These Keto Coconut Macadamia Bars feature a buttery almond flour shortbread crust with a gooey coconut and macadamia topping. Add some sugar-free white chocolate chips to make these bars really decadent! This post is sponsored by ChocZero.
I am currently obsessed with these Keto Coconut Macadamia bars. And once you taste them, you will see why. They have a sweet, slightly gooey filling full of coconut, macadamia, and white chocolate. And the almond flour crust simply melts in your mouth!
You know I love coming up with new and delicious keto dessert creations. Especially one that has people oohing and aahing at the first bite. And this one is definitely Oooh and Aaah material.
If you love recipes like my Keto White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies, you have to give these bars a try.
Updated recipe
I love the science behind adapting a regular recipe to make it sugar-free and grain-free. As you may know from my articles on baking with almond flour and keto sugar substitutes, it’s never as simple as one-to-one substitutions. So I always have to consider the best ingredients and techniques to achieve the right consistency.
And I pride myself on nailing taste and texture the majority of the time. I thought I had done so with these Keto Coconut Bars back when I first created them in 2018. I tested the recipe twice to make sure.
But a number of readers had trouble with them and I could never put my finger on why. Some people found that the crust was too soft, some people found that they were too crumbly, and others found that they turned out perfectly. Since readers had vastly different experiences, I couldn’t identify the issue.
So I decided to tackle them again from the beginning, with slightly different ingredients. This time, I used some allulose in the filling to keep it from recrystallizing. And I threw in some ChocZero white chocolate chips at the last minute. It was an inspired addition!
Reader Reviews
“This recipe is a winner – thanks so much for creating and sharing it! I just bought some pineapple extract to make my next batch taste even more tropical – perfect for this icy NYC winter!” — Jamie Lloyd
“These are amazing! I have been making my husband treats once a week for four years now and he said this one is by far the best. In fact, he had a day off work the day after I made them. . . after I got home from work I asked him what he had for lunch, and he said, “my food for the day was basically a lot of those treats.” Superb recipe, and great instructions. Thank you!” — Casie
Ingredients you need
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- Almond flour: I use almond flour for the crust. You cannot substitute with coconut flour, but you can use sunflower seed flour.
- Sweeteners: The crust requires an erythritol based sweetener such as Swerve Confectioners to crisp up properly. But the filling is best with a little bit of allulose and some erythritol. Please see the Expert Tips section for more information.
- Coconut cream: This is simply the thick part from the top of a can of coconut milk, but some brands also sell just the coconut cream. You can use heavy whipping cream in its place.
- Coconut: You can use flaked or shredded coconut. I used flaked coconut because I like how the bigger pieces look, but it does make them harder to cut!
- Macadamia nuts: Use raw macadamia nuts or ones that have been roasted but not salted.
- White chocolate chips: I added some ChocZero chips and thought it was a fabulous addition. If you use my link for ChocZero, you can get 10% off your entire order!
- Kitchen staples: Butter, egg, vanilla extract, and salt.
Step-by-step directions
1. For the crust, add the almond flour, sweetener, and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Scatter the butter pieces overtop and pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
2. Press evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch greased metal baking pan and bake at 350ºF for 10 to 12 minutes, or until light golden brown. Remove and let cool completely.
3. For the filling, whisk the butter and sweeteners together in a large bowl until well combined. Whisk in the coconut cream, egg, and vanilla extract.
4. Fold in the coconut, chopped macadamias, and white chocolate chips (if using) until well coated.
5. Spread the mixture over the cooled crust and bake 25 to 20 minutes or until the edges are golden. The center will still be quite soft. Let cool completely and then chill for 1 hour before cutting into bars.
Expert tips
These bars turn out best when baked in a metal pan. Glass and ceramic pans don’t conduct heat as efficiently and may take quite a bit longer to bake through properly. You can use an 8×8 pan but that will also take longer to bake properly.
Chopping the macadamia nuts up a bit helps make the bars easier to cut. Make sure you are using a very sharp knife to cut through the coconut and nuts. A bench knife allows you to cut straight up and down so you don’t damage your pan.
Chill the bars after cooling to make sure they set properly. This also allows for easier cutting.
Sweetener Options:
For a crisp crust, you must use an erythritol based sweetener that contains no allulose or xylitol. Options include Swerve Confectioners, Swerve with Monk Fruit, So Nourished Erythritol Blend, and Lakanto, among others.
For the filling, I recommend a little added allulose to keep it softer and gooier. You don’t have to do this but it helps the overall consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
This low carb coconut macadamia bar recipe has 4.3g of carbs and 2.1g of fiber per serving. That comes to 2.2g net carbs per 1-inch bar.
Store in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to 5 days. You can also freeze them for several months. Bring the bars to room temperature before serving.
More keto macadamia recipes
Keto Coconut Macadamia Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 ¼ cups almond flour
- ⅓ cup cup Swerve Confectioners
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter chilled and cut into small pieces
Filling:
- ¼ cup butter melted
- ⅓ cup Swerve Granular
- 3 tablespoon allulose
- ½ cup coconut cream (thick part from the top of a can of coconut milk)
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cup flaked coconut
- ¾ cup macadamia nuts chopped
- ⅓ cup sugar-free white chocolate chips
Instructions
Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and lightly grease a 9×9 inch metal baking pan. .
- Add the almond flour, sweetener, and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Scatter the butter pieces overtop and pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
- Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake 10 to 12 or until light golden brown. Remove and let cool completely.
Filling:
- Whisk the butter and sweeteners together in a large bowl until well combined. Whisk in the coconut cream, egg, and vanilla extract.
- Fold in the coconut, chopped macadamias, and white chocolate chips (if using) until well coated.
