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.
Gail S says
These are so good!!! I used Lakanto Golden Monkfruit Sweetener -using the same measurements that was called for in the recipe…i could “taste” the cooling feeling, like an aftertate…not in every bite but most. Is that because of the sweetener or did I put too much in? What is the ratio for Swerve and Lakanto? Thank you! Also, should the leftovers be stored in the refrigerator?
Carolyn says
It’s the sweetener. I don’t personally get it with Swerve but I do with Lakanto. Every palate is different. The leftovers are okay on the counter for 3 days.
Kate says
Do you think these would be ok to freeze? As its only me eating them, I need to hide them so I don’t eat them all at once, and make them last a while!
Carolyn says
That’s a good question. I think they would probably do okay.
Emma says
I could not be happier to have stumbled across this recipe. I was looking out for a way to use macadamia nuts and this was perfect! I ended up using shredded coconut because I couldn’t find any flakes, so as a result it’s slightly crumbly if it reaches room temp, but the flavour is still there. 10/10 for this! Thank you so, so much for sharing! This will be a weekly staple for sure! x
Nicole M Foster says
These are fantastic!
Casie Schuller says
This is a great recipe. I’ve made it 4 times. Once with swerve as called for, and the rest of the times with coconut sugar. They’re actually much tastier and have a better texture with coconut sugar. The coconut sugar carnalizes and creates a bit of gooier texture (but good gooey) and a much richer flavor than swerve. I’ve probably made my husband at least 100 different paleo treats over the years and these — with coconut sugar — are his absolute favorite. Thanks for the recipe!
Jamie Lloyd says
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!
Ashley says
This recipe is great!! We had everything on hand except the macadamia nuts. We used cashews instead. We also added chopped up unsweetened chocolate bark at the end right before we put it in the oven with the filling. We baked it for 30 minutes and it was perfect. Served it with vanilla ice cream!
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
Liz says
The coconut cream is from canned coconut milk? Coco Lopez has too many carbs. If from canned milk, how many equal 1/2 cup? Thanks!
Carolyn says
Yes, it’s just the thick part at the top of the can. A single can will provide FAR more than you need os I am not sure what you’re asking about how many?
Agnes Peter says
I tried this recipe today. The filling is super yummy. I used unsweetened dessicated coconut, and I added a little more coconut milk. The filling was just great. By the way I didn’t have any maccadamia nuts, so I used slivered almonds and it turned out all right.
The trouble I had run into was the crust. I didn’t have the almond flour. I used coconut flour instead (I read in one of the comments that we could use coconut powder). Would it have been okay for me to use ground almond powder instead?
When I was done with baking, and let it cool, unfortunately the whole thing crumbled easily to pieces.
Any advice to give me?
Carolyn says
You can never EVER replace almond flour with coconut flour. Please read my article on how to bake with almond flour. No comments here talked about coconut “powder” instead of almond flour so I am not sure where you got that. https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/low-carb-basics-baking-with-almond-flour/
Liz says
These were easy to make and the crust dough was good and the filling was good but the cooking times are way off. 15 minutes for the crust burnt the crust and the last baking time for the filling was way to long at 35 minutes. 40 minutes would completely destroy it. Maybe 20 minutes at the most or maybe a 300 degree oven?
Carolyn says
I honestly can’t say what happened for you but I have made this recipe several times, as have many readers. The baking times are correct and should not be changed. Your oven may run hot. Any chance you used a 9×9 pan instead of 8×8? Or a glass pan instead of metal?
susan says
Question;
The coconut flakes, are they unsweet or sweetened? Trying this today!
Carolyn says
Always unsweetened. This is a sugar free food blog! 🙂
Christine says
I have trouble digesting sweeteners like swerve so I made these with Splenda which I do better with. They came out delicious albeit a little gooier maybe than intended. My crust part was quite moist and I had previously understood Splenda to cause baked goods to be a little dry so that surprised me. Overall the flavor is fantastic. Any suggestions for the second time I make them to get that crust to firm up a bit more? I am thinking of using pecans instead of macadamias this time for thanksgiving. Thanks.
Carolyn says
I wish I could help but I don’t bake with Splenda at all so I can’t really identify the issue. Maybe a bit less butter?
Pam Bradley says
I have made these twice. The second time I cut down on the cook time. They were fantastic. My non Keto husband was sneaking them. I sent some home with my daughter. She loved them.
Karen Thompson says
Is there a reason you need to use unsalted nuts. I only have salted. Also…can monkfruit be used as the sweetner.
Carolyn says
You can use salted if you like but the end result may be too salty. You need an erythritol based sweetener here, though.
Casie says
These are amazing! I have been making my husband treats apx 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!
Marianne says
Hi Carolyn!
I love your bestselling book, The Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen. I’ve followed so many recipes and brought it to work. A lot of my coworkers are doing Keto in every which wY and have been bringing their creation. I have sort of a following with my brought to work goodies since I pride myself with following ingredients measurements and time well. And just to let you know, 6 people have now bought your book because of what I have made from it :). I am part of your Marketing team.
But I have to say, I am stumped at what happened when I followed this recipe. Way too dark and siding on burnt. Did I need to spray the pan before I placed the base? It stuck on my pan. And the texture was strange some I can still taste the granular sugar. Wondering what I can do to make this work better? Interesting too that I am not the only one who had this experience—should I shorten the time? Lower the temp from 350 to 325? I just want it to look like your photo ????.
Carolyn says
Okay talk to me about every single ingredient you used here. Most people find this turns out perfectly but a few have had the same trouble you did. Mine turned out perfectly 3x so I know the recipe works so SOMETHING has to be off and I’d love to identify what that is.
Seghi says
Dear Carolyn,
it’s definitely the topping! That’s why I think it could be the coconut cream. Maybe it’s not creamy enough? What do you think? The shortbread crust is perfect- like always in your recipes… 🙂
Carolyn says
Hmmmm, really not sure. Definitely you don’t want to bake them too long. Take them out when the topping looks gooey still
Carolyn says
Thanks for the catch. It’s not supposed to say butter right at the beginning. I will fix it.
Ping says
i have a question, first step of the instruction you said ” Combine almond flour, butter, sweetener, and salt in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Sprinkle the butter over and continue to pulse…”, what does it mean by “Sprinkle the butter over,,” the butter is already combined with almond flour…” and “sprinkle over what?
Pam Bradley says
I finally made these. They are delicious !! My oven must run hot. The crust was a bit past golden at 15 minutes. So I reduced the cook time to 30 minutes after adding the filling. It still came out a bit dark. The the taste is great. I am not sure whether to reduce the cook time more or to lower the temp. on my oven.