Whenever I go home to Hawaii in December, I luck out because Costco ends up selling giant bags of macadamia nuts for a really fantastic price. That means I can stock up and have them for my baking needs for the rest of the year without worrying about spending so much money because macadamia nuts do tend to get really expensive and pricey. This recipe is something that helps me indulge in that liberal macadamia nut application to a baked treat and I hope you enjoy it too!

Just a few tips: make sure that you get macadamia nuts that are unsalted. It’s okay if they’re dry roasted instead of raw, but you want to ensure that they’re not salted or else it’s going to be overly salty. Also, you can use any type of dried pineapple that you want. I usually get them in a small diced/cubed form from the bulk bin of a grocery store, which is pictured below. They’re not very stringy and they’re still moist enough to not be super chewy, so they’re the perfect type to use in baking. Unfortunately, fresh or canned pineapple will not work as a substitute as it’ll make the batter too runny or wet.

Pineapple Macadamia Nut Blondies

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 generous pinch of salt
• ⅛ of a teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ¾ of a cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
• ½ of a cup dried pineapple chunks

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease an 8×8 baking pan and set aside.
2. Add brown sugar to melted butter and mix well. Not all the butter will be mixed into the sugar and that’s fine!
3. Add in one egg and mix until fully combined.
4. Stir in vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt.
5. Mix in the flour and keep mixing until really well combined – ensure that the butter gets mixed in really well so it doesn’t pool on top when you bake it.
6. Fold in the chopped macadamia nuts and dried pineapple.
7. Spread the batter evenly into your prepared baking dish and bake in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. You want the edges to be golden brown and the middle to be set.
8. Let cool in pan before slicing into bars.

These blondies tend to be on the sweeter side, so they’re the perfect thing to have with tea or coffee. They’re soft and gooey and melt in your mouth, but the macadamia nuts add the perfect crunch and texture to each bite.