- Spread the mixture over the cooled crust and bake 25 to 20 minutes or until the edges are golden. The center will still be quite soft. Let cool completely and then chill for 1 hour before cutting into bars.
Marlene says
I can’t seem to find allulose here in Canada. Do you think I could substitute with tapioca starch or sometning else?
Carolyn says
No, you’re better off sticking with Swerve.
Carol says
These taste great but they don’t cut up into nice bars. The top half separates in places from the bottom crust. They crumble too much to serve as a bar. Ok to eat on or over a plate to catch all the delicious crumbs. I used Splenda for powdered sweetener and cut the amounts to 2/3 of the recipe sweetener. Three stars is only because they can’t be served as bars.
Carolyn says
Sorry, I hate to say this, but the fault lies with you and the fact that you changed the recipe. Splenda does NOT work the same way as other sweeteners and of course it would make it crumbly!
Amanda says
Any suggestions on how to bake both the crust and filling with just a microwave? VanLife has become quite innovative and would love to make these despite no oven. I’m determined to actually, and I would so appreciate any thoughts on how to tweak the baking for a micro. Thanks so much, these look delicious!
Carolyn says
I’m sorry, I have never attempted bars like these in a microwave.
Hazel says
Just made these I subbed out the coconut cream for heavy cream and they turned out fantastic , such a wonderful dessert recipe thank you. I would recommend chilling in fridge for few hours before trying to slice.
Wendy says
This recipe didn’t work well. Too much butter in the bottom layer makes these very soft and greasy.
Carolyn says
I am trying to figure out why a few people have an issue with the crust being too soft in this recipe. I made it 3 times and each time the crust was fine. Can you tell me what kind of pan you used?
Christiane Lariviere says
Hello Carolyn, thank you so much for your very good recipies 🙂 Is your last cookbook is available PDF ? Thanks and I wish you an happy 2020, healthy and happy 🙂
Carolyn says
Do you mean the big Keto Baking book? It is available on Kindle.
maurine says
oh man! I was so excited about these! I love coconut and macadamia nuts. But they ended up being a complete disaster! They smelled so good in the oven! I followed the recipe to a “T” and I’ve been doing low-carb baking for almost a year so I kinda know what I’m doing. Haha! But these bars… totally fell apart. It was a complete mess! I ended up crumbling them all up into a heap and freezing the crumbs. I didn’t want to throw it all away because low carb cooking is so expensive so I’m trying to figure out what I can make using the crumbs! Any suggestions would be helpful!
Carolyn says
You can use the crumbs for ice cream topping. Or add some butter and turn them into truffles. I have made this recipe multiple times and it is not crumbly but it seems that if you are not using true coconut cream (just the thick part from the top of the can), it can cause some issues. Also… what sweetener did you use?
Maurine says
Hi. Sorry for the late response! Yes, I used coconut cream…just the thick part from the top of the can. And I used swerve sweetener. Maybe I should be using something different?
Carolyn says
No, that’s exactly what you are supposed to be using. I can’t account for it but I do know these work as is because I have made them multiple times. I think some people are just over-baking them and they get too dry. But without being in people’s kitchens with them, I can’t say for sure.
Sarah says
I made these last night, I found they fell to bits – we ate them with spoons, still delicious! So I put the whole pan in the fridge overnight and this morning they sliced perfectly into bars. So I suggest anyone who tries the recipe and find it crumbles like crazy to refrigerate it before trying to slice.
Janice says
These are in the oven! I licked the spoon after I put the filling on the crust and OMG, it’s going to be hard to let them cool! I’m on desserts for our trip to Canada’s Wonderland tomorrow with our three kids, spouses and seven grandchildren, so these are going to be alongside the Rice Krispies squares. Thank you so much for all you do. I’ve never been disappointed with any of your recipes and I have a long list of them I want to try!
Tammy says
How do you store them? Also, I used whipping cream in place of the coconut cream and 72% dark chocolate chunks in place of the coconut and they came out amazing.
Carolyn says
They are fine on the counter for a few days but should be in the fridge if they will be around longer.
Kay says
These also burned for me even cooking for less time. Mainly the shortbread part. I did already compensate for my dark non stick pan and reduced temp by 25 degrees. I will adjust next time. I will also add a little less of the swerve as they were a little too sweet. great recipe though, I cannot wait to try again and get it right on my end . Looking forward to trying the brownies too.
Carolyn says
So others who have had trouble with this discovered that their coconut cream wasn’t thick enough. That might be part of it. But I would lower the temp even more for the next time.
Natalie says
OMmmmmG! These were scrumptious! Hands down one of the best keto desserts I have made yet. The only thing I would do differently is cut the sweetener in half because these were a little too sweet for me. Also, how do you recommend storing leftovers? I made a double batch to take as a dish for Easter that is 3 days away. Thanks for sharing all your wonderful recipes!
Carolyn says
I’d store in a covered container in the fridge or wrapped up tightly in plastic. Then let come to room temp before serving.
Heather says
I made these. I forgot to add the egg!! But I didn’t have trouble with anything crumbling more than expected without the egg. I baked for 33 minutes in a ceramic pan. I used golden Lakanto in the crusty and classic in the filling. I did get the cooling effect in the filling. I think next time I might try half the sweetener, just so I can try to keep my sugar cravings in check. I added cinnamon to the crust, just cause. I really like these. I’m eager to make these again, except the right way.
MJ says
Oh man…. these are delicious. I followed recipe exactly, but cut baking time as they were looking done. Unfortunately, mine were also crumbly. I bought another brand of coconut milk/cream to try. I also have to look up every recipe using that crust. Amazing!