Chocolate Macadamia Nut Bars

Before Hawaii: a story and recipe from the Baking Wizard! Greg Patent first tasted this macadamia nut bar on a visit to Hawaii.

I tasted these bars for the first time a few years ago on a visit to Hawaii's Big Island.  They have a buttery brown sugar shortbread cookie base packed with toasted macadamia nuts, a layer of caramel that bakes into the shortbread layer, and a generous topping of bittersweet chocolate. After downing one in just a few seconds, I decided I must have this recipe.  I tracked down Cathy Haber, who I learned had created these prize-winning bars for a Kona Chocolate Festival. After multiple pleadings she said she couldn't give me the recipe because she had sold it to the owners of a café where she had been hired as the resident baker. However, she was willing to answer a few of my questions. Cathy revealed she based her recipe on one for pecan turtle bars, substituting Hawaii’s macadamia nuts for the pecans.  She also bakes her bars in a half-sheet pan, a larger-size jelly-roll pan measuring 17 x 12 inches, and cuts them into 3-inch squares.  After some sleuthing on the internet and a little tinkering, I came up with this version, which, in side by side tests with Cathy’s bars, taste exactly the same.  Because they’re so rich, I make the bars half the size as hers and bake them in a 13 x 9-inch pan.  If you want to make them Cathy's way, simply double everything and use the same kind of pan she does.  I keep the bars refrigerated and bring them to room temperature before serving.