Trophies, Triathlon Folks, and Macadamia Coconut Chocolate Bar Cookies

Hot weather in DC has left the concept of tropical ingredients floating around in brain. That’s why I made these macadamia coconut chocolate bar cookies.

Tell me, how can this setup NOT inspire you to make cookies?

Alright, maybe it would inspire some of you to just eat the component ingredients straight. So, to be honest, I actually turned this into cookies because I needed something to share with some awesome folks at the Luray International Triathlon on Saturday, where a few hundred people swam a mile, biked 27 miles, and then ran a 10k just for fun. Namely, folks like Tim, Lauren, and Emily, who unfortunately got lost in the crowd at the finish and missed out. Don’t worry, Emily, I took the rest home and put them in the refrigerator for your enjoyment later.

I took something else home from that race, too.

Third place in the Athena category! Came with a nice engraved wine glass.

Now this probably raises the question? What is the Athena category? Why is there a big “A” written on the back of my leg, instead of just my age, the standard marking at a triathlon?

Some races sponsor categories for the, well, larger men (Clydesdale) and women (Athena). The threshold for women is 150 lbs, which isn’t that much for those of us topping 5’6” while sporting swimming, cycling, and running muscles. I just barely qualify, but I entered nonetheless. Evidently, some women are reluctant enter because they are ashamed to disclose their weight.

Come on, ladies. There are no secrets in a tri suit anyway. Go ahead. Enter. I mean, you even get to be referred to as a “Goddess of Wisdom” for the day.

Just don’t mind me when I see the “A” on your leg and do everything I can do run past you on every hill. It happens. But maybe, just maybe, I’ll share some cookies with you afterwards.

Macadamia Coconut Chocolate Bar Cookies - Ingredients

1 cup macadamia nut butter (can be made by running 10 ounces of macadamia nuts through a food processor)

½ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 ¼ cup flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

3 ounces macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

5 ounces unsweetened coconut, divided

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (Scharffen Berger 70% cocoa)

Beat sugars, macadamia nut butter and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and macadamia nuts. Reserve one third of the dough.

Press the remaining 2/3 of the dough into a 13”x9” pan lined with parchment paper and bake at 350° F for 10 minutes. Then get to work making the chocolate coconut filling.

Run 3 ounces of coconut through a food processor to make coconut butter, just like Heather does. This will take about 15 minutes, but be sure to get the coconut to a buttery consistency. Add the chocolate, process until smooth, and then manually stir in the remaining coconut.

Pour the chocolate coconut filling onto the first layer.

Then crumble the remaining dough on top of the filling.

Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Allow to cool, then cut into squares

Nice, aren’t they? Especially nice after 3+ hours of racing.

What kind of cookies do you think you’d want after an international-distance triathlon?