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 1/4 cups (135 g) almond flour
- 1/3 cup cup (78.86 g) Swerve Confectioners
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (56.75 g) butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
Filling:
- 1/4 cup (56.75 g) butter, melted
- 1/3 cup (63.6 g) Swerve Granular
- 3 tbsp (36) allulose
- 1/2 cup (120 g) coconut cream, (thick part from the top of a can of coconut milk)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cup (113.33 g) flaked coconut
- 3/4 cup (100.5 g) macadamia nuts, chopped
- 1/3 cup (60 g) 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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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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.
Is there a reason you need to use unsalted nuts. I only have salted. Also…can monkfruit be used as the sweetner.
You can use salted if you like but the end result may be too salty. You need an erythritol based sweetener here, though.
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!
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 ????.
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.
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… 🙂
Hmmmm, really not sure. Definitely you don’t want to bake them too long. Take them out when the topping looks gooey still
Thanks for the catch. It’s not supposed to say butter right at the beginning. I will fix it.
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?
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.
Hmmm… I don’t know why but I made them today and they turned out very crumbly too. A little bit like granola. Delicious though but unfortunately very dry I can’t cut them they’ll break. Maybe it has something to do with the coconut cream? Or do you think it’s just the baking time? I would love to give it another try….because I like the taste, it’s great!
Which part is crumbly? The topping or the crust. Trying to identify the issue here. They are ANYTHING but crumbly when I make them.
I have never used coconut milk or coconut cream. I see that you refrigerate the coconut milk , then use the hard part. Is 1 or 2 cans needed for the 1/2 cup called for in the recipe ?
Makes for the first time and they are amazing.
Thank you for all your wonderful work developing these recipes. I look forward to seeing what your next
Creation is!
WOW, DELICIOUS!!! I used pecans as macadamias aren’t in our budget. I used half xylitol and SweetLeaf Stevia (the concentrated kind where 2 T = 1 c.) and it’s probably the best dessert I’ve made to date! Thank you! Great with whipped cream or lc ice cream. Oh my!
Don’t know where you live, but Kroger sells a 12oz bag of store brand macadamia nuts for $8.99 in their produce section. That’s a buck more than the other nuts. I have yet to find them anywhere cheaper. They are roasted and salted, but I just rinse the salt off if I need unsalted. Hope that helps you.
Salted or unsalted Mac nuts?
Unsalted.
I made these tonight. They are so so good. I didn’t realize until I was putting it in the oven that I used Hazelnuts instead of Macadamia Nuts. Still so good. It’ll be hard to make 16 servings out of it…I want to eat too much of it. I keep walking past it and breaking another little piece off and eating it up. 🙂
I forgot to rate it!
Thank you!
Hazelnuts would be GREAT!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made it the other day and they are almost gone. My husband couldn’t believe something so delicious could be good for him to eat. He’s just been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and I’m learning a new way to cook. Your recipes have been such a big help thank you so much!! We’ve reversed it in 5 months with diet and low dose of meds.
So glad to hear it!
Mine came out dry and crumbly. Should I have reconstituted the coconut? They are amazingly delicious, but don’t hold up. Any ideas?
No, you don’t reconstitute the coconut. I think perhaps your oven runs hot and they need to be baked less. Or are you using shredded coconut instead of flaked coconut? These are definitely not dry and crumbly and I’ve made them 3 times.
Mine wer crumbly too….should they be a bit “wiggly” when I take them out? I’ll check my coconut as well.
Yes, still a big jiggly.