White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies
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White Chocolate Chip Macadamia cookies are such a classic! These are loaded with sweet white chocolate chips and creamy salted macadamia nuts. This cookie recipe is soft and chewy in the center but it’s its buttery flavor and the crispy edges and bottom that make them stand above the crowd. If you prefer crispier cookies, this is the recipe for you!
To my surprise, there has been a lot of people telling me that white chocolate chip macadamia cookies are their favorite cookie, even more than regular chocolate chip cookies, which can be a dangerous thing to admit in public.
Since I’m not taking in public but just here behind closed doors with you guys, I think it’s a safe space for me to confess I am in that group too. I prefer to have my chocolate chips in brownies or cakes before stuffed in cookies. I also prefer crisp cookies with a slight chewy center, that’s why these classic white chocolate chip macadamia cookies are way up in my list!
This recipe was born out of my White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Brookies. If you haven’t check it out, it’s a mash up between brownies and well, cookies. On that recipe you will bake the cookie layer immediately, but for these I’m recommending chilling the dough 24 hours. Now, before you yell at me, I will tell you that technically you can bake them right away. But to be honest, the butterscotch notes bloom after chilling the dough for this amount of time. This chilling also helps a lot in creating that crispier bottom. What I want to say is that if you are in a hurry, by all means you do you.
Check out these super straight forward steps for making this cookie recipe:
Best way to make White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies:
Take out the butter to let it soften. It’s important butter is soft but not warm. It’s ready as soon as you can poke a finger on it.
This recipe uses both baking powder and baking soda, which are going to be mixed with the flour and salt. It’s the baking soda what helps make these cookies crispier than more traditional chocolate chip cookies recipes.
I also used a mix of natural granulated sugar and light brown sugar. If you don’t find light brown sugar, use regular brown sugar. Decrease by 2 tablespoons the amount of light brown sugar with brown sugar and add 2 tablespoons of the natural granulated sugar.
Make the dough by beating the sugar with the butter to incorporate air and make it fluffier.
I also added 1 egg to provide some structure and moistness to these cookies. Add it after the butter and sugar have formed a grainy paste.
Finish the cookie dough by adding the dry ingredients and mix by hand the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
Different from chocolate chip cookies that will spread when being baked, you need to shape these cookies as much as possible because they won't spread much.
Bake at 350° from 10 minutes up to 12, depending on how brown and crispy you prefer them. Let them cool down on the baking sheet. If you prefer them on the softer side, place them in a cooling rack after 2 to 3 minutes on the baking sheet.
Two extra nice-to-do things with the cookies when they are right out of the oven: first, using a large rounded cookie cutter or a large glass, swirl cookies to make them perfectly rounded; secondly is to press down extra white chocolate chips on top of each cookie while still warm. For regular CCC you would stuff extra chips on top before baking, but if you do that here, the white chocolate chips will burn.
What you’ll need
The oil in macadamia nuts is pretty volatile and can spoil easily. I recommend using some high quality nuts to make sure they’re sweet and creamy and not rancid. These are the macadamia nuts I used.
A sturdy large baking sheet. This one here is exactly mine.
Pre-cut parchment paper for the win. It makes life in the kitchen way easier.
3 recipes I think you’ll love if you’re loving this one:
White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Brookies
Bourbon Orange Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft and Moist Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
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I know that as soon as you make these once, you will hold this recipe close to your heart! Everyone will simply love these cookies so much!!
Don’t forget to share and tag me in Instagram (@devamadeo), Facebook (@DevAmadeo) when you make it. Love to see my recipes in your kitchens!
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White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies
Ingredients
◯ Unbleached all-purpose flour (can use traditional bleached as well) - 1 ½ cup, 236g
◯ Baking soda - ½ Tsp, 4g
◯ Baking powder - ¼ Tsp, 2g
◯ Fine sea salt - ¼ Tsp
◯ Butter, preferably organic - 8 TBSP, 114g
◯ Natural granulated sugar (may use regular white sugar) - ½ cup, 111g
◯ Light Brown Sugar - ½ cup, 97g
◯ Large egg (preferably organic) - 1
◯ Vanilla extract - 1 Tsp, 4g
◯ White chocolate chips - about ¾ cup, 135g
◯ Roasted macadamia nuts, roughly chopped in halves - ½ cup, 70g
Note: If not using a scale, spoon and level your measuring cup, never overpack it with flour.
Details
Yield:
12 to 14 medium to large cookies
Total time:
30 minutes plus chilling overnight if possible
Active time:
15 minutes for making the cookie dough, 5 minutes for shaping the cookies
Baking time:
10-12 minutes
Equipment:
stand mixer, baking sheet, ice cream scooper
Steps:
Place the 1 ½ cup of flour/236g, the ½ teaspoon/4g of baking soda, the ¼ teaspoon/2g of baking powder and the ¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt in a large bowl with a hand whisk. Set aside.
Place the 8 tablespoons/113g of butter in the bowl of the stand mixer or in a large bowl to use with an electric hand mixer. Beat in medium-low speed (#2 in the Kitchen Aid) for 30 seconds just to make butter smoother and a bit fluffier. Add the ½ cup/112g of light brown sugar and the ½ cup/100g of granulated sugar and mix. Increase speed one notch and beat for 3 minutes, until butter is paler in color and mixture looks smooth. Add egg and mix one minute. Add the 1 teaspoon/4g of vanilla and mix to combine.
Add flour mixture to butter-sugar mixture. Mix until roughly mixed and when there are no large streaks of flour visible. Add the ¾ cup/135g of white chocolate chips and the ½ cup/70g of macadamia nuts. Using a wooden spoon or spatula manually mix everything in a folding motion.
Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
When ready to bake, take dough out and let it come down to room temperature completely.
Preheat oven at 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
Using a large ice cream scooper or with your hands, form 1” cookie dough balls. Press them down as much as possible and shape them round (see notes). Place them next to each other leaving about 1 ½” of space between them.
Bake for 10 for chewier cookies to 12 minutes for very crisp cookies. Let them cool down in the baking sheet a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool down completely.
If you want, carefully stick more white chocolate chips on top (see notes above) as soon as the cookies are out, and using a large glass or round cookie cutter spin the cookies in the baking sheet to make them perfectly rounded.
