finger licking snack for my afternoon tea.. 🙂
These look amazing and remind me of my favorite cookies!!!
Sorry about the pill … hope you could get on with your holiday after that! The pictures are beautiful . I can’t begin to imagine how great these flavours would taste together…!!!
These bars are a triple tropical threat….lime, coconut and macadamia nuts!!
I hope the game goes your way! These bars look perfect for celebrating a victory!
Hope you have fun at the game tonight. I don’t blame you for being tired. These bars look so scrumptious!
Sitting in urgent care for any reason is a terrible way to spend time. All those sick people breathing on you! Glad you were able to get the pill you needed though.
I am a huge fan of chewy cookie bars, especially with a salty, sweet, tart mix. These look perfect, Laura!
Don’t get me started on the failed war on drugs that just makes life miserable for everyone else. Love your bars, and love you.
These do look delicious! I can sympathize with you about the medicine, how frustrating!
Your bars look amazing and remind me that I don’t make nearly enough bar cookies. Lime, coconut, and white chocolate is definitely a winning combination. So sorry that common sense has totally gone out the window and you had to visit urgent care to take care of something that should have been much easier.